Business groups are decrying a recent directive from Gov. Josh Shapiro designed to increase the state’s use of project labor agreements, deals that generally require the use of union labor on public projects.
- Issued last week, the directive calls on state agencies to review contract solicitations for capital projects to determine which ones would be good fits for project labor agreements.
- Business groups worry that the agreements could hurt non-union contractors.
- “Honestly, it’s an outrage,” said Jim Willshier, government affairs director for the Lancaster County-based Keystone chapter of Associated Builders and Contractors, an association of mostly non-union companies.
What’s the directive: In a March 27 announcement, Shapiro said state agencies should determine the need for PLAs based on three criteria.
- The projects up for bidding must be urgent and complex, and there must be concerns about the availability of qualified labor.
- In its procurement handbook, the Department of General Services defines capital projects as construction or renovation work using more than $100,000 in state bond proceeds or $300,000 in general state revenue.
- Shapiro pitched greater use of PLAs as a way to ensure projects are delivered on time and on budget.
- Labor leaders embraced the move.
- “We applaud Gov. Shapiro for taking this historic step because PLAs are the definition of a win-win — benefiting everyone involved in large-scale construction projects,” Philip Ameris, president of the Pennsylvania Laborers’ District Council, a construction workers union, said in a statement.
- Business groups have given the directive a chillier reception.
Why: Their chief concern is that wider use of PLAs will benefit union contractors over non-union contractors and their non-unionized workers.
- Shapiro argued that state contracts will remain open to all bidders.
- But Willshier and others are skeptical.
- They are reviewing the details of the directive and seeking clarification from the governor’s office.
- “In our experience, however, PLAs have historically been used to force companies whose employees are not members of a union to either forgo bidding on a project or be forced to replace their own employees with a union,” Alex Halper, vice president of government affairs for the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry, said in a statement Friday. “This type of mandate is unfair and it discriminates against a significant portion of private-sector workers who opt to not be represented by a union.”
What’s next: The directive is slated to take effect April 1.
- It has already spurred legislative action.
- State Sen. Aaron Bernstine, a western Pennsylvania Republican, said last week he plans to introduce a bill requiring greater transparency in the state’s use of PLAs.
- In the past, bidders have not always been aware that a contract involves a PLA, Bernstine said in a memo seeking support for his proposal.
- “PLAs typically increase the labor costs associated with a project, so it is problematic when bidders are not aware of this important information upfront,” Bernstine wrote.
- Depending on how the directive is implemented, the debate could wind up in front a judge.
- “Legal action is absolutely on the table,” Willshier said.
