[Swiftwater Gazette] White Males AND Non-Union Members Need Not Apply

[Brad Haslett]

Oh Dear, it is bad enough that my brother and I lack the proper
pigmentation for construction work (we only own equipment and know
what we're doing), now it appears that we'll have to organize our
workforce. Since I already belong to one union, perhaps Gary can sign
a right to act card and he and I can start negotiating. Since most RED
states are "right to work" states, it will be almost impossible to
find organized labor since labor unions for unskilled trades are for
the most part non-existent. How will federal projects be built in
"right to work" states?  Hmmmm.......maybe I just answered my own
question.

Hope. Change. Comrades!

Brad

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WASHINGTON, Feb. 6 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Associated Builders and
Contractors (ABC) today denounced an Executive Order signed by
President Obama that repeals Executive Order 13202, that prohibited
federal agencies and recipients of federal funding from requiring
contractors to sign union-only project labor agreements (PLAs) as a
condition of performing work on federal and federally funded
construction projects.

"Today's decision to repeal Executive Order 13202 opens the door to
waste and discrimination in federal and federally funded construction
contracts," said ABC President and CEO Kirk Pickerel. "This action
removes the safeguards that prohibited discrimination based upon union
affiliation in the awarding of federal contracts.

"Construction contracts subject to union-only PLAs are designed to be
awarded exclusively to unionized contractors and their all-union
workforces," said Pickerel. "Absent the economic benefits of
competitive bidding, union-only PLAs are known to increase
construction costs between 10 percent and 20 percent and discriminate
against minorities, women and qualified construction workers who have
traditionally been excluded from union membership.

"Union-only PLAs drive up costs for American taxpayers while unfairly
discriminating against 84 percent of U.S. construction workers who
choose not to join a labor union," added Pickerel. "All taxpayers
should have the opportunity to compete fairly on any project funded by
the federal government."

A union-only PLA is a contract that requires a federal construction
project to be awarded only to contractors and subcontractors that
agree to recognize unions as the representatives of their employees on
that job; use the union hiring hall to obtain workers; pay union wages
and benefits; and obey the union's restrictive work rules, job
classifications and arbitration procedures.

Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) is a national trade
association representing 25,000 merit shop construction and
construction-related firms in 79 chapters across the United States.
Visit us at www.abc.org.