Project Labor Agreement

Cynthia E. Griffin-  |   OW Managing Editor
Feb 2 2012

Crenshaw/LAX is first project on list

Now that the parade of labor union members and leaders, bus riders, politicians and ordinary citizens have voiced their overwhelming support for an historic Project Labor Agreement (PLA) and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) Board of Directors unanimously approved it, the next step [in the process] is to get an OK from the Federal Transportation Administration (FTA).

Once the FTA has signed off on the agreement, the Crenshaw/LAX Light Rail line will be the first project to begin construction under the new guidelines.

Cynthia E. Griffin-  |   OW Managing Editor
Sep 29 2011

Next step is enforcement, says advocate

Now that the board of the Metropolitan Transit Agency (MTA) has given staff the go-ahead to begin negotiating a project labor agreement (PLA) construction careers policy with the Los Angeles and Orange County Construction Trade Council, the best way to ensure Black workers have equal access to the jobs that will be created by this new policy is to make sure the new agreement is properly enforced.

Cynthia E. Griffin-  |   OW Managing Editor
Sep 22 2011

Advocates for Black workers push approval

On Thursday, the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) is expected to vote on a proposal by Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas that would direct staff to start negotiations with the Los Angeles and Orange county building trade councils on a project labor agreement (PLA) that proponents believe will ensure that more African American workers and low-income residents have an opportunity to secure construction jobs.

Oct 20 2010

New MLK Hospital

LOS ANGELES, Calif.—The Board of Supervisors have agreed to back mandatory hiring of local workers to help build the new Martin Luther King Jr. Medical Center.

The deal approved by the board requires at least 30 percent of the project's construction labor hours be worked by local residents.

First preference will be given to qualified workers who live within five miles of the Willowbrook-area hospital. Next in line will be county residents who live in any Zip code with unemployment more than 1.5 times the county rate.

Across Black America

Here’s a look at African American people and issues making headlines throughout the country.
 

Alabama
Freeman A. Hrabowski, president of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, will address the annual African American Business Council luncheon on June 28. Hrabowski, who is chairman of President Barack Obama’s Advisory Commission on Education Excellence for African Americans, has a national reputation for his work studying the performance of minority students in math and science. Hrabowski, named one of the 10 best college presidents in the country by Time magazine, was a child leader in the Civil Rights Movement in Birmingham in the 1960s.
 

Arkansas
The Liberty Counsel filed a motion and a brief in United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas seeking to intervene on behalf of a Concepts of Life crisis pregnancy center to defend against a suit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Center for Reproductive Rights. The groups seek to impose a permanent injunction before the Human Heartbeat Protection Act goes into effect July 18. Liberty Counsel also filed a brief opposing the ACLU’s request for an injunction. The “Heartbeat” bill states that when a woman seeks an abortion at or after the 12th week, doctors must test for a fetal heartbeat before an abortion is performed and inform the pregnant mother that the child in her womb has a heartbeat. If a heartbeat is detected, a woman cannot have an abortion, except in cases of rape, incest, and if a mother’s life is in danger. “As we promised when the legislation was introduced, Liberty Counsel will defend this law without reservation for the people of Arkansas, born and pre-born,” said Matt Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel. “No right is more foundational than the right to life. Without life, all other rights are irrelevant,” concluded Staver.