School construction will build careers, boost local economy

Besides constructing and renovating schools, San Diego's $2 billion school bond will help build middle-class careers for many local workers and students.

Against vehement opposition from nonunion contractors, the San Diego Unified School District Board voted late Tuesday to negotiate an agreement with labor unions covering all projects under the Proposition S bond measure.  The agreement will set standards for decent jobs with fair pay, local hiring and career training programs.

Please thank School Board President Sheila Jackson and newly elected members Richard Barrera and John Lee Evans for their courageous votes and leadership!

Sheila Jackson:  sjackson@sandi.net
Richard Barrera:  rbarrera1@sandi.net
John Lee Evans:  johnleeevans@sandi.net

And please send brief letters to the Union-Tribune (letters@uniontrib.com). In an editorial Tuesday, the U-T viciously attacked Jackson and called the idea of a labor agreement that promotes social justice, high quality work and local economic recovery "madness."

Before the 3-2 vote, officials from the Los Angeles and Sacramento school districts testified that similar agreements in their districts have lowered costs and smoothed the coordination of major construction projects.  With highly trained and qualified union workers, they said projects have been completed
on time and on budget.  

The San Diego agreement will provide financial stimulus for neighborhoods and families in the construction areas.  Union apprenticeship programs will give students, high school graduates and disadvantaged workers a direct pathway to middle-class careers.

"We are in a terrible recession," Jackson said. "We need, as a district, to be responsible for the future of our city."

Nonunion and union contractors alike will be free to bid on the Prop S projects, as long as they meet the standards laid out in the agreement.  No timetable has been set for the negotiations.

Union apprenticeship programs include classroom and on-the-job training and -- unlike many other apprenticeships -- commitments from employers to hire the trained workforce after graduation, said Tom Lemmon, business manager of the San Diego Building and Construction Trades Council.

"It's the only real alternative for young people who aren't college-bound to get a career and a decent life," said Donald Cohen, executive director of the Center on Policy Initiatives.  "This is a terrific way to make sure public funds help build the middle class rather than create more low-paid, dead-end jobs."