Click to hear the Almac radio ad.
Did you know that in Montgomery County, a majority of our local construction companies and their employees are being excluded from working on the construction of Almac’s new Lower Salford headquarters? The Philadelphia construction unions have strong-armed Almac and its construction manager, Skanska USA, to exclude everyone except for members of the Philadelphia building trades unions from working on the project. What is even more disturbing is that this project is being financed in part with your hard-earned tax dollars.
Almac, an Irish company serving the pharmaceutical industry, and Skanska, are constructing a 240,000 square-foot headquarters facility in Lower Salford Township. Almac and Skanska have decided that this project should be built using only union construction employees, which excludes more than 75% of local construction employees -- those who choose not to join a union. This is un-American and just plain wrong.
The Almac/Skanska project is being funded with your tax dollars to the tune of more than $20 million. If the Almac project had been open to all qualified contractors to bid the cost would have been lower and public funding unnecessary. Well-trained and highly experienced construction workers are being shut out of this project even though their hard-earned tax dollars are paying for it.
Construction jobs should be competitively awarded to contractors and their workforce on the basis of value, safety, training, quality and experience and NOT about union affiliation. Did you know that:
- More than 75% of all construction employees in the greater Philadelphia area are employed by Merit, or open-shop, companies.
- Almac and Skanska are creating a monopoly for Philadelphia construction unions.
- The Philadelphia building trades unions, Almac and Skanska have intentionally excluded local Merit contractors and their employees from local construction projects.
- The Philadelphia building trades unions, Almac and Skanska believe Philadelphia-style, pay-to-play politics are acceptable in Montgomery County.
Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) wants you to know about this discriminatory and wasteful practice that is contrary to the fundamental principal of Free Enterprise on which our country was founded. Merit Contractors believe that construction projects should be awarded to the lowest responsible bidder, without regard to labor affiliation.
You can make a difference! We urge you to contact Almac, Skanska and your local township officials and tell them you support fair and open competition, oppose Philadelphia-style, union-only projects in Montgomery County and demand that construction on Almac’s headquarters be open to all qualified contractors, without regard to labor affiliation.
ABC has been the voice of Merit Construction throughout the Delaware Valley for almost 50 years and supports Free Enterprise and open competition. For more information, contact ABC at (610) 279-6666.