City Enters into PLA With BCTC

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg announces the signing of an historic project labor agreement between New York City and the Building and Construction Trades Council at a press conference held November 24, 2009.

In an effort to stimulate construction work within New York City, the New York City Building and Construction Trades Council, AFL-CIO (BCTC) and the City of New York’s Department of Design and Construction (DDC) entered into an historic project labor agreement November 24th.
The agreement was hammered out after nearly nine months of negotiations between the DDC and the BCTC and its affiliates. Its signing was announced by BCTC President Gary LaBarbera and Mayor Michael Bloomberg at a press conference held at Chelsea Career and Technical ­Education High School at Spring and Broome Streets in the SoHo section of Manhattan.
The PLA covers $5.3 billion in public projects over the next four years. It is the first ever such agreement and a second agreement is still being negotiated to cover rehabilitation work performed by city agencies. The PLA provides a $300 million ­savings for public construction. Under the agreement, the BCTC affiliates agreed to work-rule changes, an eight-hour day (which reduces overtime costs) and includes a waiver of Wicks ­Law provisions.
The Wicks Law requires public agencies letting out work to do so under four separate contracts, general, electrical, heating and ventilation and plumbing. Under the waiver the agencies can award a single contract to a general contractor who, in turn, will sub-contract as needed to perform the work.
BCTC President LaBarbara highlighted that the $300 million savings puts dollars back into the City’s capital budget, where they can be used to fund an additional 1,800 unionized construction jobs.
Under the agreement, overtime is capped at time-and-one half. Unlike the electrical industry where this already exists, many trades affiliated with the BCTC had requirements to pay overtime at double time under certain circumstances. In addition all trades have agreed to standardized 8-hour days, eight standard holidays and 40-hour weeks with flexible start times and coordinated lunch periods. Strikes are prohibited even if broader work stoppages exist outside the work sites.
It is estimated by the City that the PLA will fund 32,000 construction jobs over the four year life of the agreement. The PLA covers $942 million in projects for the general renovation and rehabilitation of existing City-owned buildings and structures; $1.9 billion covers eleven large-scale, new construction projects including a new Police Academy, a new branch library in Far Rockaway and the City’s new 911 dispatching center. A separate PLA between the School Construction Authority and the Council funds $3.5 billion for renovation and rehabilitation of schools.
Other PLA’s covering $509 million of work at wastewater treatment plants and housing properties owned by the City are still being negotiated.

PLA Terms

Following are some of the requirements under the NYC/BCTC PLA that differ from the NECA agreement ­covering electrical workers in construction:
Only covers tradesmen working on project work;
All sub-contractors must become signatory to the PLA;
No work stoppages or strikes of any kind;
40 hour work week, Monday through Friday, 8 hours per day plus ½ hour unpaid lunch period;
Day Shift to begin between hours of 6:00 am and 9 am;
Evening Shift to begin between hours of 3:00 pm and 6:00 pm;
Night Shift to begin between hours of 11:00 pm and 2:00 am;
Overtime shall be paid for any work over eight (8) hours in a day and over forty (40) hours in a week, at time and one half ­Monday through Saturday;
Holidays:       
New Years Day, Labor Day, ­Martin Luther King Day, President’s Day, Memorial Day, Thanksgiving Day, Independence Day, Christmas Day