On Sept. 22, Bernalillo County’s board of commissioners passed an ordinance requiring a community workforce agreement, also known as a project labor agreement, on all construction projects performed for the county that are valued at more than $7 million. The threshold was originally set at $5 million, but was raised to $7 million after a 30-day comment period following the introduction of the ordinance in August.

The result makes Bernalillo County the second local government in New Mexico to require a CWA on public projects in the last decade. The previous instance occurred in Santa Fe in 2012, where city commissioners adopted a CWA ordinance that was rescinded a year later after pressure from local contractors concerning the discriminatory nature of the CWA, which excluded more than 90% of New Mexico contractors from working on projects in the city.

ABC's New Mexico Chapter vocally opposed this CWA ordinance and will continue to advocate for its repeal.