Pressure On To Hire Locals For America's Cup Jobs In San Francisco

SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) --- The America's Cup is supposed to create thousands of jobs in San Francisco and San Francisco Supervisors claim they want local residents to be hired.

A status update on the jobs generated by the America's Cup was presented at a Board of Supervisors hearing Monday. Ed Lopez with the Department of Public Works said the general contractors contract has been awarded to Turner Construction for the cruise ship terminal project.

"That contract was awarded by the Port Commission in July of this year," Lopez said. "That's one of the first major construction contracts that included the 25 percent local hiring requirement."

Members of local unions want to make sure that the jobs are the right ones.

KCBS' Susan Kennedy Reports:

"This is a union town and we think that local hiring really only works when it's union jobs," one said.

The America's cup is supposed to create 8,800 jobs and a $1.4 billion economic boost. No hard numbers on jobs created are expected until next month when a draft proposal is expected to be released for public comment.

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