Political Director’s Report – June/July 2024

School Modernization Means More Jobs

By Antonio Sanchez, Political Director

This article is about an issue near and dear to my heart – our public schools, where my kids go, where your kids go – that will create better learning environments and more jobs for Local 11.

Government agencies in Los Angeles County have until mid-August to decide whether they will place a measure or bond before the voters in November of this year. More specifically, that means school districts and community college districts will decide if they place construction or modernization bonds on the ballot, which means work for you and our contractors. I track this closely because we have the ability to support bonds where we have a project labor agreement (PLA). Naturally, if we don’t have a PLA and the agency is placing a bond on the ballot, we’ll pursue a PLA and lock down the work.

According to a recent study by the Public Policy Institute of California, a quarter of public school students in California attend schools with damaged floors, walls, or ceilings, and 14 percent with damaged electrical systems. We need to modernize our public schools.

It is very likely that California voters will vote on a statewide school construction and modernization bond in November. Couple those funds with a local school bond and that can mean millions of dollars in school construction, which means more job calls for IBEW and the other building trades.

I will continue to update you on various topics that we will vote on in November.