Meeting talk: How has union labor’s role been factored into construction of Bloomington Convention Center expansion?

On Wednesday night, Bloomington’s city council took the biggest step so far towards the construction of an expansion to the Bloomington Convention Center—by approving the issuance of $46.8 million in bonds, which will help fund the $70-million construction project.

The debt service will be paid with food and beverage tax revenue, with economic development local income tax proceeds as a backup.

Not expected to hang in the balance on Wednesday night was the outcome of the vote—which was 6–0 on the nine-member council. The three absentees were: Matt Flaherty, Kate Rosenbarger, and Andy Ruff. For previous steps in the project, the only two votes in opposition to the project have come from Flaherty and Rosenbarger.

But for a brief moment on Wednesday, a postponement of the bond issuance seemed like it could at least get some consideration.

Call for postponement

From the public mic via Zoom, Wes Martin—whose term as deputy chair for labor of the Monroe County Democratic Party ended a week ago with the party’s reorganization—called for a postponement of the vote.

Martin questioned the approach taken by the Monroe County capital improvement board (CIB) in its interactions with organized labor. The seven-member CIB was formed for the purpose of overseeing the planning and construction of the convention center expansion.

Martin told the council he supports the convention center expansion, but wanted the council to delay, so that voices from labor could be heard. He said, “It is a great public works project. However, we don't need to just go ahead and build it. We need to make sure that we build it correctly, and that means using union and organized labor in order to create this large public works project.”

Martin said that union representatives had repeatedly asked for a project labor agreement (PLA). A PLA would be a pre-hire collective bargaining agreement—between a project owner, in this case the CIB, and labor unions. It would set various terms and conditions for employment on the convention center expansion project. Unions mentioned by Martin were: International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Plumbers and Steamfitters of the United Association, and Laborers’ International Union of North America (LIUNA).

Martin contended the Monroe County capital improvement board (CIB) had been dismissive of requests for a PLA.

During public commentary, when his turn came to address the city council, CIB president John Whikehart delivered some prepared remarks, and added a response to Martin’s statements. But Whikehart ran up against the three-minute time limit before he finished. Later he was given a chance to respond in more detail, when the council deliberated.

City council reaction to call for postponement

Public commentary was uniformly in support of the project. The only dissent, just on the question of timing, was from Martin.

Speaking in favor of the project from the public mic, besides Whikehart and Martin, were a number of community leaders. Affiliations given by speakers are in parenthesis: Eric Spoonmore (Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce); Von Welch (non-profit sector); Galen Cassady (Uptown Cafe); Jordan Davis (Chocolate Moose); Talisha Coppock (Downtown Bloomington, Inc.); Jennifer Mujezinovic (Clash Gallery); Aleisha Kropf (Wonderlab); Jim Doering (ForthPhaze Technology); Samantha Eibling (Goods for Cooks); Jennifer Crossley (Monroe County council); Denzil Ross (IU Health); Julie Thomas (Monroe County board of commissioners); Kerry Thomson (Bloomington mayor); and Mike McAfee (Visit Bloomington).

When the topic returned to the council itself, Courtney Daily picked up on Martin’s remarks. Referring to the labor issue that Martin raised, Daily said that Martin “brought up a really great point in his call.” Daily wanted to know what the impact would be on the project, if the council postponed action that night.

The answer to Daily’s question came from the city’s outside legal counsel, Tenley Drescher-Rhoades, with Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath. Drescher-Rhoades said a delay on the vote that night would delay the closing on the bonds. The project schedule calls for the start of construction in June of 2025. The completion of the convention center expansion is expected by February 2027.

From the perspective of organized labor, the March-to-August timeframe for the start of bidding is crucial.

From the perspective of CIB president Whikehart, the significant impact of a delay in the project was the associated cost increase. Following Martin’s turn at the mic, Whikehart stated that each month of delay adds $160,000 to project costs.

Whikehart was given another chance to talk about Martin’s call for a postponement, when councilmember Dave Rollo invited him to respond to the questions that Martin had raised.

Project labor agreement (PLA) versus pre-qualification criteria

Whikehart said that the CIB’s conversations with organized labor began last year—including a meeting in October to discuss a potential project labor agreement (PLA). Whikehart described how the CIB opted instead to adopt pre-qualification criteria that are modeled after those used by Marion County’s CIB. Those criteria, Whikehart said, show “extreme preferential treatment” for union contractors.

The first six criteria cover: a work stoppage prohibition; a grievance resolution process; retirement and health insurance requirements; apprenticeship program participation; compliance with safety and health laws; and workforce size adjustment.

Whikehart said the preferential treatment of union contractors stems from the seventh point on the list—which was a condition that says if a contractor has a collective bargaining agreement (CBA) with a labor organization, then the contractor is automatically deemed to have satisfied the first six criteria. That’s because if a contractor has a CBA, then the contractor will necessarily have satisfied the first six criteria.

