Each year the City spends millions of dollars contracting with the private sector for the purchase or rental of equipment, goods, materials and supplies. The prudent expenditure of public dollars requires that the City's procurement process lead to the selection of qualified and responsible contractors who have the ability to perform the contract.
The City of Los Angeles has long supported the premise that employers should fairly compensate employees, that the health and safety of workers should be protected, and that no form of discrimination or abuse should be tolerated. Experience indicates that laws and regulations designed to safeguard basic tenets of ethical business practice are disregarded in some workplaces, commonly referred to as "sweatshops."
In its role as a market participant that procures equipment, goods, materials, and supplies, the City seeks to protect its interests by assuring that the integrity of the City's procurement process is not undermined by contractors who engage in sweatshop practices and other employment practices abhorrent to the City. When the City inadvertently contracts with these contractors, the City's ethical contractors are placed at a distinct competitive disadvantage. Many times ethical contractors are underbid by unscrupulous contractors in competition for City contracts. These ethical contractors may be dissuaded from participating in future City procurement contracts.
The City's proprietary contracting interests are served by doing business with contractors who make a good faith effort to ensure that they and their subcontractors shun sweatshop practices and adhere to workplace and wage laws. Seeking to protect these municipal interests, the City requires that all contractors subject to this Article sign an affidavit stating that they and, to the best of their knowledge, their subcontractors will comply with the City's Contractor Code of Conduct.
SECTION HISTORY
Added by Ord. No. 176,291, Eff. 1-1-05.