Mayor Lucas Convenes Economic Development Partners, Organized Labor, and Kansas City Public Schools to Strengthen Workforce Commitments

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Mayor Quinton Lucas today convened leaders from the Economic Development Corporation of Kansas City (EDC), Port KC, Kansas City Public Schools (KCPS), minority and women contractor associations, and the Greater Kansas City Building and Construction Trades Council to address workforce standards and improve coordination on incentivized development projects.

The meeting comes after the Greater Kansas City Building and Construction Trades Council raised concerns about inconsistent wage and apprenticeship standards at Kansas City incentive agencies.

"As Kansas City continues to grow, fair pay and representation for our workers and Kansas Citians of all backgrounds is essential," said Mayor Lucas. "I organized today's discussion of our labor partners, contractors representing those too often left out of the workforce, our schools, and our incentive agencies to ensure Kansas City does right by its people while maintaining economic development competitiveness with our peers across the state line and communities around the country that don't afford workers the same protections."

The parties discussed concrete steps to improve compliance and communication going forward, including:

• Parallel legislation at the EDC and Port KC to be introduced Monday, February 23 to apply consistent prevailing wage standards on classes of construction, including industrial and manufacturing projects;
• Consistent monitoring by third parties to ensure compliance with City policies;
• Exemption of single-family home building from applicable policies to maintain housing production at the agreement of all parties.

Mayor Lucas's office will facilitate further dialogue between all parties within the next two weeks to ensure standards in other construction areas are consistent across Kansas City's agencies and are the product of broad-based stakeholder engagement supporting our city's growth, fair pay and opportunity for local workers, and protecting the tax base supporting Kansas City's schools and libraries.

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