May 21, 2009

Our school bonds at work:

Local jobs with career paths and healthcare

The San Diego Unified School Board is closing in on a crucial decision, a chance to ensure that the spending of $2.1 billion in bond funds benefits the local economy and local families as much as possible.

On the board's agenda next Tuesday is a Project Stabilization Agreement (PSA) for school construction and renovation projects funded with Prop S bonds. Approving the negotiated agreement will mean that more of the 10,000 new jobs will:

1) stay local,
2) provide career paths rather than temporary work, and
3) include health insurance.  (In fact, it is the only legal way the school board can ensure that the jobs include health coverage.)

As CPI Executive Director Donald Cohen explained on KPBS radio, setting job standards creates a level field for contractors and helps local workers, including parents in the school district and graduating students.  Community leaders and elected officials have agreed that PSAs strengthen local communities by giving workers middle-class careers and keeping tax dollars local.  

The agreement has become controversial only because some builders and contractors insist that more of the money go into their own pockets instead of the local economy.  PSAs, also known as Project Labor Agreements, have been successfully used in many jurisdictions, with the added benefits of improving workflow coordination and quality.  

The record shows that the agreements don't raise costs, don't restrict the number of bidders, and don't block nonunion contractors -- all myths pushed by the builders.

The Chula Vista City Council is among many government agencies that recognize the value of similar agreements.  The Council last week rejected the builders' coercive attempts to force a ballot initiative on banning all project labor agreements.  In this county, PSAs have been negotiated for construction of Petco Park, the San Diego Water Authority's Emergency Storage Project, and the Otay Mesa Power Plant, among others.

The school district is finishing negotiations of its PSA.  If you haven't done so, please send the board members a letter of encouragement.  Let us know if you can attend the meeting.

Jobs must be good, green, and local

Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins, CEO of Green for All, the premier national organization linking the battles to protect the planet and fight poverty, spoke in San Diego recently as part of the CPI Speaker Series.  She stressed that green-collar jobs must focus not only on clean energy, but also on raising job quality standards and lifting the disadvantaged out of poverty. Watch the video here.

CPI is continuing to work for a healthy green economy as part of the California Green Stimulus Coalition.  The alliance of 44 organizations advocates that the state's federal stimulus dollars be invested in creating high-quality jobs and equitable economic development as well as long-term environmental progress.

Progressive talk radio is back!

In the jungle of rightwing-dominated talk radio, a liberal voice was heard on San Diego's airwaves this week, for the first time since the demise of Air America on KLSD in 2007.

Jon Elliott, a nationally syndicated radio host, has returned to San Diego with a new program that will air 3-6 p.m. Mondays Friday on AM 1700. Set your dial or go to jontalk.com to listen online.