Group forms to challenge IID over use of PLAs

IMPERIAL — A construction coalition has formed to tackle Imperial Irrigation District over the use of project labor agreements for construction projects.

The United Desert Communities of Imperial and Riverside Counties said it was created “to fight discriminatory and costly PLA being pushed by construction unions on IID work.” The group said the PLA would send money out of desert communities and bring in out-of-town workers.

A PLA is a collective bargaining agreement that applies to a specific construction project and lasts only for the duration of the project. It essentially guarantees the use of union labor.

Imperial Irrigation District has only entered into negotiations to form a project labor agreement for construction contracts. However, UDC recently issued a mailer that included the IID emblem, which the district contends created the false impression that the information came from IID.

The IID responded by contacting the attorney general about this allegation for possible action, saying the mailer was misleading and contained contact information of all of its directors.

IID Director Bruce Kuhn said both unions and non-union contractors can bid on IID projects, but if a non-union contractor gets the job, most of the workers would probably be union members.

“The devil is in the details,” Kuhn said. “If you are non-union, you are going to read it differently.”

He said if a company or a contractor is a successful bidder with the district, it will have to pay its workers a prevailing wage.

IID also has a 5 percent local preference to give local contractors an advantage in bidding for projects.

“We did that to keep the jobs here,” he said. “It was done to keep the money here.”

IID Board President Norma Sierra Galindo said the PLA, if approved, would be for high-ticket jobs, like $200,000 or more, but added the district is not in an agreement at this time to require a PLA.

She said it could take six months to a year to determine if this is what the IID wants, adding she is very familiar with the mailer that was sent out.

Galindo said the whole issue of PLAs is the preference of the unions and non-union.

“No one who is anti-union is going to be in favor of a PLA,” she said.

She added there are many union workers who leave the county now because there is no work available.

Galindo said unions provide a safe work environment, pay prevailing wages and have adequate rights for workers.

Alan Huber, president of Elms Equipment Rental Inc. and a UDC member, said a PLA will result in money leaving the Imperial and Coachella valleys and going to San Diego and Los Angeles.

“It’s like everything else, but it boils down to anti-union and pro-union.” he said.

According to a letter from the group, it states that it wants to educate the public about PLAs and what they mean.

“PLAs force non-union contractors to lay off all but a few of their employees and hire the rest from a union hiring hall,” UDC said. Those few who are kept and do not work under the PLA have to pay dues to the union for benefits they would only be entitled to after being

vested for five years, the coalition said.

Huber said this amounts to $42,000 a year per employee for benefits that can never be used because when the project is completed the employee returns to his former job before completing the required 5,000 hours of work to be vested.

The result is all of the money being paid toward the benefits goes away and back to the union.

He said that $42,000 his workers still receive is huge to help pay for mortgages and other bills, while also being beneficial to the county because of the taxes they pay.

“We are not anti-union,” Huber said. “We are anti PLAs.”

He added all they want is to be treated fairly.

“Our group is trying to educate the ratepayers and citizenry of how much this affects us,” he said.

He pointed out that the Battery Plant built a few years ago cost $3.1 million more after the union ultimately was chosen to do the project over nonunion workers.

The mailer lists the phone numbers of all five IID directors as well as General Manager Henry Martinez and is asking the public to call them to express their concerns with a PLA.

Galindo pointed out there is no PLA at this time, and knows of at least one IID director who is opposed to them.