The resolution adopting the pre-qualification criteria was adopted by the CIB on Feb. 19, following notification to labor representatives the day before, Whikehart said.

Whikehart said about his interaction with labor representatives before the vote: “I met with them and talked to them prior to the meeting, told them what we intended to do. They made no comment to me one way or another.”

Rollo appeared satisfied with Whikehart’s response, saying “Mr. Whikehart very adeptly answered that question."

In her remarks to the council, Bloomington mayor Kerry Thomson responded to Martin’s remarks about union labor: “I've read the documents, and they strongly favor labor.” Thomson continued, “I have also talked to several CIB members about this topic, and I think that labor issue is one where we'll see lots of lots of union builders out there in many different trades.” She added, “Just to meet the safety qualifications alone, you almost have to be union.”

Are PLAs in the public sector legal in the state of Indiana?

Based on a sample PLA provided to The B Square by IBEW 725, (International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers), the topics that are typically included in a PLA overlap with the pre-qualification criteria that were adopted by the CIB for the convention center expansion project.

Helping to give the city council an assurance that the adoption of the pre-qualification criteria was, from a legal perspective, in some sense the best the CIB could do, was Tenley Drescher-Rhoades, the city’s outside legal counsel.

Drescher-Rhoades indicated from the public mic that in the state of Indiana, it’s not legally possible for a local government to enter into a PLA: “An actual project labor agreement—that is something that local government cannot enter into that agreement.” She added, “If you're going to build a private hotel or a private building, they can enter into a project labor agreement. Local government cannot.”

After the meeting, Martin indicated to The B Square he disputed Drescher-Rhoades’s contention. Responding to an emailed question from The B Square, Drescher-Rhoades focused on a specific kind of provision that cannot legally be included in a public sector PLA (wage scales), which she connected to the idea of the robustness of a PLA. She wrote: “Robust project labor agreements have not been viable for about a decade, because of a law passed in 2015.”

Drescher-Rhodes wrote: “Local units of government are prohibited from establishing or mandating wage scales or schedules in public works contracts. The essence of a project labor agreement is to determine a union wage rate, but Indiana Code 5-16-7.2-5 practically prevents those types of arrangements.”

The law cited by Drescher-Rhoades [IC 5-16-7.2-5] is short:

Prohibition against public agency establishing, mandating, or requiring wage scale or schedule for public works project
Sec. 5. Unless federal or state law provides otherwise, a public agency may not:
(1) establish;
(2) mandate; or
(3) otherwise require;
a wage scale or wage schedule for a public works contract awarded by the public agency.

Drescher-Rhoades added, “Nothing in Indiana Code, however, prevents local governments from encouraging bidding by unions or developing appropriate non-wage provisions of bid solicitations and public construction contracts that would be supported by unions.”

Supporting the idea that PLAs in the public sector are not inherently illegal in the state of Indiana was John Bates, who is business business manager of the Plumbers and Steamfitters Local 136 of the United Association. Speaking to The B Square by phone, Bates pointed to a jail expansion in Vanderburgh County (Evansville) that is being constructed under a PLA.

Monroe County’s jail project

If Vanderburgh County is using a PLA for its jail expansion project, a natural question for Monroe County elected officials is whether a PLA will be put in place for their own jail project. The Monroe County jail and justice center project is set to start bidding in early 2026, according to the current project timeline.

Monroe County councilor David Henry, who was sworn in at the start of the year, responded to a question from The B Square by saying he has already raised a question about PLAs for the jail project with DLZ Corporation’s Scott Carnegie. DLZ is the design/build consultant for the project.

Even though the topic of PLAs did not get addressed at the Feb. 28 joint meeting of county commissioners and county councilors about the jail project, Henry told The B Square, “I'm bringing it up on Tuesday.” That was a reference to the upcoming county council meeting on March 11.

Henry served as chair of Monroe County Democratic Party from around 2022 until last week, when the party reorganized, and Henry did not seek to continue as head of the party. During his time as chair, Henry made an effort to return some of the party’s focus to organized labor. That’s one reason Henry appointed a deputy chair for labor—which was the reference Wes Martin made by way of introduction to the Bloomington city council on Wednesday night.

At the CIB’s January meeting, Henry advocated for union labor on the convention center expansion project. From the public mic, Henry said, “I have reached out to the CIB about potential pre-labor agreements, to make sure that the rivets and the fittings and the steel that we're putting on the new building are built with good labor and some training, and skill, and trades and certification that they bring to construction.”

Henry told The B Square that he thinks the pre-qualification criteria that the CIB adopted in February were a “baby step in the right direction.”