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But the agreement, called a PLA, guaranteeing unionized construction workers at the $325 million West Parish Water Treatment Plant , won’t happen, the Water and Sewer Commission said. The unions missed a deadline last week, the commission said and reiterated after receiving the letter. Work on the project began construction in July — and continuing into 2028 — and cannot be delayed.
The bid information was advertised Wednesday and bids are scheduled to be available Wednesday, Feb. 28 .
State Rep. Aaron L. Saunders , D-Belchertown, said in a phone interview that the deadline of Friday, Feb. 16 , for all unions to have signed on was arbitrary given the complexity of a multiparty agreement. He said the similar project labor agreement for the $483 million Veterans Home at Holyoke wasn’t finalized until just two weeks before groundbreaking.
In a statement, Water and Sewer Commission Chair Vanessa Otero pointed back to months of discussions with and among the board.
“To say it is inconsequential whether all parties are signatories to the PLA before the documents are added to the bid advertisement is misleading. Because what we, the Commissioners, were asking for — in part — was labor harmony to avoid delays, Otero said. “As a woman of color, resident of Springfield, and chair of the Springfield Water and Sewer Commission , I understood how important this negotiation was for our city. I too am dismayed.”
She said it is important to her that what she called a once-in-a-lifetime project would provide jobs and careers for women and minorities.
Saunders said unions and their bakers will continue to push, including reaching out to federal officials. The filtration plant, needed to meet current drinking water standards, is funded with state and federal money.
U.S. Rep. Richard E. Neal , D-Springfield, issued a statement praising the agreement’s intent but throwing cold water on its renewal.
“The proposed project labor agreement for the West Parish Filter Treatment Plant was a sensible business framework – one that we have seen instituted locally with Monarch Place , MGM Springfield , and the Holyoke Veterans’ Home. I was supportive of the agreement and disappointed to see that it ultimately failed.”
Signatories to the letter urging the commission reconsider were state Reps. Saunders; Angelo J. Puppolo , D-Springfield, Michael J. Finn , D-West Springfield; Orlando Ramos , D-Springfield; Bud L. Williams , D-Springfield; Brian M. Ashe , D- Longmeadow, and Carlos Gonzalez , D-Springfield.
Also singing on were state Sens. John C. Velis , D-Westfield; Jacob R. Oliveira , D-Ludlow, and Adam Gomez , D-Springfield.
Ludlow, in Saunders’ district, is a water customer of the commission and home to contractors and union construction workers, Saunders said. Westfield is included because the project will be built in Westfield, at the commission’s facility on Granville Road near the reservoir.
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