The Sarno administration’s decision not to apply recently adopted pro-worker ordinances to the new Putnam High construction project is not sitting well with local labor groups and their supporters, who are planning a protest at City Hall on Friday.
Last August, Sarno—surrounded by labor officials and city councilors—held a ceremony to sign into effect two new ordinances: the Responsible Employer Ordinance, which ensures that workers on public construction projects worth at least $250,000 are paid prevailing wages and receive benefits, and the Public Construction Employment for Springfield Residents, Minorities and Women Ordinance, which requires that at least 35 percent of the jobs on such projects go to city residents, 20 percent go to racial minorities, and 5 percent to women.
“[T]hese ordinances ensure that trained qualified individuals with vested interests in Springfield and a desire to move Springfield forward will benefit from the awarding of public construction projects in the City of Springfield,” Sarno said at the time. “Springfield residents, minorities and women are the beneficiaries of these important ordinances.”
But not on the Putnam project. The new ordinances are not being applied to that project, which is expected to cost $125 million. City Solicitor Ed Pikula told the Republican that the city had already hired a construction contractor for the new school before the ordinances were passed, and that the project has already fallen behind schedule, with an opening date in 2012 looming.
The Foundation for Fair Contracting of Massachusetts has filed a protest with the Attorney General’s Office over the matter, as reported by Pete Goonan in this morning’s Republican.
Meanwhile, the Pioneer Valley Project and local labor groups are planning a protest at City Hall on Friday at 1 p.m. “We want the mayor to know that these jobs should go to people who live here who need opportunities,” organizers say in an announcement of the protest.
