On Jul 23, 2019, at 1:08 PM, Eric Christen wrote on behalf of the Coalition for Fair Employment in Construction:

Re: Sacramento City Council Needs to Inquire About Union CEQA Extortion on Another Proposed Sacramento Project - The 10K Project

Councilmembers and Mayor:

At your meeting tonight you will consider the case of a construction trade union objecting to the environmental review of a proposed 15-Story Mixed-Use Development at 930 K Street (Item #43).

As you will see in your agenda packet, the Laborers International Union of North America (LIUNA), Local Union 185 believes "the Project may have adverse environmental impacts" and therefore much time and money must be spent to prepare an Environmental Impact Report under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).

You may have noticed that this same union recently objected to the environmental review of the proposed Centene corporate campus (Natomas Crossing Quadrant B). The union withdraw its appeal of your approval of the project after it made a secret deal with the developer and at least one city council member. The same union pulled to same stunt on the Core Natomas project.  See that separate Laborers Union letter, extracted and isolated from other documents, here.

You should ask representatives of the Laborers Union and their lawyers from the law firm of Lozeau Drury LLP if the environmental concerns will go away if the developer agrees to require its construction contractors to sign a Project Labor Agreement with unions. We hear that Project Labor Agreements are regarded by unions as an effective way to mitigate impacts on biological resources.

Or, you could give them a commendation for emerging as Sacramento’s most committed environmentalist organization. As you can see in the chart below, the Laborers Union is now challenging the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers union, the Plumbers and Pipefitters union, the Sheet Metal Workers union, the Unite Here union, and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) for the crown of California’s most committed environmental organization.

It’s your choice whether to expose and condemn this exploitation of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), pretend the abuse isn’t happening, or praise CEQA as one of the most powerful labor laws of our time.

Sincerely, 

Eric Christen
Executive Director
Coalition for Fair Employment in Construction
www.opencompca.com