Agenda Item
DATE: 8/12/2025
TO: HONORABLE MAYOR AND CITYCOUNCIL
FROM: KRISTOPHER J. KOKOTAYLO, CITYATTORNEY
SUBJECT: ADOPT ARESOLUTION APPROVING THE COMMUNITY WORKFORCE AGREEMENT WITH THE
BUILDINGAND CONSTRUCTION TRADES COUNCIL OF ALAMEDACOUNTYAND THOSE SIGNATORY
LOCAL UNIONS
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Staff began working with the Building and Construction Trades Council of Alameda County (the “BTC”) in late 2024 on terms for a potential Community Workforce Agreement (“CWA”) and completed a draft this summer. Staff presented the draft CWA to the Legislation and Policy Committee (the “Committee”) for review on July 21, 2025.
Following review, the Committee recommended that staff present the CWA to the City Council for consideration with a recommendation for approval.
Staff recommend that the City Council consider the CWA and, if the City Council agrees with the Committee’s recommendation, adopt the proposed resolution.
STRATEGIC PLAN ALIGNMENT
This agenda item is not directly related to the City Council Strategic Plan.
BACKGROUND
CWAs are binding, pre-hire agreements requiring the use of organized labor on qualifying public works projects. CWAs can be structured to apply to a broad class of public works projects and include provisions, such as local hire, designated to benefit the community. CWAs also typically include labor-peace provisions that prohibit strikes, work slowdowns, stoppages, and lockouts.
Since late 2024, the BTC and City have been engaged on a potential CWA for qualifying capital projects. After extension discussion and negotiations, staff presented a draft CWA to the Committee on July 21, 2025. The Committee reviewed the CWA and recommended that staff present the CWA to the City Council for consideration with a recommendation for approval.
DISCUSSION
The proposed CWA is attached to the resolution for Council consideration. Below is a summary of the significant provisions of the CWA:
1. Term (18.2): The City and the BTC negotiated a term of five years for the CWA. At the end of the term, the CWA will automatically renew for successive one-year periods, which will end on March 7, 2027.
2. Applicable projects (1.17): The CWA applies to City projects where the engineer’s estimate of the total cost of the project or the cumulative bid amount(s) submitted by the contractor(s) award Construction Contracts for the Project meets or exceeds $1,000,000.
The CWA will apply to all applicable Construction Contracts after the effective date of the CWA.
3. Exclusions (2.4): The CWA include a number of exceptions. These include construction contracts awarded by entities other than the City as well as work performed by the City's own employees and certain qualifying work that occurs during an emergency.
Notably, the CWA excludes construction contracts substantially funded by any federal, state, local, or other public agency that prohibits the application of this Agreement; however, the City agrees to meet and confer with the BTC to determine if the CWA can remain in place where a specific provision is prohibited by the funding source without application of that specific provision. The determination as to whether to the CWA can remain in place is in the sole determination of the City.
4. Labor Disputes (4.1 and 4.2): The CWA provides that there shall be no strikes, sympathy strikes, work stoppages, picketing, hand-billing, or other specified labor disputes by the Unions or employees employed on a CWA covered project. The CWA includes an expedited arbitration provision in the event of a labor dispute in violation of the CWA with liquidated damages of $10,000 per missed shift.
5. Joint-Administrative Committee (5.4): The City and the BTC will establish a Joint Administrative Committee comprised of an equal number of representatives from the City and the BTC to ensure the terms of the CWA are being fulfilled and to address concerns regarding the operation of the CWA.
6. Referral Timeliness (8.6): A Union Hiring Hall must fill a requested position within a 48-hour period. Failure to do so permits the contractor to obtain the worker from any source.
7. Local Hires (10.1): Local Residents are those individuals that reside within the City of Union City. The Local Hire Goal is a minimum of 25% of all hours worked on the project to be worked by Local Residents and other local areas at varying priority levels as outlined below:
a. Priority 1: Residents of the City of Union City
b. Priority 2: Residents of the Cities of Fremont, Newark, and Hayward c. Priority 3: Residents of Alameda County
d. Priority 4: All other areas
8. Apprenticeships (10.2): Contractors must hire one new apprentice for the first $1,000,000 determined by the engineer's estimate and one new apprentice for every $5,000,000. Apprentices must work a minimum of 10% of the total craft's work hours and may be deployed to another project to ensure the minimum number of hours are met. New Apprentices are "Local Residents" who are being sponsored into or has been enrolled in a State-Approved apprenticeship training program administered by a Joint Apprenticeship Training Committee for less than two years.
9. Community Partnerships (10.3): The CWA provides the City and the BTC, in partnership with the Construction Trades Workforce Initiative and in conjunction with other interested community-based organizations, will work together in good faith to identify and develop an initiative, or multiple initiatives, to connect residents of the region with careers in the Building and Construction Trades, with a particular focus on providing opportunities to disadvantaged individuals.
If the City Council adopts the Resolution, the CWA would take effect beginning January 1, 2026. This ensures sufficient time for staff to obtain the necessary consulting services and implement the terms of the CWA.
FISCAL IMPACT
The City will incur actual and administrative costs with implementing the proposed CWA. The City does not have the staff expertise to manage the CWA and thus will require contractor services which have been included in the City’s budget.
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommend that the City Council consider the CWA and, if the City Council agrees with the Committee’s recommendation, adopt the proposed resolution.
Prepared by:
Kristopher J. Kokotaylo, CityAttorney
Submitted by:
Kristopher J. Kokotaylo, CityAttorney
ATTACHMENTS:
D
escriptionType
DraftResolutionResolution
CWAResolutionExhibitAExhibit
PublicComment- Israel C.AvilaAttachment
REVIEWERS: Department
ReviewerActionDate
CityAttorneyKokotaylo, KrisApproved8/7/2025-10:17PM
CityManager’sDepartmentMalloy , JoanApproved8/8/2025-4:36AM