San Francisco committee hears progress report on citywide Project Labor Agreement; hearing filed for the record

The Budget & Finance Committee on Dec. 13 reviewed three years of reports on San Francisco’s citywide Project Labor Agreement, hearing presentations from the Comptroller’s Office and the Office of Labor Standards Enforcement and testimony from labor representatives who urged expanding the PLA’s reach.

Supervisor Safai, who led the hearing, said the 2019 PLA was intended to reduce disruptions on public construction projects and increase San Francisco residents’ access to union construction jobs. He asked staff to clarify which projects currently meet PLA thresholds and whether private dollars commingled with public funding trigger PLA coverage.

Mark De La Rosa, Director of Audits in the Comptroller’s Office, and Hunter Wong outlined the PLA’s three coverage criteria and reported counts of covered projects. As of June 30, 2023, the offices reported 23 awarded PLA projects with contract amounts the office listed as over $428 million, 20 advertised projects estimated at more than $336 million, and 23 planned projects totaling roughly $381 million. The Comptroller’s Office said no PLA-covered projects had been completed in the audit window and described a preliminary evaluation framework to assess PLA effects on cost, schedule and local-business and workforce outcomes.

Pat Mulligan of the Office of Labor Standards Enforcement said OLSE handles PLA administration, tracks letters of assent and LBE exemption statements, and convenes a PLA working group. OLSE reported receiving 284 letters of assent and 46 exemption statements; earlier testimony from labor indicated a figure of about 288 letters (the committee noted this may include duplications of contractors signing for multiple projects).

Rudy Gonzalez, Secretary-Treasurer of the San Francisco Building Trades Council, praised the PLA for improving local apprenticeship and hire rates and cited CityBuild direct-entry agreements that open union apprenticeship slots to CityBuild graduates. Gonzalez urged expanding PLA coverage to additional city departments and housing-related projects and asked the committee to ensure OLSE has the staffing to monitor implementation.

Union speakers during public comment described pandemic-era reductions in downtown construction hours that have limited apprenticeship opportunities, and they urged clearer rules on how private contributions to public projects are treated for PLA coverage. Committee members discussed that the PLA ordinance’s thresholds explicitly address commingling: bond-funded projects have a $1,000,000 advertisement-bid threshold in some windows, while non-bond-funded projects are subject to a $10,000,000 threshold, per the PLA language presented to the committee.

After presentations and public comment, Supervisor Safai moved to file the hearing so the committee can continue periodic check-ins on implementation and potential expansions. The committee adopted the motion by roll call.

What comes next: committee members said they will seek legal advice and, if warranted, consider legislation or other measures to clarify whether and how affordable-housing projects funded in part with city dollars should be treated as PLA-covered work. The PLA working group will continue to address tracking LBEs, mid-contract status changes and coordination across departments.