A proposal to fix the workforce shortages for construction projects and increase job opportunities for younger people in Albuquerque is on hold after city councilors deferred the bill earlier this week.
During their Oct. 21 meeting, councilors debated the Apprenticeship Empowerment ordinance — sponsored by Councilors Tammy Fiebelkorn and Dan Champine — which would require a certain number of apprenticeships for contracted city construction projects.
“We want to make sure we are incentivizing apprenticeships,” Fiebelkorn said. “Folks need to be able to get paths out of poverty and figure out a job path out of high school, and this would really open up the number of apprentices.”
The ordinance originally required contractors for construction projects that cost more than $1 million to dedicate 15% of a job’s labor hours to apprenticeships.
After meeting with contractors and getting feedback on the legislation, Fiebelkorn and Champine proposed changes to the ordinance that would reduce the requirements from 15% of apprenticeship hours to 10% and increase the construction project cost to $2 million.
Council President Dan Lewis was against the bill because he said it “puts the city in a position and contractors in a position that I think really is unproductive in so many ways,” and did not see how the changes “helps much in that regard.” Lewis also said the program was too similar to the city’s project labor agreements.
Fiebelkorn said she is a “big fan” of the labor agreements but that they are for larger projects and do not require apprenticeships.
“All you have to do is look around the city of Albuquerque to see that we have young people who are in need of a career path,” Fiebelkorn said. “We should be leading by example and making sure that as many young people as possible have access to really good paying jobs, and that’s all this bill does.”
Councilors voted in favor of the proposed changes and then deferred the bill on an 8-1 vote until the next council meeting on Nov. 4.
YES: Joaquín Baca, Dan Champine, Tammy Fiebelkorn, Renée Grout, Dan Lewis, Klarissa Peña, Nichole Rogers, Louie Sanchez
NO: Brook Bassan
Read more about the ordinance here.
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