warning Hi, we've moved to USCANNENBERGMEDIA.COM. Visit us there!

Neon Tommy - Annenberg digital news

Crenshaw/LAX Project Takes the Next Step With First-of-Its-Kind Job Initiative

Kaitlyn Mullin |
October 14, 2013 | 4:03 p.m. PDT

Staff Reporter

USC/Exposition Metro Station (Photo by Kaitlyn Mullin)
USC/Exposition Metro Station (Photo by Kaitlyn Mullin)
Plans for the Crenshaw to LAX light rail line in Los Angeles are moving forward, and Metro is working closely with local community groups and union coordinators to ensure their job initiative program goes into full effect during the next steps of the hiring process, said a Metro representative. 

The Crenshaw/LAX line is the first transportation project to enact an Federal Transit Administration (FTA) approved project labor agreement, which outlines how the Metro and the trade unions involved in the project will settle disagreements. 

The Crenshaw/LAX project drafted a creative job initiative, which complies completely with the federal law against local hire, but maintains the ability to hire from disadvantaged communities in the Los Angeles area. This project would not be possible without federal funding, but with money coming from national taxpayers, the project is not allowed to create a local hire program.

“There is a requirement by the federal government that there be no local hire component, but what we’re doing is hiring people from nationally [recognized] disadvantaged areas, many of which are in Los Angeles,” said Miriam Long, a Metro regional communications manager. 

The next step in the hiring process is for interested people in these disadvantaged zip codes to meet with a union coordinator and apply for a union, said Metro representatives. 

Metro has required that their contractor, Walsh/Shea, hire a jobs coordinator to act as a liaison with unions and facilitate the hiring process. Walsh/Shea has chosen to hire PV Jobs for the position, according to a Metro representative.

PV Jobs is a non-profit organization that helps disadvantaged workers find construction work opportunities, according to their website. PV Jobs will connect disadvantaged workers with the contractors for hiring, by reaching out to local unions and requesting interested workers and apprentices who fit the criteria of the job initiative, according to the Jose Ubaldo, Metro’s communications manager.

To facilitate this process, Metro has been actively working with union coordinators and local community groups like the Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy (LAANE) to educate eligible workers about the industry and the skills required. 

“We try to give hope but we want to be realistic,” said Metro representative Long. Metro has worked closely with LAANE to provide disadvantaged workers and potential apprentices access to education, support groups, and connections to resources, according to Long.

LAANE focuses on promoting good jobs and responsible development in industries rooted in the working economy, like construction, said LAANE Director of Construction Careers Jackie Cornejo. Cornejo said that LAANE is currently in the process of creating a video with similar content to their successful workshops and infographics to make the content more accessible to potential workers or apprentices. 

According to Cornejo, Proposition 209, which prohibits both discrimination and preferential treatment based on race, sex or ethnicity, limits what agencies can do in terms of targeting hiring to historically disadvantaged communities, but LAANE works with both agencies like Metro and local communities to promote responsible development.

“We are committed to that community and to that neighborhood and we are targeting out efforts there because the law doesn’t allow the agencies to do that,” said Cornejo. 

Representatives from both LAANE and Metro said they hope this project will be a stepping-stone for apprentices and disadvantaged workers interested towards construction careers.

There are two more Metro projects starting next year, a regional connector and the extension of the purple line, and a growing need for construction work in many areas in Los Angeles, according to Metro’s Director of Economic Initiatives, Miguel Cabral.

“People are trying to live close to the stations so they can avoid driving, money on cars, money on driving. It’s a new way of life that’s coming little by little and Metro has a lot to do with this,” said Cabral. The growing need for construction jobs in the future may offer long-term construction careers to the apprentices and disadvantaged workers given the opportunity to start working on the Crenshaw/LAX project through the job initiative program. 

Both LAANE and Metro also said the Crenshaw/LAX rail line has the potential to improve the economy in the local communities. 

“Rail lines bring more foot traffic for the business and that is money for everybody and creates the transformation of urban landscape,” said Cabral. According to him, Hollywood is an example of how this transformation has occurred over the past 10 to 15 years thanks to the Hollywood/Highland station and the expansion of the Metro. 

Cornejo said developers would flock to the area looking for transit-oriented development opportunities. She says the next phase of LAANE’s involvement in this project will be making sure local businesses aren’t harmed during construction. LAANE will be vigilant about what future projects go into the communities affected by the new rail line and make sure that future projects that request government subsidies are responsibly developed and offer opportunities to disadvantaged workers, Cornejo said. 

Read more about the job initiative and the LAANE workshops here.

Reach Staff Reporter Kaitlyn Mullin here.



 

Buzz

Craig Gillespie directed this true story about "the most daring rescue mission in the history of the U.S. Coast Guard.”

Watch USC Annenberg Media's live State of the Union recap and analysis here.

 
ntrandomness