DEANGELO LEGISLATION PROMOTING WORKFORCE DIVERSITY PASSES ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE

(TRENTON) – To promote workforce diversity in public works projects, Assemblyman Wayne DeAngelo (D-Mercer, Middlesex) sponsors legislation passed by the Assembly Labor Committee to provide outreach and training programs for minority group members, members of disadvantaged communities, and women.

The bill (A-5378) would promote workforce diversity in public works projects by permitting any public entity which includes a project labor agreement (PLA) to provide on-the-job and off-the-job programs to facilitate the hiring, training, and employment of disadvantaged and minority groups and women. Additionally, the measure would expand beyond building-based public works projects and include highway, bridge pumping station, water, and sewage treatment plant projects.

Upon committee approval of the bill, DeAngelo issued the following statement:

“Workforce diversity is something in which New Jersey takes great pride. This bill will allow the State to give employment opportunities to those who may have previously been overlooked. It will allow public works projects to not only employ minority communities, disadvantaged communities and women, but will also further the training and education of the workforce to further facilitate high quality work.”