The Trustees of the Rancho Santiago Community College District have completed voting to rip us off. How so you ask? They have voted to enter into a union-only Project Labor Agreement (although they chose to call it something else, that is what it is) with regard to the Bond Measure passed last November, ostensibly for construction projects at Santa Ana College. (It should be noted that Trustees Phil Yarbrough and Arianna Barrios as well as the Student Trustee Ryan Ahari voted against the PLA!).
What this means is that the RSCCD is going to hire only contractors who hire from union halls. While it is true that Santa Ana College has a number of union-only apprenticeship programs their dirty little secret is that it is very difficult to get into those programs and most of the union workers that will end up working at Santa Ana College will not in fact be apprentices. And the RSCCD will not allow non-union apprentices to work on these projects. What all this adds up to is that they are going to waste our tax money to the tune of at least 15%. Continue reading
