Item No.     8d_3736_redline 
Meeting Date:   April 24, 2018 


Port of Seattle Commission 
Policy Directive on 
Priority Hire 
As Adopted 
November 28, 2017 
Document last updated April 3, 2018 
1

2     SECTION 1.  Purpose. 
3 
4     The  purpose  of  this  policy  directive  is  to  provide  good  family-wage  jobs  to  qualified
5     construction workers from economically distressed areas of King County by increasing access to
6     Port of Seattle covered projects. This leads to economic growth and job creation in areas of
7     King County that are experiencing economic distress. In addition, it will provide jobs to those
8     historically underrepresented in the construction industry, such as women and people of color. 
9 
10    To develop a priority hire program implemented through a project labor agreement (PLA) and
11    to foster closer cooperation with the Regional Public Owners Group to ensure uniform
12    application of priority hire terms and contractor and union compliance with priority hire
13    requirements. This supports the Port of Seattle's continued efforts on workforce development. 
14 
15    SECTION 2.  Definitions. 
16 
17    When used in this policy directive, the following words and phrases shall have the meanings
18    given below unless the context in which they are included clearly indicates otherwise: 
19 
20    "Apprentice" means a person who has signed a written apprenticeship agreement with and
21    enrolled  in  an  active  state-registered  apprenticeship  training  program  approved  by  the
22    Washington State Apprenticeship and Training Council. 
23 
24    "City" means City of Seattle. 
25 
26    "Construction labor costs" means the labor cost component of the estimated construction
27    budget for the project to be paid to contractors at time of the bid, or, if absent a bid, at the
28    time of the contract award. 
29 
30    "Contractor" means any person, firm, partnership, owner operator, limited liability company,
31    corporation, joint venture, proprietorship, trust, association, or other legal entity that employs
32    individuals to perform work on covered projects, including general contractors, subcontractors
33    of all tiers, and both union and non-union entities. 
34 
35    "Core Employee" means an employee of an open-shop contractor that meets the core
36    employee criteria established under a PLA. 
37 
38    "Covered Project" means a Port of Seattle construction project under a PLA with construction
39    labor costs at or above $5 million. 
40 
41    "Dispatch" means the process by which a union refers workers for employment to contractors
42    under the authority of a collective bargaining agreement. The process typically mandates the
43    distribution of work via a "first in, first out" priority but can be legally adjusted via special
44    agreements to allow for out-of-order dispatching and priority worker hiring. 
45 

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46    "Economically Distressed Area" means a geographic area defined by zip code in King County
47    and found to have high population concentrations: 1) Living at or below 200 percent of the
48    federal poverty level, 2) Unemployed, 3) Those over 25 years of age without a college degree,
49    compared to other zip codes. King County zip codes with a high density per acre of at least two
50    out of the three criteria will be identified as Economically Distressed Areas. These zip codes are
51    updated and published by King County's Finance and Business Operations Division. 
52 
53    "Jobs Coordinator" means either one of the following: a Port of Seattle employee, an employee
54    that is considered a shared resource between government agencies, or a third party entity that
55    facilitates the hiring of priority workers in collaboration with contractors and union dispatch. 
56 
57    "Journey-level" means an individual who has sufficient skills and knowledge of an occupation,
58    either through a formal apprentice training program or through practical on-the-job work
59    experience, to be recognized by a state or federal registration agency and/or an industry as
60    being qualified to perform the work of the occupation. Practical experience must be equal to or
61    greater than the term of apprenticeship. 
62 
63    "Labor hours" means hours performed on covered projects by workers who are subject to
64    prevailing wages. 
65 
66    "Open-shop contractor" means a contractor that is not a signatory to a collective bargaining
67    agreement with a union representing the trade(s) of the contractor's workers, also known as
68    non-union contractors. 
69 
70    "Pre-apprentice" means a student enrolled in a construction pre-apprentice training program
71    recognized by the Washington State Apprenticeship and Training Council. 
72 
73    "Priority Hire Program" means a program on Port of Seattle major construction contracts that
74    focuses on recruitment, training and employment of workers who reside in Economically
75    Distressed Areas as defined by King County. 
76 
77    "Priority Worker(s)" means an individual prioritized for recruitment, training, and employment
78    opportunities because the individual is a resident in an Economically Distressed Area. 
79 
80    "Project Labor Agreement" means an agreement authorized under the National Labor Relations
81    Act (NRLA), 29 U.S.C., which provides a means for aligning interests of public owners such as
82    the Port with those of construction labor unions. 
83 
84    "Regional Public Owners Group" means the group including the City of Seattle, King County,
85    Port of Seattle, Sound Transit, the City of Tacoma, and the Washington State Department of
86    Transportation, focused on public agencies working together as regional partners to better
87    understand the workforce demand-supply gap for regional public infrastructure projects; to
88    enhance access opportunities and to increase the diversity of pre-apprentices, apprentices, and
89    journey-level workers entering into the trades workforce; to support retention programs for

