Construction contractors are opposing a new New Orleans law requiring contractors on city jobs to hire more local workers. The New Orleans City Council approved an ordinance in October setting the ambitious local-hire targets for all construction projects worth more than $150,000, but the law is vague as to how it would be applied in practice.
The law requires contractors make a "good faith effort" to hire local labor for 30% of the required labor in 2016. That number increases to to 50% by 2020.
Opponents in the construction industry say the program is a government overreach and an unfair burden on private business. Contractors support the effort to hire more locals but feel the city has overstepped its legal authority to achieve that goal.
The proposed regulations would require the two lowest bidders to submit a "manpower utilization schedule" which would lay out how much labor the project requires. The winning bidder would have to submit a list of positions it expects to have to fill to complete the job and submit a roster of all workers including names and addresses.
