Economics

Union Rift Threatens Local Oakland Jobs

Published

9 years ago

October 13, 2017

Over the last several months, Oakland residents have been bombarded by phone calls, mailers, leaflets and most recently an online poll opposing one the largest development projects in recent memory. The claim from a group called East Bay Residents for Responsible Development (EBRRD) is that SunCal, master developer of Oak Knoll, has refused to negotiate project labor agreements with Oakland unions. But, SunCal has a deal with one of Oakland’s largest unions.

Forbes recently ranked Oakland as one of the 10 fastest-growing cities in the U.S. SunCal’s Oak Knoll promises to create thousands of jobs as the company prepares the former site of the Oak Knoll Naval Hospital for the construction of new homes, new retail and new community facilities.

Unions in Oakland once maintained an unbreakable code of brotherhood—rooted in conduct that supported labor and all the various trades.

“It didn’t matter who was working, as long as it was a local union. We supported our brothers and sisters, end of story,” says Fernando Estrada, Business Manager-Secretary/Treasurer of the Local 304 of LiUNA—the Oakland union that has executed a project labor agreement with SunCal.

But over the summer, this code of conduct was broken when Estrada and the Local 304 were targeted by the East Bay Residents for Responsible Development (EBRRD) after signing an agreement with SunCal.

The East Bay is backed by the mechanical trades, leaving LiUNA in uncharted union waters. “I just can’t understand why they’re trying to undermine us—it just doesn’t make any sense,” said Estrada.

EBRRD has saturated Oakland households with a stream of robo- calls and direct mail imploring residents to “Stop SunCal” and “Say NO to Oak Knoll” which, if successful, would kill the project and the thousands of associated jobs.

The problem started when the Building Trades, an umbrella organization, failed to broker a broad union deal on Oak Knoll. “Word came down that each union should go out and try to negotiate their own contract, which was standard,” said Estrada.

Fernando Estrada, Business Manager-Secretary/Treasurer of the Local 304 of LiUNA.

“This system was employed for years and was completely respected,” Estrada added. “Just like when the mechanical trades got the Mervyns job over in Hayward. We didn’t get it, but fully supported them. This is how it’s always worked and we were proud to stand by our union brothers.”

“The majority of our jobs go to Oaklanders,” said Estrada. According to the Office of the Oakland City Administrator, a FY 15-16 and FY16-17 review showed that the Laborers from the 304 generated 54 percent of all project work hours;

74 percent of local hires; and was responsible for 65 percent of the Oakland apprentice work hours for the entire City of Oakland.

“It’s always been a priority for us to make sure that the construction work at Oak Knoll be made available to residents of Oakland. Our agreement with the Local 304 will now ensure that more than 70 percent of the work will stay in Oakland—no other labor union can make those claims,” said SunCal spokesman David Soyka.

“This phase of our involvement with the Oak Knoll project is just the beginning for Oakland unions,” says Estrada. When it’s time to build sidewalks, houses and roads, we look forward to seeing unions doing the work,” he added.

“My job is to make sure that folks from Oakland and members of our union have a chance to have a career,” Estrada said. “This project is good for our members and it’s good for Oakland and we will do our part to make sure city leaders know it.”

Oakland Post

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Activism

At the event, 16 entities signed the EIP pledge, vowing to take steps to increase public contracting opportunities in their spheres for small and historically underutilized businesses. The pledge signees included Hub International, the Port of San Francisco, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, California High-Speed Rail Authority, the Port of Oakland, Robert Graham of Webcor Builders, Holder Construction, the Weitz Company, Sky Blue Builders, Hornblower, Swinerton, Luster National, Talson Solutions, Center for Community Wealth Building, and the Construction Contractors Alliance.

Published

7 days ago

June 24, 2026

Oakland Post

Toks Omishakin, secretary of the California State Transportation Agency, was one of the speakers at the event. Photo by Shellee Fisher Photography and Design.

By Calvin Naito, Special to The Post

On June 4, a national nonprofit named the Equity in Infrastructure Project (EIP) – which aims to increase public construction contracting opportunities for small and historically underutilized businesses – held a day-long event in downtown San Francisco to rally supporters and build momentum to its cause.

It was attended by more than 100 individuals from public agencies, private firms, and other organizations committed to increasing contracting opportunities with governmental agencies, thereby creating more competition and lowering public costs.

The EIP event was held the Hyatt Regency San Francisco in conjunction with BuildIT, which aims to increase contracting opportunities for LGBT-owned businesses.

At the event, 16 entities signed the EIP pledge, vowing to take steps to increase public contracting opportunities in their spheres for small and historically underutilized businesses.

The pledge signees included Hub International, the Port of San Francisco, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, California High-Speed Rail Authority, the Port of Oakland, Robert Graham of Webcor Builders, Holder Construction, the Weitz Company, Sky Blue Builders, Hornblower, Swinerton, Luster National, Talson Solutions, Center for Community Wealth Building, and the Construction Contractors Alliance.

Following the workshop, BuildIT hosted a VIP evening reception honoring EIP, whose principals – Phil Washington, John Procari, and Rick Jacobs – accepted the award.

The event also set in motion the coalition’s efforts to implement recommendations from EIP’s “Procurement for Prosperity: A Playbook.”

The Playbook is a practical guide for public agency leaders and procurement and contracting practitioners to grow the capacity of small and first-time contractors, strengthen competition, and deliver better value for taxpayers.

Toks Omishakin, Secretary of the California State Transportation Agency (CalSTA), a long-time EIP supporter, also told attendees, “This is about commitment. This has been a life’s work. This is a tailwind moment.”

The event’s presenting sponsor was Hub International, one of the largest insurance brokerages in the nation, which was joined by partners Travelers Insurance and the State Compensation Insurance Fund.

After the pledge-signing ceremony, attendees participated in a workshop in which they examined the policies, practices, and programs needed to meet EIP goals, learned from practitioners, and identified next steps toward utilizing the Playbook.

Ingrid Meriwether, formerly of Merriwether & Williams Insurance Services (MWIS) and current president of Hub International’s Aligned Risk Management, MWIS, described the hard-fought lessons she and her MWIS team have learned over the last three decades administering contractor development programs (CDPs) for the City and County of San Francisco, Alameda County, City of Los Angeles, LA Metro, and other municipalities.

The CDPs help small and local construction firms win public infrastructure contracts with these government agencies. The program provides bonding assistance, contract financing, technical support, training, and other services to underrepresented businesses funded by public agencies who seek greater contracting participation with these firms.

Merriwether said programs like these “break down systemic barriers, create greater fairness, and save taxpayers money by enabling more competition. The contractor development programs have, cumulatively, over two decades, helped contractors access over $1 billion in bonding, supporting over $380 million in awarded contracts, and maintaining a loss ratio 250 times lower than the industry average – while saving participating municipalities more than $27 million in contracting costs as a result of enabling more competition.”

Rick Jacobs, EIP co-founder and co-chair urged attendees make plans to meet again in the near future “to continue building on this work, share progress on organizational commitments, and discuss how we can collectively advance the goals of the EIP pledge.”

For more information on the EIP and to access a copy of the Playbook, go online to https://equityininfrastructure.org/

Calvin Naito is communications manager for Equity in Infrastructure Project.