LETTERS
Debating PLAs
Some recent criticism of Project Labor Agreements (PLAs) have given the public misconceptions.
PLAs have been used for more than 60 years on such projects as the Hoover Dam, Shasta Dam, Disneyland and more recently San Francisco Airport and Pacific Bell Park. PLAs do not drive the cost of the project up, and have, as a matter of fact, saved taxpayers millions of dollars on projects such as the Boston Harbor cleanup, which at a completed cost of $3.9 billion was well below the original cost estimate of $6.1 billion.
PLAs do not exclude non-union contractors from bidding and working on projects. Again using the Boston Harbor example, 16 of the 55 prime contracts were awarded to non-union contractors, and 102 of the 257 subcontractors were non-union.
PLAs assure workers of good wages and benefits; stabilize labor costs for the length of the project; and prevent labor disputes and work stoppages through a dispute-resolution mechanism. They provide a labor pool of properly trained, experienced and skilled workers who follow all possible health and safety precautions to protect both the workers and the public.
We feel that PLAs serve the public extremely well and are a means to assure that taxpayer dollars are spent as economically as possible.
Cyndi Marshall
Executive Vice President
California Association of Sheet Metal and Air Conditioning Contractors, National Association
Sacramento
To hear a construction union official tell it, union-only PLAs are the best thing since sliced bread. The facts do not back up that claim. Most PLAs are over budget, behind schedule and cost from ten to thirty percent more to build. Many experience work stoppages.
PLAs are merely a market recovery tool utilized by unions who failed to organize the construction industry through traditional methods. Fifty years ago unions accounted for nearly 90% of construction workers. Now they represent fewer than 20%. Union organizers lose more than 50% of their organizing elections. A PLA is designed to stop this bleeding. PLAs on public projects assume the role of union organizer but at taxpayer expense. Instead of spending years and countless dollars trying to convince companies and workers to become union through traditional campaigns (remember they lose more than 50% this way), union leaders would rather have taxpayers foot the bill and force workers into their rank and file (100% guaranteed).
PLAs are not about all workers but rather just union workers. The union motto should be “If you can’t beat ’em, exclude ’em.” PLAs accomplish this exclusionary goal by including provisions that essentially force all workers to join the union to work on the job. PLAs are political gifts and nothing more than a quid pro quo.
Steve Friar
Executive Director
Southern California Coalition for Fair Employment in Construction
Huntington Beach
