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Obama issues directive on project contracts that favors union labor
By Tony Pugh
McClatchy Newspapers
Published on Sunday, Mar 29, 2009
WASHINGTON: Nonunion contractors and minority and female workers fear that they could miss out on major construction projects funded by the economic stimulus package because President Barack Obama has issued a directive on contracting that favors union labor.
An executive order that Obama signed in February ''encourage[s] executive agencies to consider requiring the use of project labor agreements,'' or PLAs, on federal construction of $25 million or more.
PLAs are collective bargaining agreements with labor unions that set the terms and conditions of employment on large construction projects. They typically make unions the bargaining representatives for workers at the sites, even though 85 percent of U.S. construction workers aren't union members. They also require nonunion workers to join unions and pay membership dues for the duration of the projects.
Because white males dominate the the skilled construction trade unions, however, jobs for minorities and women could be hard to come by on large stimulus-bill projects unless the PLAs set goals for their inclusion.
The issue has pitted the interests of organized labor against those of minorities and women, though all three groups are mainstays of the Democratic Party and of Obama's winning coalition. The dispute also has revived a decades-old debate among diverse business groups that say PLAs skew the bidding process in favor of union contractors.
With construction jobs at a premium in the unraveling economy, large stimulus infrastructure projects hold enormous employment opportunities, and an equal degree of uncertainty, for some groups.
''In an environment where jobs are already scarce, the promise of infrastructure jobs is supposed to be a promise for all,'' said Catherine Singley, a policy analyst for the National Council of La Raza.
''If you're giving preference to unionized workers, you're definitely leaving out Latinos, who generally do not belong to unions. And you're exacerbating the disparities they already face in accessing high-quality jobs.''
Obama's order could put Latino workers at a disadvantage, because most PLAs require that additional workers come only from union hiring halls and apprentices only from union training programs. Latinos, who can be of any race, account for 30 percent of U.S. construction workers, but most work on a temporary basis for smaller, nonunion contractors and aren't heavily recruited by the unions, Singley said.
Last year, according to Department of Labor data, blacks and women made up only about 11 percent of the nation's working construction laborers and sheet-metal workers, and about 8 percent of pipe layers, brick masons and carpenters. Just 3 percent of structural iron and steel workers were black or female.
For many years, women and minorities trying to join construction unions faced discrimination, ethnic and family nepotism and little access to union apprenticeship programs, said William Gould, a law professor at Stanford University who's studied the issue for more than four decades.
John Gaal, training director at the Carpenters' District Council of Greater St. Louis and Vicinity, said times have changed.
''It curls my stomach when I hear that,'' Gaal said. ''I can't tell you the efforts we've made to overcome those issues. I don't have any relatives who are carpenters, and I've made it to where I'm at.''
WASHINGTON: Nonunion contractors and minority and female workers fear that they could miss out on major construction projects funded by the economic stimulus package because President Barack Obama has issued a directive on contracting that favors union labor.
Get the full article here.
Comments
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rootstown, oh
Posted 01:42 PM, 03/29/2009
being forced to use unions is a huge mistake.this only lets the union bleed off their profits that do nothing to help the actual worker.so much more could be done by non-union labor for less money.
Posted 07:25 AM, 04/06/2009
AWWWWWWW, poor lil minorities arent happy, waaaaaaaaaa waaaaaaaa, welcome to the club.
