Port of Seattle Commission 
Policy Directive on 
Priority Hire 
As Amended 
April 24, 2018 
Document last updated June 6, 2018

SECTION 1.  Purpose. 
The purpose of this policy directive is to provide good family-wage jobs to qualified
construction workers from economically distressed areas of King County by increasing access to
Port of Seattle covered projects. This leads to economic growth and job creation in areas of
King County that are experiencing economic distress. In addition, it will provide jobs to those
historically underrepresented in the construction industry, such as women and people of color. 
To develop a priority hire program implemented through a project labor agreement (PLA) and
to foster closer cooperation with the Regional Public Owners Group to ensure uniform
application of priority hire terms and contractor and union compliance with priority hire
requirements. This supports the Port of Seattle's continued efforts on workforce development.
(Res. 3736, 2, 2017) 
SECTION 2.  Definitions. 
When used in this policy directive, the following words and phrases shall have the meanings
given below unless the context in which they are included clearly indicates otherwise: 
"Apprentice" means a person who has signed a written apprenticeship agreement with and
enrolled in an active state-registered apprenticeship training program approved by the
Washington State Apprenticeship and Training Council. 
"City" means City of Seattle. 
"Contractor" means any person, firm, partnership, owner operator, limited liability company,
corporation, joint venture, proprietorship, trust, association, or other legal entity that employs
individuals to perform work on covered projects, including general contractors, subcontractors
of all tiers, and both union and non-union entities. 
"Core Employee" means an employee of an open-shop contractor that meets the core
employee criteria established under a PLA. 
"Covered Project" means a Port of Seattle construction project under a PLA as defined in the
Policy Directive on Construction Labor Practices for Projects Located on Port of Seattle
Property. 
"Dispatch" means the process by which a union refers workers for employment to contractors
under the authority of a collective bargaining agreement. The process typically mandates the
distribution of work via a "first in, first out" priority but can be legally adjusted via special
agreements to allow for out-of-order dispatching and priority worker hiring. 


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

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current trades workers, especially women and people of color; and to improve performance
data and systems of reporting for monitoring regional goals and initiatives. 
"Union" means a representative labor organization whose members collectively bargain with
employers to set the wages and working conditions in their respective trade or covered scope
of work. 
(Res. 3746, 2, 2018; Res. 3736, 2, 2017) 
SECTION 3.  Scope and Applicability. 
A.  This Policy Directive pertains to covered project(s) for the remainder of this policy
directive. (Res. 3736, 2, 2017) 
SECTION 4.  Responsibilities. 
A.  The Executive Director (1) will assign a designee (referred to as "designee" for the
remainder of the policy directive) and subsequent designated office to implement and
administer this policy directive, and (2) may, through the designee, develop and adopt rules
consistent with the requirements of this policy directive. (Res. 3736, 2, 2017) 
B.  The designee, with the Executive Director's written concurrence and upon notice to
the Port of Seattle Commission, may reduce or waive requirements or goals of this policy
directive when impractical for a covered project for one or more of the following reasons: when
required due to an emergency, when subject to limitations of a sole source, when requirements
or goals would be inconsistent with an agreement with a public agency, when requirements or
goals are inconsistent with federal funding or other funding sources, when the project is in a
remote location, when superseded by safety or other legal requirements, when other
conditions arise such as the goals become impractical, or absent an executed PLA. (Res. 3736,
2, 2017) 
C.  The designee shall be responsible for identifying, monitoring, and mitigating risks
within his/her authority and propose mitigation actions to the Executive Director if additional
authority is required. The designee shall enforce the requirements in this policy directive and
may use actions as deemed appropriate. (Res. 3736, 2, 2017) 
D.  As part of establishing a priority hire advisory committee to operate in an advisory
role to the Port of Seattle for implementation and effectiveness of this policy directive, the
designee shall participate in the previously established Regional Public Owners Group and may,
under an agreement with one or more other government entities with priority hire programs,
establish and participate in a regional priority hire advisory committee. (Res. 3736, 2, 2017) 


