On September 1, the Chula Vista City Council voted 4-0 to put the Fair and Open Competition in Contracting Ordinance on the June 8, 2010 ballot. If passed by the voters, the ordinance will prohibit the City from mandating certain types of discriminatory union-only requirements for public projects. The essential language of the ordinance can be found here.
Union representatives asked the City Council to delete the word “fair” from the title of the ordinance, but the city council is not allowed by law to alter the text of the initiative after the proponents submit the required number of signatures.
To watch the entire discussion of the ordinance, go to this link and select Agenda Item #15 in the right box:
See the San Diego Union-Tribune article on the vote here:
Strangely, a representative of the IBEW Local No. 569 used her comment time at the city council meeting to read out loud the promotional statement for the California Strategic Planning Conference on Fighting Project Labor Agreements (September 18-19. 2009 in Napa):
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Essential Language of Chula Vista City Ordinance, September 1, 2009
2.59.030 Requirements for Fair and Open Competition in Contracting
In contracting for the construction, maintenance, repair, improvement or replacement of public works projects:
(a) The City shall not fund, in whole or in part, or enter into, any contract which contains a requirement that a contracting party:
(1) execute, comply with, or become a party to an agreement between a Labor organization, on the one hand, and the
City, the Contracting Party, or any third party on the other;
(2) become a signatory to a collective bargaining agreement;
(3) be required to make payments on behalf of employees to union benefit plans or other trust funds;
(4) require its employees to be represented by a Labor organization; or
(5) encourage or discourage employees of a contracting party to have representation by a Labor organization.
(b) The City shall not impose, as a bid specification, contract prerequisite, contract term or otherwise, any requirement prohibited
by subsection (a) of this Section.
(c) Nothing in this Section shall be construed as prohibiting private parties covered by this provision from entering into individual
collective bargaining relationships, or otherwise as regulating or interfering with activity protected by applicable law, including
but not limited to the Act.
(d) Any person aggrieved or injured in any way by a violation of this Section shall be entitled to injunctive relief in the Superior
Court of the State of California, County of San Diego, including by way of an action filed pursuant to California Code of Civil
Procedure section 526a.
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More News To Come!
Big Labor Fights Against Fair and Open Competition Ordinance
In 1960 almost eighty percent of the contractors doing commercial, industrial and even service work were union firms. Open shop contractors who tried to enter the market were burned out, beaten up, picketed by hundreds (in some cases, thousands) of chanting, threatening union workers.
ABC and its members in those days were under constant threat. But they stuck with it. In the very early seventies, after violence had become epidemic, the association filed a nation wide charge against every national union and most of the union locals. The charges were before the National Labor Relations Board and they were unprecedented. The result was a dampening of the violence.
Before this and other significant legal and legislative actions, merit shop projects were bombed and burned with terrible regularity. Yet ABC and its members persevered.
Now, the unions tend to be less violent, less obtrusive and in large part due to the efforts of ABC and its members, much less successful. Today only about fifteen percent of commercial and industrial construction work is performed by union contractors.
But the unions have not quit; they are still there, still demanding that work be all union, still pressing on law makers and regulators to limit the rights of merit shop contractors. And ABC and its members are still fighting the good fight.
The stronger ABC is, the better it is at helping you defend the right to run your businesses as you chose – as merit shop contractors.
The Role of ABC San Diego's Legislative and PAC Committees
Get into politics or get out of business!
ABC San Diego Legislative Committee guides the government affairs actions of the chapter. This committee is gathering strength, having grown in response to the continuing merit shop struggle against a small 'special interest' group which believes it has the inherent right to dictate how ABC members run their businesses.
The ABC legislative committee consists of a wide cross section of members from general to specialty contractors and other industry associates. The committee focus is to fight for the rights of the merit shop. It remains an up-hill battle with organized labor controlling so much of the politics impacting our industry - and the politicians who push through laws that favor union over merit shop. For years we have been on the defensive. Today we are fighting back with equal or greater resolve. Our fight isn't pro- or anti-union. Rather, it's about what is right and fair based on our founding fathers philosophy of freedom, dignity, and the innate rights of citizens throughout the free world.
Contact Bill Baber or
Scott Crosby if you would like to know more about the Legislative and PAC committees, or how to get involved.