SEPA LEGISLATIVE ISSUES
Union-Only Project Labor Agreements
Union-Only Project Labor Agreements (PLA’s) require all construction companies working on a publicly funded construction project to be signatory to a union agreement or use only union employees. PLA’s also require that all contractors pay union wages and benefits, and obey restrictive union work rules, job classification and arbitration procedures, even though they may have their own skilled employees. SEPA believes these agreements drive up the cost of construction by reducing competition and discriminate against open shop contractors by effectively precluding them from bidding on projects paid for by their own tax dollars. SEPA opposes PLA’s.
Responsible Contractor Ordinances
So-called Responsible Contractor Ordinances (RCO’s) are being proposed by unions under the guise of protecting the public from contractors who do not have adequately trained employees. The union-proposed RCO’s provide that the only meaningful training that is recognized is that provided through union apprenticeship training programs. In reality, RCO’s are nothing more than a method to exclude the majority of open shop contractors from performing public work and to award that work to union contractors. 75% of the construction employees in the greater Philadelphia region work for Merit Contractors, compared with 25% who have elected union representation. RCO’s are discriminatory and substantially reduce competition for public construction work, thereby driving up the public construction costs to taxpayers. SEPA opposes RCO’s.
PA Prevailing Wage Act
Pennsylvania’s Prevailing Wage Act (PWA) is modeled after the federal Davis-Bacon Act, a depression era wage subsidy law enacted in 1931. Like the federal act, this law mandates that the area’s “prevailing wage” be paid on all public projects over $25,000. Because of the complexities associated with implementing these laws, they translate into increased construction costs for taxpayers. The PWA artificially inflates the cost of construction costs to state and local governments anywhere from 5% to more than 30%, without any gain in safety, training, or quality, above what a similar project would cost in the private sector. SEPA believes that the Free Enterprise system where the lowest responsible bidder is awarded a construction project absent artificially inflated and state-mandated wages, benefits and working conditions should apply to all public construction.
Apprenticeship Ratios
There is considerable inconsistency in Pennsylvania’s apprenticeship ratio requirements between union and open shop contractors. Under the current apprenticeship ratio requirement system, unions have the ability to designate their ratio on a job-by-job basis, while open shop contractors need approval from the Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry for any changes. SEPA is striving to create a more consistent apprentice ratio requirement system where the union and open shop contractors are subject to the same requirements.
Right-to-Work Legislation
In Pennsylvania, where a union has gained the exclusive right to represent all employees in contract negotiations, anyone who wants to secure or keep a job can be required to pay union fees as a condition of employment even if he or she has chosen not to be a union member. Employees can be forced to pay union fees for the privilege of working, even if they did not vote for and do not want a union to represent them. Statistics compiled by researchers over the past three decades demonstrate conclusively that RTW states lead the nation in productivity, job growth, and a higher standard of living. SEPA supports RTW legislation guaranteeing every citizen in PA freedom of choice in deciding whether to join a labor union when accepting employment should be a fundamental right.