By Doug Cuningham

A construction trades policy about to be adopted in Los Angeles will hire more low-income and local residents in projects worth $15 billion over five years. The Los Angeles and Orange County, California Building and Construction Trades Council is leading a coalition of labor, community, and business groups to get it done. Kevin Norton is Organizing Director and Political Coordinator for IBEW Local 11.

[Norton]: "By having an opportunity for people to get into the building trades apprenticeship program, it really gives a ladder up into the middle class for a lot of kids that haven’t had opportunities in life."

Norton says it’s a sign of how vibrant the Los Angeles area labor
movement is.

[Norton]: "We have some pretty visionary people out here in Los Angeles and we have a very vibrant labor movement in Los Angeles."

Richard Slawson, Executive Director of the LA/OC Building and Construction Trades Council, says this policy is good for construction workers, for the industry, and the communities involved.