The board running Rochester’s $1.3 billion school modernization project has taken a court-ordered second vote…and once again, voted down the Project Labor Agreement for phase two of the project.
The PLA spelled out how much of the project should be subcontracted to minority and women-owned companies and required the use of union labor. The Rochester Building Trades Council filed suit against the Rochester Joint Schools Construction Board claiming the vote was invalid. A judge ordered the board to vote again, and this time to explain its decision.
The vote went the same way…shooting down the agreement 4-3. The majority said the previous agreement’s apprenticeship program produced only five trainees out of 90 who ended up working on the project. Supporters said that was true, but other provisions put more than $13 million into the pockets of minority workers on Phase One of the project.