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90    current trades workers, especially women and people of color; and to improve performance
91    data and systems of reporting for monitoring regional goals and initiatives. 
92 
93    "Union" means a representative labor organization whose members collectively bargain with
94    employers to set the wages and working conditions in their respective trade or covered scope
95    of work. 
96 
97    SECTION 3.  Scope and Applicability. 
98 
99            A.  This Policy Directive pertains to covered project(s) for the remainder of this policy
100    directive.
101 
102    SECTION 4.  Responsibilities. 
103 
104            A.  The Executive Director (1) will assign a designee (referred to as "designee" for the
105    remainder of the policy directive) and subsequent designated office to implement and
106    administer this policy directive, and (2) may, through the designee, develop and adopt rules
107    consistent with the requirements of this policy directive. 
108 
109            B.  The designee, with the Executive Director's written concurrence and upon notice to
110    the Port of Seattle Commission, may reduce or waive requirements or goals of this policy
111    directive when impractical for a covered project for one or more of the following reasons: when
112    required due to an emergency, when subject to limitations of a sole source, when requirements
113    or goals would be inconsistent with an agreement with a public agency, when requirements or
114    goals are inconsistent with federal funding or other funding sources, when the project is in a
115    remote  location,  when  superseded  by  safety  or  other  legal  requirements,  when  other
116    conditions arise such as the goals become impractical, or absent an executed PLA. 
117 
118            C.  The designee shall be responsible for identifying, monitoring, and mitigating risks
119    within his/her authority and propose mitigation actions to the Executive Director if additional
120    authority is required. The designee shall enforce the requirements in this policy directive and
121    may use actions as deemed appropriate. 
122 
123            D.  As part of establishing a priority hire advisory committee to operate in an advisory
124    role to the Port of Seattle for implementation and effectiveness of this policy directive, the
125    designee shall participate in the previously established Regional Public Owners Group and may,
126    under an agreement with one or more other government entities with priority hire programs,
127    establish and participate in a regional priority hire advisory committee. 
128 
129    SECTION 5.  Policy. 
130 
131            A.  For covered projects that are not found impractical under Section 4(B), the designee
132    shall establish in the bid or other solicitation documents the following: (1)   the required
133    percentage of labor hours to be performed by priority workers, and (2) the aspirational goal

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134    percentage of labor hours to be performed by priority workers. Contractors and dispatch under
135    a PLA shall seek to first hire and dispatch priority workers so as to meet or exceed the required
136    and aspirational goal percentages. The designee shall establish the percentages separately for
137    apprentices and for journey-level workers. 
138 
139            B.  For each covered project, the designee shall establish the greatest practicable
140    required percentage of labor hours to be performed by priority workers by considering
141    anticipated workforce availability and past utilization percentages on similar construction
142    projects  from  the  most  recent  project  previous  calendar  year,  and  shall  establish  the
143    percentage for the upcoming year. This shall be included in the PLA and other Port agreements
144    as appropriate and progress monitored by the designee. The designee shall adjust these
145    required percentages annually, based on performance and reasonably anticipated changes in
146    worker availability.
147 
148            C.  In order to achieve the intended impact in economically distressed areas, the
149    designee shall set project-specific requirements and an aspirational goal percentage of no less
150    than 20 percent for all labor hours performed annually by priority workers on the total of
151    covered projects for the year. Annual percentage rates will be measured January 1  December
152    31 of each applicable year. 
153 
154            D.  In order to meet the percentage of labor hours to be performed by priority workers,
155    the designee shall require contractors and dispatch under a PLA to seek to employ a priority
156    worker who is a resident of an economically distressed area in King County, and then workers
157    from any other economically distressed areas as needed to meet the percentage labor hours to
158    be performed by priority workers. The specific process by which contractors, dispatch, and the
159    Port of Seattle Jobs Coordinator(s) will collaborate in order to facilitate the hiring of priority
160    workers shall be established by the designee. 
161 
162            E.  For  covered  projects,  the  designee  shall  ensure  the  availability  of  a  Jobs
163    Coordinator(s) to perform the following functions: maintain a database of pre-qualified priority
164    workers for referral to work on a covered project; network with various work source centers,
165    community, non-profit, and faith-based organizations to facilitate the identification of priority
166    workers; and facilitate referral and coordination around training and employment of priority
167    workers between contractors, unions, and training programs. In addition, the designee shall
168    explore development of a third party to manage regional priority hire efforts. 
169 
170            F.  Per the Construction Labor Practices Policy Directive for Projects Located on Port of
171    Seattle Property (adopted by Resolution 3725), contracts $1 million in value or greater require
172    apprenticeship utilization goals. The goal is no less than 15 percent of all contract labor hours
173    are to be performed by apprentices. 
174 
175               (1) For individual projects, the designee will determine the apprenticeship utilization
176                   goal and may consider such factors as project size, project duration, labor hours

