The Baltimore City Board of Estimates (BOE) voted unanimously today to approve a new project labor agreement (PLA) between the city and the Baltimore-DC Metro Building Trades Council. The agreement will cover four upcoming water and waste treatment projects.
“Baltimore is growing and it is undergoing a Renaissance,” said Building Trades Council President Greg Akerman. “With today’s approval of this PLA, we look forward to partnering with the city to help it grow in the right way — prioritizing good local jobs, family-sustaining wages and training opportunities that create lifelong careers.”
“This PLA,” he added, “will ensure these projects are completed on-time, on-budget and with the highest of standards.”
“We look forward to partnering with the city to help it grow in the right way — prioritizing good local jobs, family-sustaining wages and training opportunities that create lifelong careers.”
– Baltimore-DC Metro Building Trades Council President Greg Akerman
“We look forward to partnering with the city to help it grow in the right way — prioritizing good local jobs, family-sustaining wages and training opportunities that create lifelong careers.”
– Baltimore-DC Metro Building Trades Council President Greg Akerman
Projects covered by the new PLA will include the Ashburton Pumping Station, the Quad Avenue Pumping Station, the Dundalk Pumping Station and the Sparrows Point Alternate Outfall. Combined, the projects will include more than $130 million in work.
The Board of Estimates consists of five voting members: Mayor Brandon Scott, City Council President Zeke Cohen, Comptroller Bill Henry, City Solicitor Ebony Thompson and the Director of Public Works Matthew Garbark.
A key purpose of the PLA is to “develop and grow a skilled workforce here in Baltimore City, to be able to perform the vital work necessary to preserve and maintain our infrastructure,” said Deputy Director of the Baltimore City Department of Public Works Alan Robinson.
PLAs standardize working conditions across trades, improve workforce coordination, streamline processes for resolving jurisdictional disputes and prohibit strikes and lockouts.
“This PLA is going to ensure that we have highly skilled and trained workers to perform the needed work,” added Robinson. “There will be fewer change orders, thus reducing the cost in the long run.”
PLAs also advance collaboration with projects such as Raising the Bar Baltimore, a 6-week apprenticeship readiness program run by the Construction Trades Workforce Initiative (CTWI), a non-profit partner of the Baltimore-DC Metro Building Trades Council. The program offers participants an introduction to the unionized building trades and supports them as they apply to and enter local construction apprenticeship programs.
Watch Highlights of the Dec. 22 PLA Press Conference:
“This agreement says that 20 percent of the journey level and 50 percent of the apprenticeship work hours shall be performed by Baltimore City residents.”
– Alan Robinson, Deputy Director of the Baltimore City Department of Public Works
“This agreement says that 20 percent of the journey level and 50 percent of the apprenticeship work hours shall be performed by Baltimore City residents.”
– Alan Robinson, Deputy Director of the Baltimore City Department of Public Works
The new PLA includes local hiring requirements for apprentices.
“This agreement says that 20 percent of the journey level and 50 percent of the apprenticeship work hours shall be performed by Baltimore City residents,” said Robinson.
Small minority- and women-owned businesses are exempt from the apprenticeship requirements, which Robinson noted “can admittedly be a major cost for a small business.” In addition, he said, work performed by subcontractors that is valued at $500,000 or less is exempt from the local hire requirements for apprentices.
Ray Baker, Maryland Director of the Baltimore-DC Building Trades Council, answers questions about the new PLA from members of the Board of Estimates at their Jan. 7 meeting. Photo: Screenshot of Charm TV livestream.
In response to a question from Comptroller Bill Henry about whether the building trades had a pipeline for helping returning citizens access apprenticeship programs, Building Trades Council Maryland Director Ray Baker said such outreach was a priority and that Raising the Bar was a great program for making that happen.
“We appreciate everybody in the city who’s working to employ returning citizens,” said Baker, adding that the local building trades are committed to doing their part.
“We do seek out and find and put into our program a number of returning citizens,” he added, noting that a new Raising the Bar Baltimore cohort would be starting on Feb. 6. By replicating and expanding that program, he said, the building trades can increase the number of returning citizens it helps get into the trades.