News Release: May 30, 2002Legislation providing for the use of project labor agreements on state and local public construction projects will limit competition, raise project costs, cost taxpayers and discriminate against nonunion contractors, a broad coalition representing schools, municipalities, contractors and businesses said yesterday.
"The State Supreme Court has made it clear that project labor agreements lessen competition and fail to protect taxpayers. We agree," said Philip Kirschner, executive vice president with the New Jersey Business & Industry Association (NJBIA). "By shutting out nonunion competition, this bill will give the unions a virtual monopoly on billions of dollars in public construction projects."
NJBIA is a member of the New Jersey Coalition for Competitive Public Bidding Laws, whose members packed the Senate Labor Committee hearing room today, urging committee members to vote against S-1044 (Sweeney). The bill authorizes state, county and local governments to negotiate project labor agreements on construction contracts for schools, libraries, highways and other public projects.
"This legislation will create a virtual monopoly for labor unions. It will effectively shut out thousands of qualified contractors, many of them minority contractors, and tens of thousands of nonunion workers from participating in the competitive bidding process. Every public works project impacted by this order will cost taxpayers more," Kirschner said.
"Project labor agreements are a sweetheart deal for the unions at the expense of taxpayers."
The negative impact of project labor agreements is well documented:
The New Jersey Supreme Court has struck down project labor agreements in the past for being in violation of competitive bidding laws. In 1994, the Court said, "Bidding statutes are for the benefit of the taxpayers... Their objects are to guard against favoritism, improvidence, extravagance and corruption; their aim is to secure for the public the benefits of unfettered competition... The paramount policy of our public-bidding laws fosters 'unfettered competition' in public contracts; the effect of project labor agreements is to lessen competition." (George Harms Const. V. Turnpike Authority)
- Project labor agreements, as a practical matter, bar thousands of qualified nonunion contractors from participating in public works contracts.
- Project labor agreements deny jobs to thousands of nonunion workers whose firms will not get to participate in public contracts. These workers pay taxes to finance school construction projects and Transportation Trust Fund projects, but will not be able to work on them.
- Major construction projects undertaken with project labor agreements- from Boston's notorious Central Artery project to the San Francisco Airport expansion-have been severely over budget and behind schedule.
The New Jersey Coalition for Competitive Bidding Laws is comprised of the following organizations: Associated Builders and Contractors Inc.-New Jersey Association Plumbing, Heating, Cooling Contractors-Chamber of Commerce Southern New Jersey-Metropolitan Trenton African American Chamber of Commerce-National Association of Minority Contractors, New Jersey Chapter- National Federation of Independent Businesses-New Jersey Asphalt Pavement Association-New Jersey Business & Industry Association-New Jersey State Chamber of Commerce-New Jersey Commerce and Industry Association-New Jersey Concrete and Aggregate Association- New Jersey Electrical Contractors Association-New Jersey League of Master Plumbers-New Jersey League of Municipalities-New Jersey School Boards Association-United Taxpayers of New Jersey-Utility and Transportation Contractors Association of New Jersey.