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177                   anticipated for the project, skills required, the likely crafts required for the
178                   project, historic utilization rates, and apprentice availability. 
179 
180               (2) The designee shall establish aspirational percentage goals for apprentices who
181                   are women and people of color using similar factors. Contractors may be allowed
182                   to offer utilization below the aspirational percentage goals by substituting other
183                   efforts to meet the intent of building a trained construction workforce for a
184                   portion of the utilization percentages for women and people of color. 
185 
186            G.  When determining whether the percentage of priority hire requirements has been
187    achieved, the designee shall exclude from the calculation labor hours performed by residents of
188    states other than the state of Washington. The designee shall track labor hours performed by
189    residents of states other than the state of Washington and shall review this percentage
190    annually with the previously established Regional Public Owners Group and any future regional
191    priority hire advisory committee that may be established under an agreement with one or more
192    other government entities with priority hire programs. 
193 
194            H.  Per the Construction Labor Practices Policy Directive for Projects Located on Port of
195    Seattle Property (adopted by Resolution 3725), the designee shall support the inclusion of
196    priority hire provisions in the PLA standard language to be approved by the Commission
197    Projects and Procurement Committee. In furthering the Construction Labor Practices Policy
198    Directive for Projects Located on Port of Seattle Property, Port staff will seek an agreement with
199    regional partners to develop a framework to achieve operational efficiencies through uniform
200    priority hire requirements and by sharing priority hire resources and data and advancing
201    workforce development efforts. 
202 
203            I.   The Port shall review and recommend how the intent of priority hire  can be
204    implemented throughout the Port beyond the covered projects, including future leases,
205    concession agreements, and procurement contracts by September 1, 2018. 
206 
207    SECTION 6.  Program Evaluation. 
208 
209            A.  The designee shall establish benchmarks and metrics to evaluate the program, such
210    as project costs, completion times, workplace safety, utilization rates and graduation rates of
211    priority workers, women and people of color from pre-apprentice and apprentice training
212    programs, and changes in the amount of contracting dollars paid to small business and Women
213    and Minority Business Enterprises (WMBE) firms working on covered projects and the number
214    of small business and WMBE firms under contract. 
215 
216            B.  Port efforts in pursuit of the objectives of this policy directive will be incorporated
217    into the Port's long range plan (LRP) to the fullest extent reasonable, including incorporation
218    into the LRP scorecards, reports, and LRP updates. Further, the designee shall prepare and
219    publish an annual report each year titled Apprenticeship and Priority Hire Annual Report. 
220 

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221    The report shall include, but not be limited to, the following: 
222 
223               (1) The  number  and  kinds  of  construction  projects  and  contracts  on  which
224                   apprenticeship and priority hire requirements were established; 
225               (2) The percentage of labor hours actually worked by apprentices and priority
226                   workers on each such project and the total number of labor hours on each
227                   project; 
228 
229               (3) The number of apprentices and priority workers by contractor broken down by
230                   trade and craft category, the wages paid by category of work or trade, the
231                   number and percentage of women and people of color utilized as apprentices
232                   and priority workers,  and the degree of compliance with the percentage
233                   requirements and aspirational goals to be established under this policy directive; 
234 
235               (4) The number of apprentices and priority workers per Port dollar spent on the
236                   program; 
237 
238               (5) A description of problems encountered in the implementation of the program; 
239 
240               (6) A description of barriers encountered by participating apprentices and priority
241                   workers  and  steps  taken  to  resolve  those problems  and to  ensure  their
242                   continued participation in the program; 
243 
244            C.  The Port of Seattle Commission, Executive Director, and designee will review
245    program results annually as part of the LRP update to determine if the program should be
246    expanded or amended by increasing or decreasing requirements and aspirational goals. 
247 
248    SECTION 7.  Fiscal Implications. 
249 
250    This policy directive has fiscal implications as funding and staffing requirements will be needed
251    to implement the priority hire program. Fiscal implications will be reviewed by the designee
252    annually, at a minimum, to determine if additional funding and/or resources are required and
253    shall submit a budget request, as appropriate. 
254 
255    SECTION 8.  Research Findings 
256 
257    Based  on  studies  commissioned  by  the  City  of  Seattle  and  King  County  and  their
258    implementation of priority hire programs and numerous public discussions, the Port of Seattle
259    Commission finds that it is in the Port's and the public's best interest to increase the supply of
260    qualified  construction  workers,  particularly  those  historically  underrepresented  in  the
261    construction industry, including those who live in economically distressed areas in King County
262    and also within that group, women and people of color. 
263 

