Bart Pantoja, the Business Manager and Secretary-Treasurer for the San Mateo Building and Construction Trades Council joined the America’s Work Force Union Podcast to discuss the work being done in the area, recent PLAs and plans for childcare assistance in the future.
Sandwiched between San Francisco and Santa Clara, and home to over 10,000 active union members, San Mateo County has been a great workplace for the building trades according to Pantoja. In recent years as Meta, Google and other tech businesses grow and modernize their campuses, the building trades continue to be brought in to do the work. As Pantoja explained, the companies in the region want quality work and know that by signing Project Labor Agreements with the building trades they’ll get the quality they desire.
Meta is one of the Silicon Valley area corporations that is not afraid to bring in union labor. They recently agreed to a PLA with the San Mateo Building Trades to complete a combination residential, retail and commercial project. The San Francisco International Airport is in the middle of renegotiating its third contract with the San Mateo Building Trades, a third 10-year contract is the plan, Pantoja said. The San Francisco International Airport is also home to a majority union workforce, from “curb to cockpit” he added.
As the building trades continue to grow, childcare becomes the main focus for many union members. To alleviate the issue, there are a number of grants available in California to those in apprenticeship programs for childcare, as well as working with the airport to bring back it’s 24-hour childcare facility and allow union members to use the service. It’s not just childcare, but also an age issue, as Pantoja works to recruit younger members and more apprentices out of high school and college. It is Pantoja’s goal to bring in the same number of new members as he sees retire in the next five years..
Listen to the entire episode to learn more.