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SECTION 5.  Policy. 
A.  For covered projects that are not found impractical under Section 4(B), the designee
shall establish in the bid or other solicitation documents the following: (1)   the required
percentage of labor hours to be performed by priority workers, and (2) the aspirational goal
percentage of labor hours to be performed by priority workers. Contractors and dispatch under
a PLA shall seek to first hire and dispatch priority workers so as to meet or exceed the required
and aspirational goal percentages. The designee shall establish the percentages separately for
apprentices and for journey-level workers. (Res. 3736, 2, 2017) 
B.  For each covered project, the designee shall establish the greatest practicable
required percentage of labor hours to be performed by priority workers by considering
anticipated workforce availability and past utilization percentages on similar construction
projects from  the  most  recent  project  previous  calendar  year,  and  shall establish the
percentage for the upcoming year. This shall be included in the PLA and other Port agreements
as appropriate and progress monitored by the designee. The designee shall adjust these
required percentages annually, based on performance and reasonably anticipated changes in
worker availability. (Res. 3736, 2, 2017) 
C.  In order to achieve the intended impact in economically distressed areas, the
designee shall set project-specific requirements and an aspirational goal percentage of no less
than 20 percent for all labor hours performed annually by priority workers on the total of
covered projects for the year. Annual percentage rates will be measured January 1  December
31 of each applicable year. (Res. 3736, 2, 2017) 
D.  In order to meet the percentage of labor hours to be performed by priority workers,
the designee shall require contractors and dispatch under a PLA to seek to employ a priority
worker who is a resident of an economically distressed area in King County, and then workers
from any other economically distressed areas as needed to meet the percentage labor hours to
be performed by priority workers. The specific process by which contractors, dispatch, and the
Port of Seattle Jobs Coordinator(s) will collaborate in order to facilitate the hiring of priority
workers shall be established by the designee. (Res. 3736, 2, 2017) 
E.  For  covered  projects,  the  designee  shall  ensure  the  availability  of  a  Jobs
Coordinator(s) to perform the following functions: maintain a database of pre-qualified priority
workers for referral to work on a covered project; network with various work source centers,
community, non-profit, and faith-based organizations to facilitate the identification of priority
workers; and facilitate referral and coordination around training and employment of priority
workers between contractors, unions, and training programs. In addition, the designee shall
explore development of a third party to manage regional priority hire efforts. (Res. 3736, 2,
2017) 
F.   Per the Construction Labor Practices Policy Directive for Projects Located on Port of
Seattle Property (adopted by Resolution 3725), contracts $1 million in value or greater require

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apprenticeship utilization goals. The goal is no less than 15 percent of all contract labor hours
are to be performed by apprentices. 
(1) For individual projects, the designee will determine the apprenticeship utilization
goal and may consider such factors as project size, project duration, labor hours
anticipated for the project, skills required, the likely crafts required for the
project, historic utilization rates, and apprentice availability. 
(2) The designee shall establish aspirational percentage goals for apprentices who
are women and people of color using similar factors. Contractors may be allowed
to offer utilization below the aspirational percentage goals by substituting other
efforts to meet the intent of building a trained construction workforce for a
portion of the utilization percentages for women and people of color. 
(Res. 3736, 2, 2017) 
G.  When determining whether the percentage of priority hire requirements has been
achieved, the designee shall exclude from the calculation labor hours performed by residents of
states other than the state of Washington. The designee shall track labor hours performed by
residents of states other than the state of Washington and shall review this percentage
annually with the previously established Regional Public Owners Group and any future regional
priority hire advisory committee that may be established under an agreement with one or more
other government entities with priority hire programs. (Res. 3736, 2, 2017) 
H.  Per the Construction Labor Practices Policy Directive for Projects Located on Port of
Seattle Property (adopted by Resolution 3725), the designee shall support the inclusion of
priority hire provisions in the PLA standard language to be approved by the Commission
Projects and Procurement Committee. In furthering the Construction Labor Practices Policy
Directive for Projects Located on Port of Seattle Property, Port staff will seek an agreement with
regional partners to develop a framework to achieve operational efficiencies through uniform
priority hire requirements and by sharing priority hire resources and data and advancing
workforce development efforts. (Res. 3736, 2, 2017) 
I.   The  Port  shall  review  and  recommend  how  the  intent  of  priority  hire  can  be
implemented throughout the Port beyond the covered projects, including future leases,
concession agreements, and procurement contracts by September 1, 2018. (Res. 3736, 2,
2017) 
SECTION 6.  Program Evaluation. 
A.  The designee shall establish benchmarks and metrics to evaluate the program, such
as project costs, completion times, workplace safety, utilization rates and graduation rates of
priority workers, women and people of color from pre-apprentice and apprentice training
programs, and changes in the amount of contracting dollars paid to small business and Women

