Council Unanimously Passes New Standards for City Contractors

 

11/08/2021

At the regular Council meeting on Thursday, November 4, Councilmembers unanimously passed Ordinance 33,513 which seeks to enhance its ability to define “contractor responsibility” and to identify “responsible contractors” and companion Ordinance 33,514 which promotes contractor responsibility in City construction projects for contracting work with the City of New Orleans. It assures that use of taxpayer dollars must reflect the public policy of the City and promote standards for racial and economic equity and workplace safety.
 
“These ordinances will require accountability of City contractors for the working conditions on projects," said District "E" Councilmember Cyndi Nguyen. “They will ensure that compliance with all labor and employment laws is a stated priority and that the business that has the contract with the City is responsible for everything that happens on the project. The ordinances make it clear that a contractor who enters into a contractual relationship with the City is responsible for all of the work necessary to complete the job, no matter who performs that work.”
 
“We have reached a milestone on creating legislation that protects the most venerable of workers," said Shanan Water, Seargent-At-Arms, Liuna Laborer's Local 145. “We congratulate both Councilwoman Cyndi Nguyen and Mayor LaToya Cantrell. Moving forward, the good contractors of New Orleans can compete fairly.”
 
"We are pleased and thankful to Councilmember Nguyen and the entire City Council, and to the Office of Procurement for getting this ordinance done," said Chip Fleetwood, Secretary-Treasurer at Greater New Orleans AFL-CIO and Political Director at IUPAT. "The responsible contractor ordinance will help to ensure that City projects will be done safely and responsibly. We hope that the private sector will follow the City’s lead."
 
"Thank you for working with the Workplace Justice Project and our union partners," said Erika Zucker, Policy Advocate at Workplace Justice Project, Loyola Law Clinic. "We hope the responsible contractor ordinance will create a fairer playing field and will stop worker exploitation. We welcome the additional transparency into the City contracting process and the clear public policy that workers’ rights are important and essential."
 
These ordinances will be applied to all contracts for work with the City of New Orleans
and the contracts must comply with federal, state and municipal laws governing all labor and employment associated with work performed in the conduct of the contract.


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