California Construction News staff writer
California Forever has signed a 40-year construction labor agreement with the Napa/Solano Building Trades Council and the Northern California Carpenters Union, a deal the parties describe as the largest construction labor agreement ever reached.
The agreement covers nearly 70,000 acres—about 110 square miles—owned by California Forever in Solano County. It requires that most construction work across the site be performed by union labor through individual project labor agreements, including infrastructure, public works, and major commercial, office, retail, industrial, defense and energy projects.
California Forever is proposing a new city on roughly 100 square miles in Solano County, located between Silicon Valley and Sacramento. Plans call for an advanced manufacturing park, a large shipyard and what the developer describes as the first newly built walkable city in the United States in a century.
An economic and fiscal impact study released the same day by the Bay Area Council Economic Institute examined the Suisun Expansion Plan and the proposed Solano Shipyard. The report estimates that, once construction activity reaches full scale, the two projects combined would generate more than 17,000 direct construction jobs annually in Solano County over the 40-year buildout period. According to the analysis, most of those jobs would be union positions with average annual compensation of about $108,000.
Union leaders said the agreement is intended to provide long-term stability for the local workforce.
“This isn’t just a construction project; it’s a multi-generational promise to the working families of Solano County,” said Danny Bernardini of the Napa-Solano Building Trades Council.
Ron Rowlett of the Northern California Carpenters Union said the scope and duration of the agreement would allow workers to spend their entire careers on the project while remaining in the community.
California Forever founder and chief executive officer Jan Sramek said the agreement reflects a partnership between private investment and organized labor aimed at long-term development in California.
Before construction can begin, the project must receive required approvals. California Forever has said it is seeking to break ground in 2026.
