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Negotiations between labor and stadium developers coming down to the wire
Construction continues at Hollywood Park in Inglewood on Monday, March 9. St. Louis Rams owner and real estate mogul Stan Kroenke bought 60 acres of land adjacent to the site in 2013.
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Negotiations between labor and stadium developers coming down to the wire
Negotiations between the The Los Angeles County Federation of Labor and the developers of a $1.8 billion NFL stadium in Inglewood are coming down to the wire.
Stadium developers have already agreed to use union workers to build the proposed stadium, but labor wants more: To have an agreement in writing stating that stadium jobs such as ushers and security guards will be union once the stadium is up and running. They also want a guarantee of union jobs at the 238-acre mixed-use development located next to the stadium.
As a negotiating tactic, labor has been gathering signatures to force Inglewood to do what most people expected to happen in the first place: To put the stadium to a citywide vote. (Instead, the city council bypassed voters last month, approving the project unanimously.)
There's little chance of the stadium being defeated at the ballot box, but an election wouldn't be held until the summer at the earliest. Victor Matheson, a sports economist at College of the Holy Cross, says that’s the last thing developers want, because they’re in a race against the proposed stadium in Carson that would be home to the Raiders and Chargers.
“L.A. is not going to end up with three teams, so essentially whoever is going to dig that first shovel of dirt is the team that’s going to end up there,” said Matheson.
Both sides are still negotiating, and neither side was willing to speak publicly, which is usually a sign they’re getting somewhere.
The deadline for submitting signatures is Thursday, according to Inglewood City Clerk Yvonne Horton. She said organizers would be required to submit around 8,000 signatures, which would then go to the Los Angeles County Registrar for verification.
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It's not surprising labor is trying to flex its muscle while the project is still trying to get off the ground, according to Mark Ganis, who helped advise the Raiders and Rams on relocating from Los Angeles in the 1990s and now works as a consultant for various NFL teams.
“Most people who have experience with sports facility projects understand you line-up the unions early on,” said Ganis. “The trades that are involved in construction typically can be the most vocal supporters and the most vocal opponents of large scale real estate projects in most parts of the country.”
Some Inglewood residents have complained about being tricked into signing the petition, according to the website Inglewood Today;
Inglewood residents: Beware of dishonest signature gatherers who are endangering the Hollywood Park stadium!
That’s the warning from city leaders this week, as a rash of deceptive signature collectors are knocking on doors in an attempt to lure unsuspecting residents into signing a petition against the stadium project. Project opponents from outside of Inglewood are paying door-knockers to visit local neighborhoods and use misleading claims – or outright lies – to collect signatures that would reverse the City Council’s approval of the City of Champions Revitalization Initiative.
“I felt totally tricked and scammed! I couldn’t believe what happened to me,” said Susana Espana, whose home near Crenshaw Blvd. and 118th Place was visited on Monday by a fraudulent signature gatherer. The man claimed that his petition would show support for the new professional sports stadium. He even encouraged Espana to sign a second time, on behalf of her sister, who also supports the stadium.
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