Ep. 585 Understanding the PLA Grievance Process

Rancho Mesa’s Surety Relationship Executive Anne Wright sits down with Adrianna Lopez, Director of Labor Relations for the Associated General Contractors (AGC) San Diego Chapter, to discuss the grievance process for project labor agreements.

Show Notes: ⁠Subscribe to Rancho Mesa's Newsletter⁠, Associated General Contractors

Director/Host: ⁠Anne Wright⁠

Guest: Adrianna Lopez

Editor/Producer: ⁠Megan Lockhart⁠

Music: "Home" by JHS Pedals, “Breaking News Intro” by nem0production

© Copyright 2025. Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc. All rights reserved.

Transcript

Anne Wright: You’re listening to Rancho Mesa’s StudioOne™ podcast, where each week we break down complex insurance and safety topics to help your business thrive. 

I’m your host, Anne Wright, and today I’m joined by Adrianna Lopez, Director of Labor Relations for the Associated General Contractors (AGC) in San Diego

Adrianna, welcome to the show.

Adrianna Lopez: Thank you. Good morning.

AW: So we're going to talk a little bit about project labor agreements, often referred to as PLAs, or I guess in some sectors PSAs, have become increasingly prevalent in public contracting over the years. And as a result, non-union contractors are frequently faced with a significant business decision, whether to pursue that work governed by a job-specific labor agreement or to walk away from those opportunities altogether.

So we're not going to go into all the pros and cons today about whether or how to participate on a PLA and what that might mean for a non-union contractor or subcontractor. But I think it's important for our listeners to know more about this grievance process if they do opt to undertake a PLA job.

So, Adriana, tell us a little bit about your background and we'll go from there.

AL: Well, thank you for having me on this morning. And my role at AGC is whether you're union or whether you're non-union/open shop, my job is to educate you to succeed on PLAs or inform you as to why you shouldn't work on a PLA. We're a pro-contractor, and so my background is in construction. I've been in the industry for 15 years, mostly on the regulatory side, working with PLAs in public works construction, supporting contractors, awarding bodies, and developers, et cetera.

At AGC, San Diego, my role as Director of Labor Relations is twofold. It's one to support our signatory contractors and also to help navigate the PLAs that are very common in San Diego so that anybody, whether they're open shop or not, can succeed on them and keep the work flowing.

AW: And AGC has always done a great job on education for the industry and its members, again, regardless of whether it's open shop or merit shop-based. So we're happy to have you here. Who do you think will benefit most from listening to this podcast?

AL: I think the people that will benefit most would be the people who are new to PLAs or maybe a bit averse to PLAs, just not understanding the process, or maybe a contractor who's in the middle of a grievance and doesn't exactly know which way is up.

AL: Yeah, interesting grievances. We're going to talk a little bit about what those might look like and how they can be responded to. But I think it's not something that a lot of people think about when they realize what they have to do to participate on a PLA. You know, getting a project from start to completion involves so many things in contracting. We know that. And I always honor the contractors that are able to successfully perform a job from start to finish with all these issues that they have to come across. So let me ask you regarding these master labor agreements or PLAs, are there any provisions that are negotiable when you're setting something up?

AL: No. So the negotiations happen at the bargaining table with the bargaining units. And in San Diego, our agreement for several crafts is the collectively bargained agreement. And if you're on a local PLA and you're using carpenters, cement masons, operators, laborers, you would be using our agreement as part of the Schedule A for many of the PLAs in the local area. They're not negotiable. It's a very standard set of rules and processes, and people need to read them very carefully before they get on to those types of jobs because they're not negotiable in any way or form.

AW: Just one more thing from day one contemplating a project, educate yourself, know what getting into.

AL: Exactly.

AW: Contracts, contracts, et cetera. So what would constitute a valid grievance? How do those come up? What do they look like?

AL: So a grievance is a set structure for a complaint of sorts, let's say. Any sort of violation, whether it be of the PLA itself and of the agreement at terms. So, for example, a grievance might be if a contractor was on a piece of equipment and was classifying the workers as a laborer, whereas that equipment is covered under the operating engineers’ agreement. So that scope of work should have been the operators. And so the operators have every right to file a complaint against a contractor for not using the right craft.

Another example might be if somebody was terminated without proper notice to the union, and there's certain steps of which have to be taken before an employee of certain types can be terminated. So that would be another reason for a grievance that somebody would have to work through.

AW: And things like lunch hours and breaks and all those things that a lot of people think of that unions have always been supportive of from day one. It's down to that kind of nitty-gritty stuff as well.

