As a co-chair of Friends of Carlsbad Schools, the committee behind the successful campaign for the $265 million Measure HH bond initiative, I am sounding the alarm over an upcoming proposal to enact a project labor agreement, or PLA, that will harm our students, teachers and taxpayers in the Carlsbad Unified School District.
Since it passed in November 2018, Measure HH has seen spiraling construction costs due to supply chain disruptions during COVID-19, higher inflation and tariffs. With these increased costs, the district has already acknowledged that countless projects — most notably repairs and upgrades to the Community Arts Center at Carlsbad High School — will not move forward.
Yet somehow, in this environment of escalating costs and dwindling funds, the CUSD Board of Trustees is poised to further burden the district with a PLA. A PLA is a pre-hire collective bargaining agreement that essentially requires every construction project to use union labor or pay union wages and benefits — greatly increasing project costs and limiting competition.
Ultimately, the PLA prioritizes unions’ interests over students’.
Why is a PLA being proposed in 2025 for a bond approved in 2018? Look no further than Board President Kathy Rallings, who is employed by the most powerful union in the state, the California Teachers Association. Her union endorsed and funded the campaigns for two other trustees, giving the unions a majority on the school board for the first time in December 2024.
PLAs have multiple negative consequences that drive up project costs. They restrict bidding to unionized contractors, excluding most of the construction workforce who operate merit shops. With fewer bidders, there is little incentive to keep prices low, leaving taxpayers to foot the bill for inflated budgets.
A recent study found that a PLA requirement approved by the Los Angeles City Council to build affordable housing increased project costs by 14.5%. The council recently waived those labor requirements after city planners said the rules would prevent many affordable housing projects from happening at all.
A PLA for Carlsbad Unified will have the same impacts — but those impacts will be felt by our students and teachers in our classrooms, gymnasiums, athletic fields and performing arts centers.
Schools are constantly being hit with unplanned facilities issues, and CUSD is no exception. At the beginning of the school year, an AC leak at Carlsbad High School required expensive repairs, and the district recently discovered potentially significant soil issues at Sage Creek High School, the cost of which is currently unknown. We need to stretch every dollar of Measure HH bond funds.
PLAs hurt our local community as well. Small businesses and regional contractors are often nonunion and lack the resources to navigate the requirements imposed by PLAs. These agreements can effectively shut out these businesses from participating in Measure HH projects, undermining the economic vitality of local communities.
By favoring larger union firms, PLAs concentrate project opportunities among a smaller group rather than distributing economic benefits more widely. A PLA can leave out up to 85% of construction workers.
Board President Rallings is no stranger to union advocacy — she was one of the vocal supporters of Measure G, the failed 2024 county sales tax hike that would have funded hundreds of millions in road construction projects for union labor groups.
As a CUSD trustee, however, she and the other trustees have a fiduciary duty to serve the best interests of students and our community. Implementing a PLA in Carlsbad Unified will further limit the reach of the remaining Measure HH funds, ultimately shortchanging CUSD students and taxpayers.
The PLA could be on the agenda as soon as Oct. 22. The Carlsbad community needs to rise up to protect our students and our taxpayer dollars by opposing the PLA. You can write the board at [email protected].
Shauna Hurst is a CUSD parent, former co-chair of the Measure HH Bond Committee and a former member of the Measure HH Bond Independent Oversight Committee.
