State's labor plan in doubt for Capitol repairs

Executive order bars federal funds from union shop-only agreements

PATRICK CONDON, THE OLYMPIAN

OLYMPIA -- The state's policy of hiring union labor for its major construction projects may have to be jettisoned in order to access federal money to repair the earthquake-damaged Capitol.

The state plans to ask the Federal Emergency Management Agency for about $50 million to pay for earthquake damage on the Capitol Campus. However, just days before the quake, President Bush issued an executive order barring federal funds from flowing into construction projects that employ "project labor agreements."

In recent years, the state has held to these agreements for most major projects, allowing only union shops to land some lucrative state contracts. In fact, the long-planned $90 million Capitol renovation project was to fall under just such an arrangement, sparking the outrage of some Republicans in the Legislature.

On Wednesday, Gov. Gary Locke's spokeswoman said that the administration will jettison the union labor requirement if it's necessary to secure federal money.

"Whatever the rules are, we'll follow them," said spokeswoman Dana Middleton. "We need that federal money."

However, the Locke administration has asked FEMA to assess whether the executive order extends to disaster money, Middleton said.

"We will stick to the PLA, if we can," Middleton said.

Bill Lokey is FEMA's federal coordinating officer in Olympia. Olympia. He said agency lawyers are researching the issue right now, sifting through "piles of paperwork" from the state Department of General Administration concerning how PLAs are implemented.

"We're in new territory right now," Lokey said. "The president's order is new, and this is the first time we've had to apply it to a disaster. We want to be thorough and correct in whatever decision we make."

Lokey said he expects a ruling from FEMA legal staff sometime in the next few days.

In 1996, then-Gov. Mike Lowry signed an executive order encouraging project labor agreements on large state construction projects. A PLA is essentially a negotiated agreement between the project owner, the contractor and the unions that establish in writing all the terms and conditions of employment for the length of the project.

Advocates of the arrangement say they help make project costs more predictable and lessen the chances of labor strife. Rep. Sandra Romero, D-Olympia, is a strong supporter of the designations and had pushed for such an arrangement on the large-scale Capitol rehabilitation, which had been slated to begin in spring 2002 until the earthquake hit.

"You just have more assurance with a PLA that we won't have any sort of mischief that you could have without one," Romero said.

If Bush's executive order does apply to money for Capitol repairs, the state will have little choice but to acquiesce, said Romero, who said she had just spent three 10-hour days crammed into temporary House quarters because of quake damage to the Capitol.

"The work will need to be done," Romero said. "If it can't be done under a labor agreement, it still needs to be done."

If the state has to forgo a PLA for earthquake repairs, it will still employ the arrangement for the long-term Capitol renovation project, said Steve Valandra, spokes-man for General Administration.

Patrick Condon covers the Legislature for The Olympian. He can be reached at 753-1688 or at condonpatrick@hotmail.com.

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