City Of LA Reaches Labor Agreement For Port Work

LOS ANGELES (CBS/AP) — Los Angeles has reached a sweeping labor agreement covering $1.5 billion worth of port projects.

KNX 1070's Ron Kilgore reports.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa signed the five-year agreement Tuesday. It sets wages for construction workers, bans strikes and sets aside jobs for people living in depressed neighborhoods around the port.

The deal covers 41 projects that included expansion of shipping terminals and improving public waterfront areas. The projects could provide as many as 20,000 construction jobs -- a boom to an industry hard-hit by the housing crash.

"This project labor agreement gives thousands of our local workers in some of the most economically disadvantaged communities the jobs and job training opportunities they need to get back on their feet," Villaraigosa said.

Companies bidding on the projects will have to agree to the labor agreement stipulations, which include setting aside nearly a third of the jobs to people in local areas, apprentices and so-called disadvantaged workers such as single mothers.

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