DES MOINES — Governor Kim Reynolds has a newly-passed bill on her desk awaiting a signature which a labor union claims undermines apprenticeship programs and emboldens lower-quality bids on projects.
The Central Iowa Building & Construction Trades Council, a coalition of 16 trades organizations representing approximately 15,000 workers in the building and construction industry vehemently opposes the recent amendment to Senate File 603 and urges Governor Reynolds to veto the bill.
If signed into law by Governor Reynolds, the changes proposed in the amendment attached to the bill would prevent state agencies and local governments from negotiating requirements for apprenticeship training on private construction projects funded with tax increment financing (TIF) dollars. In other words, it prevents businesses from voluntarily entering into agreements with public entities to commit to training in connection with deals that provide these businesses hundreds of thousands of dollars in tax incentives.
“We expect that Governor Reynolds will veto this bill, which was amended so quickly and passed so hastily by the legislature that no one had the chance to even study it, because it so clearly conflicts with her public commitments to supporting apprenticeship programs,” said Jason Copple, President of the Central Iowa Building & Construction Trades Council.
“Apprenticeship programs are funded by contractors, both union and non-union, who invest in training the next generation of skilled workers. Legislators say this bill has to do with unions, but it doesn’t. Nothing in the bill addresses unions. What it does say is that public entities will be banned from having any qualifications or standards when it comes to training on publicly subsidized projects. The politicians that rammed this through clearly do not understand that apprenticeship programs are crucial to the construction industry’s advancement in Iowa and are supported by both union and non-union contractors.”
Republicans say this measure is aimed at cities and towns that give advantages to unions bidding on construction projects, when cheaper options might be available.