AL: Yeah, basically anything and everything that's covered in the master labor agreement, which you basically, as part of a PLA, you abound by the terms temporarily to that agreement. You need to be very familiar with it, the hiring procedures as well as the firing procedures, as well as the breaks, as well as the holidays, work hours, schedules, et cetera.

AW: So, an employer might be in a situation where they think it’s a grey area between a definitive grievance and situations that could potentially be a grievance. How can they navigate through that?

AL: Honestly, it's about communication. First of all, they need to be speaking with the PLA coordinator, which is the representative, usually from the awarding body, that helps oversee contractors in the workflow from the PLA on the project.

They also should be contacting the union if they want more clarity as to exactly how to do something.

But mostly, if they're an AGC member, they can contact me and I can help walk them through that entire process as part of my job. My part of my job is to walk them through from A to Z, the grievance process, and identify potential grievance issues, as well as if there is one, to hold their hand and walk them through that process until completion.

AW: Yeah, I can't imagine being a subcontractor new to this and going it on your own and not having an advocate. It seems a little intimidating.

AL: Just a little bit.

AW: Yeah. So we know that a well-defined process of processing those grievances will help keep things like the job schedule from being impacted. Are there any shortcuts to handling grievances so that maybe there isn't as much disruption? Can you offer any advice to those contractors who are new to the process or want to prepare in advance?

AL: So with respect to shortcuts, I'd like to first tap on to the idea that grievances have very strict timelines. And so the worst thing you can do is if you get a grievance to ignore it, because depending on the local and depending on the terms and the terms of the agreement, the timelines are very strict and you could really be at a disadvantage and or subject yourself to penalties, basically, liquidated damages, et cetera, if you don't adhere to those timelines.

With respect to shortcuts, I guess the best shortcut would be to call me if you're an AGC member, and so we can review it and we can immediately get on the same page of how we're going to address it to the union and to meet with those union representatives in order to make a fair case immediately and as soon as possible. And the union's job is really just to make sure that everybody's following the procedures, the master labor agreement terms, and to keep the work flowing. So they don't want to hold things up just as much as the contractor doesn't want to hold things up.

And so the earlier we can jump on a grievance and meet with the union and make it a priority to come to an agreement as soon as possible is the best route that we should take.

AW: I mean, my mind's thinking of other things that these contractors have to deal with all the time when they get into a contract with documentation, whether it's change orders, scope of work. This is just one more thing. If you're on a PLA, it's just like pay attention to what you're expected to do and document your files.

AL: Absolutely. And actually anything with regards to construction and public works construction, PLA construction, documentation is key. You're absolutely right. If you have an issue with an employee, it needs to be well documented. Same with if you have a reasoning as to why you hired one subcontractor over another it needs to be well documented. If you learned something on-site from a business rep, from the union that’s there, you need to make sure that you document their visit, the reason for their visit, the time and date. This will all help so that if in the unfortunate event you’re in the grievance process, if you have all of your documentation supporting why you did what you did, it really goes a long way.

AW: We always recommend that our clients know and would necessary retain a good construction attorney, whether it's to review their contracts from the get-go or get involved in some of these disputes. It sounds like the AGC offers another advantage to the contractor, as you mentioned, contact you to be able to resolve some of these issues and understand them a little bit better. So that's recognized and appreciated. Is there anything else that you think is important to share with our listeners?

AL: Yeah. So I'm excited to be here. This is a new position at AGC San Diego. And already I've been meeting a lot of people and educating people on a lot of really important topics. Yesterday, I just completed an eight -hour prevailing wage training for members and non-members. And then also on Friday, we have a for non-members and members, we have a PLA lunch and learn where people can learn a little bit more about the PLA process and it's hosted by myself.

But yeah, as part of the AGC membership benefit, I'm here to educate and I'm here to support open shop, union, just contractors in the local area. And so part of the membership means that you have access to me at any time. I can come on site. I can give a training maybe at your office, or you can call if you have a tricky prevailing wage question. We’re just really pro-contractor and that’s really the beauty of AGC San Diego.

AW: Well, as we discussed, these PLAs are not going away and when they first came into town people were like, “Well maybe, how about, what if we, let’s just skilled and trained in there and everybody will be good,” no we’re seeing more and more of it, sometimes it’s legislated, I think City of San Diego we actually voted on it a few years ago. So kudos to AGC for hiring you.

And thank you so much for coming in. If you want to reach me, I can be reached at awright@ranchomesa.com.

And Adriana, you want to share your email?

AL: Sure. My email is alopez@acgsd.org

AW:  Thank you very much.

AL: Thank you.

AW: Thanks for tuning into our latest episode produced by StudioOne. If you enjoyed what you heard, please share this episode and subscribe. For more insights like this, visit us at RanchoMesa.com and subscribe to our weekly newsletter.