Port of Seattle Commission Priority Hire Policy Directive                                                            Page 6 of 10

and Minority Business Enterprises (WMBE) firms working on covered projects and the number
of small business and WMBE firms under contract. (Res. 3736, 2, 2017) 
B.  Port efforts in pursuit of the objectives of this policy directive will be incorporated
into the Port's long range plan (LRP) to the fullest extent reasonable, including incorporation
into the LRP scorecards, reports, and LRP updates. Further, the designee shall prepare and
publish an annual report each year titled Apprenticeship and Priority Hire Annual Report. 
The report shall include, but not be limited to, the following: 
(1) The  number  and  kinds  of  construction  projects  and  contracts  on  which
apprenticeship and priority hire requirements were established; 
(2) The percentage of labor hours actually worked by apprentices and priority
workers on each such project and the total number of labor hours on each
project; 
(3) The number of apprentices and priority workers by contractor broken down by
trade and craft category, the wages paid by category of work or trade, the
number and percentage of women and people of color utilized as apprentices
and priority workers,  and the degree of compliance with the percentage 
requirements and aspirational goals to be established under this policy directive; 
(4) The number of apprentices and priority workers per Port dollar spent on the
program; 
(5) A description of problems encountered in the implementation of the program; 
and 
(6) A description of barriers encountered by participating apprentices and priority
workers and steps taken to resolve those problems and to ensure their
continued participation in the program. 
(Res. 3736, 2, 2017) 
C.  The  Port  of  Seattle  Commission,  Executive  Director,  and  designee  will  review
program results annually as part of the LRP update to determine if the program should be
expanded or amended by increasing or decreasing requirements and aspirational goals. (Res.
3736, 2, 2017) 
SECTION 7.  Fiscal Implications. 
This policy directive has fiscal implications as funding and staffing requirements will be needed
to implement the priority hire program. Fiscal implications will be reviewed by the designee

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annually, at a minimum, to determine if additional funding and/or resources are required and
shall submit a budget request, as appropriate. (Res. 3736, 2, 2017) 
SECTION 8.  Research Findings 
Based  on  studies  commissioned  by  the  City  of  Seattle  and  King  County  and their
implementation of priority hire programs and numerous public discussions, the Port of Seattle
Commission finds that it is in the Port's and the public's best interest to increase the supply of
qualified  construction  workers,  particularly  those  historically  underrepresented  in  the
construction industry, including those who live in economically distressed areas in King County
and also within that group, women and people of color. (Res. 3736, 2, 2017) 
A.  In January 2015, following the positive results of a pilot program on the Elliott Bay
Seawall project, the City of Seattle adopted Ordinance No. 124690, an ordinance relating to
establishing a priority hire policy to ensure better access to training programs and well-paying
construction jobs for local workers, as well as to increase the diversity of the workforce on city
projects. (Res. 3736, 2, 2017) 
B.  The City of Seattle implemented the priority hire ordinance through a community
workforce agreement (CWA) between the city and the building trade labor unions, and that
agreement requires that prime contractors on city public works construction projects of
$5 million or more, must ensure that a certain percent of project labor hours are performed by
workers living in economically distressed areas of Seattle and King County. (Res. 3736, 2, 2017) 
C.  In May 2016, the King County Executive directed county agencies to implement a
priority hire pilot program that prioritized economically disadvantaged local workers for
inclusion on large King County capital construction projects. King County is considering a
permanent priority hire program implemented through a CWA. (Res. 3736, 2, 2017) 
D.  Based on studies commissioned by the City of Seattle and King County and their
implementation of priority hire programs, and numerous public discussions, the Port of Seattle
Commission finds that it is in the Port's and the public's best interest to increase the supply of
qualified  construction  workers,  particularly  those  historically  underrepresented  in  the
construction industry, including women, racial minorities, and those who live in economically
distressed areas of Seattle and King County. (Res. 3736, 2, 2017) 
E.  King  County  completed  a  study  in  January  2016  documenting  a  widening  gap
between the demand for construction labor and the supply of skilled trade workers in the
regional labor market for King County and other public entities. The gap reinforces the urgent
need for developing a strategy to address the current and projected workforce shortages. The
study also used economic data involving poverty levels, employment,  and educational
attainment to determine economically distressed areas, which are identified by zip code. (Res.
3736, 2, 2017) 

