Unions, business leaders rally for jobs and housing

About 200 union laborers, business leaders and housing advocates gathered in Fairfield on Thursday to demand that Solano County and state leaders do more to bring jobs and affordable housing to the area.

Operating Engineers Local Union No. 3 District 04 Fairfield hosted the event at its headquarters alongside the California Alliance for Jobs. CAJ represents more than 100,000 workers across 2,000 construction companies across the state.

Josh Arce, executive director of CAJ, said labor and business interests came together for The New Deal and can do so again to propel California to a brighter future.

Arce noted that Solano County holds the highest unemployment of any Bay Area county, and called on local leaders to do better for their constituents. The press conference was originally scheduled for the closed Budweiser facility in Fairfield, but was moved to accommodate the size of the audience. Arce said shipbuilding efforts and the Suisun Expansion Specific Plan could put Solano County back on the map economically.

"Now is the time to create those jobs," he said.

Arce called on state-level leaders to draft legislation advancing shipbuilding in the county and the Suisun Expansion Specific Plan. He also held a moment of silence for the family of Jamario Baker, the graduate recently shot and killed at the Sam Yeto High School graduation.

Business Manager and Vacaville Resident Dan Reding said Budweiser and Valero were staples of the county's economy. To replace them, he said, the county will need to bring in strong union jobs rather than minimum wage work.

"We are tired of seeing jobs go away," he said.

Reding noted that the union's Construction Labor Agreement with California Forever is the largest in the United States ever signed, ensuring union labor will be employed for the entire 30-40 year project build-out across over 10,000 jobs.

Moreover, Reding said, the project could bring housing, schools, jobs, retail and shorter commutes to the area. Because of its importance to the region, he said, Solano County cannot afford to allow the gridlock that faces most projects of this scale.

"This cannot be a five to ten year red tape nightmare like every other project we work on," he said.

Reding said the project could carry his union and others through the shortage of contracts from the federal government this year. He said 20 years from now, people will look back and say the effort to develop this county was visionary.

"Our kids, our grandkids are going to talk about this vision, and how their fathers and grandfathers fought to get this off the ground," he said

Business Manager of the Napa-Solano Building and Construction Trades Council Danny Bernardini said the agreement with California Forever was made possible because of the outstanding quality of work that his union and other union workers provide. Born in Vacaville and now a Vallejo resident, Bernardini said some of the business tactics that worked for Solano County 10 years ago don't work anymore.

"Solano County is very unique in that the farther north you go, it's a little different in ideology," he said.

Bernardini thanked Suisun City leadership for thinking differently.

"They need to be their own city and with that they need to make bold choices," he said.

Jermaine Dowdell of the North Coast States Carpenters Union also spoke in favor of the project and pressed local leaders to bring jobs and housing to the region. He led multiple call-and-response chants, including one where he said "California" and the audience replied "Forever."

"I see a lot of people that are looking for change," he said.

Dowdell said the region has a workforce ready to hit the ground running on projects like the Suisun Expansion Plan.

"We need jobs right here right now to support our families and our communities," he said.

Sandy Person, former Solano Economic Development Corporation President and 40-year Solano resident, also made the call for local and state leaders to get projects shovel-ready. Strategically aligned sectors can overlap and intersect in Solano County, Person said.

"Solano County is synonymous with opportunities ahead," she added.

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