City of Long Beach Exceeds Project Labor Agreement Hiring Requirements

Long Beach, CA

The City of Long Beach meets and, in some cases, exceeds the local hiring requirements in the City Council adopted citywide Project Labor Agreement (PLA) for construction projects in the City.

“The City is working diligently to employ local labor on construction projects,” said City Manager Patrick H. West. “With unemployment in Long Beach at a low of 4.4%, we continue to make sure that Long Beach workers get the first opportunity at available jobs.”

The City Council adopted the Project Labor Agreement on April 7, 2015 which sets forth local hiring requirements on construction projects through the Los Angeles/Orange Counties Building and Construction Trades Council, and the Craft Councils and Local Unions on City projects over $500,000.

To date the PLA has applied to 15 City projects, totaling an investment of $48,272,959. Local hiring provisions of 40% of total work hours for all projects were far exceeded.

“Long Beach residents performed approximately 1 out of every 5 hours on a PLA project,” said Public Works Director Craig Beck.  “While there is always room for improvement, this is a great first step.”

Local hiring provisions include priority employment for Long Beach and Gateway City residents. Long Beach residents performed approximately 1 out of every 5 hours of work performed on PLA projects. Additionally, efforts to encourage placement of disadvantaged and veteran workers cumulatively surpassed the PLA goal of 10%.

• Cumulative Work Hours: 168,000
• Long Beach and Gateway City Hires: 41%
• Total Local Hires: 78%
• Disadvantaged/Veteran Hires: 14%

City staff are scheduled to provide an update to the City Council on the successful implementation of the citywide Project Labor Agreement in July, 2017.