Pittsburgh Mayor William Peduto signed two executive orders related to project labor agreements and workforce partnerships.
Project labor agreements are employment agreements between contractors and labor organizations on construction projects. They provide access to a reliable supply of well-trained, highly-skilled workers and help projects get completed on-time and on-budget.
In Pittsburgh, these agreements will now apply to city-managed projects of $500,000 or more and be subject to oversight by a project labor agreement review committee.
The city will now require contractors to ensure at least 12% on their on-site workforce comprise of minority workers on the city’s biggest projects. In addition, such projects will need to be held to the city’s minority and women-owned contracting goals of 18% and 7%, respectively.
The workforce partnership order recognizes that minorities and women are underrepresented in the construction industry, and more efforts are needed to boost construction career opportunities in a time when the industry is in need of well-trained workers, according to a statement issued by the city.
“We believe these two steps are raising the bar for city construction projects and building a pipeline to the worksite for people who have traditionally been excluded,” Mayor Peduto said in a prepared statement.
