This afternoon (October 24, 2017), the San Jose City Council will receive a recommendation from its Community Workforce Agreements / Project Labor Agreements (CWA/PLA) Task Force about requiring companies to sign a Project Labor Agreement with unions as a condition of obtaining a construction contract.

In other words, operate as a unionized company or don't come here to bid on contracts.

This proposal, of course, is simply a way for unions to collect more dues and fees and shore up their underfunded pension programs. It's laughable when union officials in San Jose claim that their local workers can't find local work.

If unionized companies can't win public works contracts in this currently very prosperous Northern California construction market, their business model needs an overhaul. It's an insult to their signatory contractors. In 2017, there are government construction contracts in Northern California that receive ZERO bids.

The truth is that the unions in San Jose are bringing workers in from places like Stockton. The Coalition for Fair Employment in Construction knows this because the unions argued for Project Labor Agreements last year at the Stockton City Council and the San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors by declaring that their members had to go to San Jose to find work because they were getting pounded locally by non-union competition.

With a Project Labor Agreement, local unions in San Jose can guarantee jobs for the international union and direct taxpayer money into their various funds. They'll bring in union workers from other states or even Canada to become the "community workforce."

Below is the link to the agenda item along with several reports and correspondence on Project Labor Agreements:

CWA/PLA Task Force Committee Recommendations

Below is the link to the San Jose Mercury-News editorial today warning that a Project Labor Agreement would cut bid competition if unions get the provisions their officials are demanding from the city council:

Editorial: Project Labor Agreement in San Jose Shouldn’t Stifle Competition for Work

Remember, however, that decisions about government-mandated Project Labor Agreements are based on POLITICS, not LOGIC. Watch the city council members who have ambitions for higher office. How aggressively will they push to give the unions what they want?