Project Labor Agreements (PLA) Rob Taxpayers

I recently read an article on the new Mayor of Bayonne Mark Smith. His arbitrary and false comments in his Inauguration Speach on Project Labor Agreements are worth noting.  "When it comes to the rights of working men and women, we have not compromised. We support the right of workers to organize. We support project labor agreements. And we believe that fully qualified, fully trained union labor makes projects better and safer, on budget and on time. We support organized labor and we believe that when people make a living wage, they build stronger families, and make better citizens which ultimately makes for a better Bayonne."

His statement is to say that Projects (pictured) built by fully qualified, fully trained Merit Shop labor somehow do not make projects better and safer, and do not bring project in on budget and on time which is a naive and ridiculous statement at best. He also uses the term living wage which is an arbitrary term created by unions and adopted by Democrat Politicians and used freely as if it is a definable term.  

Favoritism for a small group of workers at the expense of the vast majority of workers is wrong and costly to the taxpaying public. The indisputable truth is when you reduce competition you increase costs.

The farce is that PLA's promote labor peace by barring workers from striking, HELLO! Merit shop workers don’t go on strike and they do not promote violence. So why is there a need for a provision for labor peace? Or could it be that union workers have a reputation for promoting violence when they price themselves out of a project and that project is then awarded to a Merit Shop Contractor.

Project Labor agreements violate the rights of the vast majority of fully qualified, fully trained Merit Shop construction workers who build upwards of 80% of all construction projects in the state of New Jersey. Merit Shop Contractors and their employees represent the vast majority, all of whom pay taxes and contribute to society.  They Choose not to belong to a union, and because they choose not to belong to a union they are banned from working on a project burdened by a Project Labor Agreement that their taxes are paying for.

PLA projects do not cost more merely because of the wage that is paid. Wages are rarely an issue. They cost more because of the antiquated union work rules, reduced productivity by union labor vs Merit Shop labor, and the egregious benefit packages that are forced to be paid on these projects resulting in an increased cost of between 30% and 50% to taxpayers.

 

A reasonable benefit package including Health Care, Retirement Plan, Vacation, Paid Holidays and more cost an employer between $10 and $20 per hour, yet the union benefit rate imposed on Project Labor Agreements and also mandated by the States Prevailing Wage is upwards of $36.00 per hour with no justification of what the difference represents.  

 
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