Meeting: September 8, 2026
Request of Mayor Torosis and Councilmembers Hall and Raskin Directing the City Manager and City Attorney to Negotiate a Community Workforce Agreement Santa Monica is in the middle of one of the most significant public capital construction periods in the City's recent history. With the Citywide Realignment Plan, the City is directing tens of millions of dollars toward construction projects that will shape our community for decades.
Every one of these projects is funded by Santa Monica taxpayers and delivered through construction contracts the City itself awards and oversees. As the public agency responsible for building and maintaining excellent public infrastructure, the City has both the leverage and the responsibility to ensure that this investment translates into good, stable careers for the people who build it, not just completed buildings.
A Community Workforce Agreement (CWA) is a pre-hire agreement between the City and the building trades that sets consistent labor standards on covered public works projects in exchange for a no-strike, no-lockout commitment that keeps projects on time and on budget. CWAs prioritize hiring of local and targeted workers with barriers to employment, require use of state-approved apprenticeship programs that create pathways into the trades for Santa Monica residents without a four-year degree, and set clear grievance procedures so disputes get resolved without delaying construction.
CWAs have been used successfully implemented in neighboring jurisdictions including West Hollywood, Long Beach, and our own Santa Monica Malibu Unified School District.
By negotiating a CWA, Santa Monica can ensure that the public dollars we are already spending on construction also build local careers, strengthen the pipeline of skilled tradespeople in our community, and protect the City from costly labor disruptions on major projects.
Therefore, direction by Mayor Torosis and Councilmembers Hall and Raskin to have the City Manager and City Attorney negotiate a Community Workforce Agreement covering City of Santa Monica-funded public works construction projects.