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264            A.  In January 2015, following the positive results of a pilot program on the Elliott Bay
265    Seawall project, the City of Seattle adopted Ordinance No. 124690, an ordinance relating to
266    establishing a priority hire policy to ensure better access to training programs and well-paying
267    construction jobs for local workers, as well as to increase the diversity of the workforce on city
268    projects. 
269 
270            B.  The City of Seattle implemented the priority hire ordinance through a community
271    workforce agreement (CWA) between the city and the building trade labor unions, and that
272    agreement requires that prime contractors on city public works construction projects of
273    $5 million or more, must ensure that a certain percent of project labor hours are performed by
274    workers living in economically distressed areas of Seattle and King County. 
275 
276            C.  In May 2016, the King County Executive directed county agencies to implement a
277    priority hire pilot program that prioritized economically disadvantaged local workers for
278    inclusion on large King County capital construction projects. King County is considering a
279    permanent priority hire program implemented through a CWA. 
280 
281            D.  Based on studies commissioned by the City of Seattle and King County and their
282    implementation of priority hire programs, and numerous public discussions, the Port of Seattle
283    Commission finds that it is in the Port's and the public's best interest to increase the supply of
284    qualified  construction  workers,  particularly  those  historically  underrepresented  in  the
285    construction industry, including women, racial minorities, and those who live in economically
286    distressed areas of Seattle and King County. 
287 
288            E.  King County completed a study in January 2016 documenting a widening gap
289    between the demand for construction labor and the supply of skilled trade workers in the
290    regional labor market for King County and other public entities. The gap reinforces the urgent
291    need for developing a strategy to address the current and projected workforce shortages. The
292    study  also  used  economic  data  involving  poverty  levels,  employment,  and  educational
293    attainment to determine economically distressed areas, which are identified by zip code. 
294 
295            F.  King County completed the Construction Workforce Analysis in December 2016 and
296    found that the county may reasonably anticipate a reduced surplus of qualified labor and
297    possible labor shortages in certain construction trades by 2020. That is the result of a projected
298    shortfall forecast between demand and supply of 4,630 workers by 2020. The county is
299    concerned that these labor shortages will increase reliance on out-of-state construction
300    workers and that the demand for new construction workers may increase construction costs on
301    the county's public works projects unless the county supports efforts to increase the supply of
302    trained apprentices and journey level workers for local public works projects. 
303 
304    The analysis also found that 81 percent of the construction workforce in King County in 2016
305    were white males, while 19 percent were people of color and women. Representation of
306    women and people of color is higher among new entrants to the labor force through
307    apprenticeships  and  accredited  certificates  of  completion,  such  as  those  received  for

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308    completing a pre-apprenticeship program. However, according to the analysis, women and
309    people of color also have lower rates of apprenticeship completion than do their white male
310    counterparts. 
311 
312            G.  The  City  of  Seattle  commissioned  the  Construction  Industry  Labor  Market
313    Assessment, which found that women, irrespective of race, are underrepresented in the
314    construction industry. Between 2009 and 2013, 10 percent fewer women finished their
315    apprentice training program than males. The assessment also found that between 2009 and
316    2013, 14 percent fewer racial minority apprentices finished their apprentice training program
317    than white apprentices. In addition, it also found that underrepresented workers face barriers
318    to completing apprentice training. Between 2009 and 2013, 65 percent of the racial minorities
319    exiting apprenticeships did not complete the programs compared to 51 percent of the white
320    apprentices who failed to complete the program. During that same time period, 65 percent of
321    all women, irrespective of race, failed to complete their programs compared to 55 percent of all
322    men. 
323 
324            H.  The City of Seattle has found that priority hire effectively and successfully increases 
325    diversity on city construction projects. The share of labor hours between November 2013 and
326    April 2017 saw an increase of 233 percent in rate of hours performed by workers living in
327    Seattle's economically distressed zones. In addition, it saw an over 300-percent increase in rate
328    of hours performed by apprentice women and 200-percent increase in rate of hours performed
329    by African-Americans. 
330 
331            I.   A PLA is an effective tool to manage public works projects when reducing the risk of
332    project delays and reducing the potential of labor disruptions and labor shortages. 
333 
334            J.   Priority hire is an effective tool to create local jobs, enhance workforce diversity, and
335    improve overall working conditions. 
336 







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337                                         Revision History 
338 
339    November 28, 2017       Resolution 3736, establishing the Priority Hire Policy Directive, was
340                              adopted. 
341 


















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