The members of the Trade Unions are significant members of our community, Oakley. The members are residents of our town. Membership in the trade unions provides support for our ever-expanding community. Yet, I believe they have not received the respect they deserve from prior Oakley city councils, certain members of the current Oakley city council, and City Hall. The statement in the past was we are “lean and mean” with our labor. We ensure they are working with no idle time, and we will move them into positions that need filling, even if out of their job classifications.
Council members have characterized the trade union members as wage gougers, trying to get paid for as little work as possible. In the process, there have been numerous allegations that developers completing city projects are committing wage theft and often circumventing the prevailing wages we require on such projects. When I query Oakley City Engineer Keven Rohani about the allegations, he responds that it is sour grapes from the trade unions. The City receives them all the time, and they do not amount to anything. Members of the trade unions inform me differently.
California State Attorney General Robert Bonta recently provided grants totaling four million dollars to District Attorneys in the Bay Area to investigate wage theft and labor violations. Contra Costa County is to receive $720,000. I believe it is money well invested.
I believe the best method to protect our trade union members is to require all municipal Capital Improvement Projects (CIP) to be put out to bid after the City has negotiated a Project Labor Agreement (PLA) or similar document, where it is agreed among all the wages paid to the labor, the number of apprentices and journeymen hired, and the percentage of local trade union members hired. Such a supplement allows the trade unions to monitor the developers and ensure compliance with the wage requirements and labor regulations followed. Below is a copy of an article by David Hernandez of the San Francisco Chronicle detailing the grant money awarded to the county district attorneys.
https://fullerforoakley.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/wage-theft-grants.pdf