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F.   King County completed the Construction Workforce Analysis in December 2016 and
found that the county may reasonably anticipate a reduced surplus of qualified labor and
possible labor shortages in certain construction trades by 2020. That is the result of a projected
shortfall forecast between demand and supply of 4,630 workers by 2020. The county is
concerned that these labor shortages will increase reliance on out-of-state construction
workers and that the demand for new construction workers may increase construction costs on
the county's public works projects unless the county supports efforts to increase the supply of
trained apprentices and journey level workers for local public works projects. 
The analysis also found that 81 percent of the construction workforce in King County in 2016
were white males, while 19 percent were people of color and women. Representation of
women and people of color is higher among new entrants to the labor force through
apprenticeships  and  accredited  certificates  of  completion,  such  as  those  received  for
completing a pre-apprenticeship program. However, according to the analysis, women and
people of color also have lower rates of apprenticeship completion than do their white male
counterparts. (Res. 3736, 2, 2017) 
G.  The  City  of  Seattle  commissioned  the  Construction  Industry  Labor  Market
Assessment, which found that women, irrespective of race, are underrepresented in the
construction industry. Between 2009 and 2013, 10 percent fewer women finished their
apprentice training program than males. The assessment also found that between 2009 and
2013, 14 percent fewer racial minority apprentices finished their apprentice training program
than white apprentices. In addition, it also found that underrepresented workers face barriers
to completing apprentice training. Between 2009 and 2013, 65 percent of the racial minorities
exiting apprenticeships did not complete the programs compared to 51 percent of the white
apprentices who failed to complete the program. During that same time period, 65 percent of
all women, irrespective of race, failed to complete their programs compared to 55 percent of all
men. (Res. 3736, 2, 2017) 
H.  The City of Seattle has found that priority hire effectively and successfully increases 
diversity on city construction projects. The share of labor hours between November 2013 and
April 2017 saw an increase of 233 percent in rate of hours performed by workers living in
Seattle's economically distressed zones. In addition, it saw an over 300-percent increase in rate
of hours performed by apprentice women and 200-percent increase in rate of hours performed
by African-Americans. (Res. 3736, 2, 2017) 
I.   A PLA is an effective tool to manage public works projects when reducing the risk of
project delays and reducing the potential of labor disruptions and labor shortages. (Res. 3736,
2, 2017) 
J.   Priority hire is an effective tool to create local jobs, enhance workforce diversity, and
improve overall working conditions. (Res. 3736, 2, 2017) 

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Revision History 
April 24, 2018             Resolution 3746 modified the definition of a covered project to
comport with the definitions in the Policy Directive on Construction
Labor Practices for Projects Located on Port of Seattle Property. 
November 28, 2017      Resolution 3736, establishing the Priority Hire Policy Directive, was
adopted. 















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