'Detrimental To This Community': Union Supporters Frustrated Over Salem High New Building Process

UPDATED 12 p.m.

SALEM, MA — A public meeting to present an updated timeline and cost for the building of a new Salem High School saw dozens of union members, their supporters, and City Councilors speaking in solidarity with organized labor, express frustration over the School Building Committee's vote not to include a Project Labor Agreement that would establish terms and conditions of construction staffing with local unions as a project prerequisite.

The School Building Committee voted 9-4 against the PLA this summer, citing potential cost and construction timeline implications of making the union staffing and standards binding requirements.

School Committee and School Building Committee member Beth Anne Cornell told Patch that the Committee was told requiring the PLA could add about 20 percent to the initial cost estimates — potentially up to $90 million to the proposed $450 million construction.

• Salem Residents To Face Tax Override Vote To Fund $450M High School Building

But union proponents argued that a PLA would ensure safety and quality standards as well as that local, women and minority workers are given equitable opportunity to work on the project, while not significantly affecting the overall cost.

"I do not believe, and the studies demonstrate it, that a PLA would add cost," City Councilor Jeff Cohen told Patch. "I believe it is detrimental to this community not to have a PLA. It is my opinion, shared by several other councilors, that the appropriate path would be for them to reconsider that vote."

"The people representing the trades did not feel that they got a fair opportunity to present their case," Cohen added. "Knowing that the Building Committee was going to vote, they just wanted that. They felt like the process wasn't fair, and that if they could present their case, the vote may have gone a different way.

North Shore Building & Trades President Rodrigo Badaro told Patch on Wednesday that the 20-percent-added cost of a PLA was a "misconception" based on a two-sentence opinion letter the Committee received that did not include backing evidence. He said a study in Illinois indicated there was no substantial increase in costs associated with a PLA.

"Without data, you just have another opinion," Badaro said. "We're trying to bring transparency to the whole process with the School Building Committee. ...

"My personal opinion is that they already had their minds set. I believe that Salem missed an opportunity here."

Badaro said there were more than a hundred people at a rally supporting the unions outside of the Monday night City Council meeting and that his membership is "disgruntled" at the city for not insisting on a PLA for the school project after celebrating its benefits at the groundbreaking for the offshore wind terminal.

Cornell told Patch that, as a 20-year union member, her "no" vote "didn't feel good."

"I completely understand why they are frustrated," she said. "The Committee made a hard
decision. But I don't think anyone thinks they made the wrong decision. If we voted again tomorrow, it would be the same decision."

She said she hopes that local unions will continue to work with the Committee to help make sure that the construction company chosen for the project ensures safety and quality standards, as well as fair-hiring practices when it comes to demographics and local employment.

"Being partners on this is the most important thing," she said, adding that while PLAs are required for state projects, they are not common in municipal projects such as schools because of tight timelines that may require more labor than a union can provide at any one time.

Cohen countered that a PLA would ensure a minimum number of workers are hired from the environmental justice communities of Lynn and Salem, including graduates of the Salem High career and technical program, which is set to expand once the new high school building opens.

He allowed that the City Council does not have jurisdiction over that aspect of the project and noted that, at no time during Monday night's meeting, did any councilor or labor representative express a desire for the project not to move forward to citywide vote next spring where Salem residents will be asked to foot the bill for about half of the $450 million price tag to replace the 50-year-old building.

State matching funding would pick up the rest through the Massachusetts School Building Authority project. If the vote does not pass, officials said the city will still be on the hook for more than $350 necessary code repairs over what could be decades.

"I understand where labor is coming from," Cornell said. "It was a really hard decision to make, but ultimately, we have to go to voters in the spring and ask them to pay for half of this.

"That's what I was thinking about."

Cohen also questioned the Building Committee on the commitment to a geothermal heating system when there may be less costly and environmentally friendly alternatives, as one other aspect of the project that has not received enough public scrutiny.

"We all want to move forward on this project," Cohen said. "But we want the community to be more involved."

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. X/Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)