Government mandated rules governing the use of unionized construction labor is unfairly stigmatizing workers who don’t belong to a union, asserts a report released by the Associated Builders and Contractors.
The report also charges that project labor agreements on federally supported construction projects can increase the cost of a given project by anywhere from 12% to 20%.
Describing such agreements as “anti-competitive,” Ben Brubeck, vice president of regulatory, labor and state affairs for ABC, added that those same agreements “effectively exclude nearly 9 out of 10 U.S. construction workers who freely choose not to join a union.”
Brubeck, in overview comments on the report, also said that project labor agreements hold “employees’ compensation for ransom unless they join a union, pay union fees and prop up struggling union pension plans.”
Brubeck added that project labor agreements “steer contractors to unionized contractors and workers at the expense of the best quality nonunion contractors and workers.”
Project labor agreements have been used for decades and are essentially collective bargaining agreements establishing conditions and terms of employment on a given construction project with one of several unions.
Labor historians have said that the first significant use of such agreements was seen during the building of the Hoover Dam in the early 1930s.
The AFL-CIO maintains that such agreements ultimately protect taxpayers by “eliminating costly delays due to labor conflicts or shortages of skilled workers.”
Earlier this year the Biden Administration indicated that it wanted to expand the federal government’s use of project labor agreements.
The report referenced by ABC was authored by John McGowan, a former accounting professor at Saint Louis University.
By Garry Boulard
