Labor Group Not Backing Building Cap

A labor group whose members had endorsed a slow-growth measure on the Santa Clarita ballot now says it has no position on the initiative.

Ron Kennedy, executive secretary of the Los Angeles County Building & Construction Trades Council, said in an interview Wednesday that the council has never taken an official position on Measure A, which would restrict residential construction in the city to 475 units a year through 2002.

Kennedy said members of the council who endorsed Measure A earlier this week had no right to speak on behalf of the council.

At the same time, however, Kennedy seemed to recognize the frustration of union members when he said that if developers “insist on hiring out-of-state workers and contractors, then why should we encourage anyone to build if no local residents get jobs.”

Members of the council expressed support for Measure A on Tuesday at a protest rally in front of Newhall Land & Farming Co.’s corporate headquarters in Valencia. The rally opposed what the council contends is Newhall Land’s use of out-of-state, non-union labor to build the area’s first regional mall, the Valencia Town Center.

The firm has denied the accusation, saying that of 70 contractors hired for the mall project so far, 26 are union shops and 64 are Southern California firms employing local workers.

“Why should we help the developers defeat the measure? So they can make money anyway when they’re not hiring us?” said Bob Milewsky, a spokesman for a carpenters union in the council.

The council also permitted John Drew, the co-author of Measure A, to speak at the rally.

The position taken by union members alarmed the Building Industry Assn., a trade group of developers, said Dick Wirth, a spokesman for the group’s Governmental Affairs Council.

“It’s suicidal” for construction workers to back a measure that would limit residential building, Wirth said Wednesday, adding that he had called council officials to question them about their position.