Hartnell approves lease-leaseback agreement -- and project labor agreement

At a crowded meeting Tuesday, Hartnell trustees approved a "lease-leaseback" agreement to develop the colleges new science building in the heart of the main campus.

But the agreement wasn't approved as originally proposed. Administrators proposed the lease-leaseback agreement to be approved without requiring project labor agreements. That original proposal failed 3-4, with Trustees Erica Padilla-Chavez, Pat Donohue and Candi DePauw for and Bill Freeman, Ray Montemayor, Demetrio Pruneda, and Elia Gonzalez-Castro against.

Montemayor then amended the proposal to include requirements of a project labor agreement, Spokeswoman Terri Pyer said. Project labor agreements demand union shops be brought on board for the construction part of the project. Critics had said this process could end up driving up costs, but friends of labor prevailed. Besides Montemayor, the amendment was supported by Pruneda, Freeman, and Gonzalez-Castro.

The amendment also requires that three trustees will participate in the negotiations of the project labor agreements.

The room was packed, mostly with supporters of project labor agreements, according to Hartnell Spokeswoman Terri Pyer.