Regional Builders and Construction group says Sen Wahab's Project Labor Agreement (PLA) bill is discriminatory and costly
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Associated Builders and Construction (ABC) Norcal finds Wahab's PLA mandate for state construction projects to be a harmful bill that would increase construction costs and discriminate against nonunion construction workers in California. ABC formal comment below.
Associated Builders and Contractors Northern California and a coalition of construction workers and apprentices voice their strong opposition to state Sen. Aisha Wahab’s SB 984 at a California State Senate Government Organization Committee hearing. This bill, which mandates project labor agreements on state construction projects of $35 million or more, is modeled after the Biden administration’s executive order that mandates PLAs on federal and federally assisted projects. ABC and its Florida First Coast chapter filed suit against the final rule implementing this executive order on March 28.
“At a time of sky-high interest rates, rising construction costs and economic headwinds at the national and state levels,including a multi-billion-dollar state budget deficit, Sen. Wahab has introduced a harmful bill that would increase construction costs, discriminate against nonunion construction workers in California and exclude apprentices from working on state projects,” said Matthew Estipona, ABC NorCal director of government affairs.
“When mandated by government agencies, PLAs increase construction costs by 12% to 20%, reduce opportunities for qualified large and small contractors and exacerbate the construction industry’s worker shortage by discriminating against the nearly 85% of the California construction industry workforce that is not unionized,” said Estipona. “PLAs discourage competition by forcing contractors to sign collective bargaining agreements, hire most or all workers from union hiring halls and apprenticeship programs, accept compulsory union representation on behalf of any remaining members of its existing workforce and expose them to union wage theft of up to 34% of their compensation unless they join a union and vest in union benefits plans.”
A previous version of the bill, SB 574, also introduced by Sen.Wahab, was pulled from the committee last year. Numerous construction organizations have announced their opposition to SB 984, including the Western Electrical Contractors Association, Associated General Contractors of California, and the California Carpenters Council.
“SB 984, while including recent changes that limit the numberof projects mandated with project labor agreements to four state agencies, still retains the same core provisions that limit workers’ access, agency and ability to decide for themselves whether or not to be a part of a union and ties the hands of state agencies looking to build the highest quality projects built on time and on budget,” said Estipona.
Read more about ABC Norcal here.
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