State can't guarantee unions quake work

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OLYMPIA - If the state wants $20 million in federal funds to fix earthquake damage to the Capitol, it can't give unions preferential treatment in hiring for the work, the Federal Emergency Management Agency said this week.

Gov. Gary Locke had wanted to use a Project Labor Agreement (PLA) on a long-planned Capitol rehabilitation project. That would have allowed the administration to guarantee union companies a percentage of the work.

The PLA is negotiated among the state, contractors and unions. In exchange for restricting who can do the work and setting uniform wages, the unions agree not to strike or take part in any work stoppage during construction.

Republicans say PLAs give unions an unfair advantage on government projects. One of President George W. Bush's first executive orders was to reverse a Clinton administration policy by ruling that federal money could not be used on any project governed by a PLA.

The state has asked for nearly $20 million from FEMA for earthquake repairs to the Legislative Building, as the Capitol is formally known. That work will now be done along with the $88.9 million worth of rehabilitation. "In FEMA's case, the appropriate action would be to decline to provide financial assistance for the affected project," William Lokey, coordinating officer of FEMA's earthquake disaster field office, wrote in a letter to state officials.

The Locke administration is having state attorneys look at existing contracts on the project, said Marty Brown, director of the Office of Financial Management.

But some key Democrats say there likely will be no Project Labor Agreement.

"I don't think the governor's office has any choice at this point," said Sen. Darlene Fairley, D-Lake Forest Park. She is chairwoman of the capital budget subcommittee of the Senate Ways and Means Committee.

"That's the people's building, and they want it fixed," Fairley said.

Republicans say they will continue to block state funding for the project if Locke insists on a union labor agreement.