State officials plan to use controversial project labor agreements on nearly $200 million worth of prison construction projects scheduled to begin this year in Fort Madison and Mitchellville.
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Iowa Corrections Director John Baldwin said Tuesday his department didn’t use such agreements when three new state prisons were built in the 1990s in Clarinda, Newton and Fort Dodge. But an executive order signed by Gov. Chet Culver last week requires state officials to consider using project labor agreements on all large-scale state government construction projects.

“We are just starting to learn about this process,” Baldwin said in an interview. “But we will figure out what it is, get input from both sides, and try to craft a document that is sensitive to everybody.”

A project labor agreement is designed to coordinate labor relations between multiple trade unions and contractors at a specific construction site. Supporters say they ensure large projects are done on time and on budget. Critics contend they discourage competition from nonunion contractors, driving up taxpayers’ costs.

About 40 Iowa prison officials and consultants met Tuesday in Des Moines and via video conference from Fort Madison to begin transitional planning for the eventual completion of the two prison projects.

Baldwin said a ripple effect will be felt throughout Iowa’s nine prisons, which hold about 8,300 inmates. That’s because completion of the two projects will result in many offenders being shifted to different prisons throughout Iowa, where they can be more appropriately managed and treated.

Ground is scheduled to be broken in April for the $131 million, 800-bed Fort Madison maximum-security prison, which will replace an antiquated facility. The completion target date is December 2012.

Work is scheduled to start in late July or August on a $68 million renovation and expansion at the Mitchellville women’s prison. The facility, which now holds about 550 inmates, will have room for 888 inmates when the project is completed. The new institution should be a national model for women’s prisons, with better treatment and medical facilities, and more efficient operations, said Warden Patti Wachtendorf.

Curtiss Pulitzer, a New York-based criminal justice consultant, told prison officials they should avoid any delays in proceeding with the projects because of a highly competitive environment in the construction industry.

Baldwin agreed, saying he expects interest from construction firms inside and outside of Iowa on both projects. Firms are hungry for work because of the recession.

“We would hope that Iowa firms would bid on this very aggressively,” Baldwin said.

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