FAQS 

MYTH: PLA's Provide Safer Workplaces

 

  • FACT: OSHA statistics show that union workers historically have a slightly higher rate of fatalities than Merit and open shop workers. 
  • There is no evidence to prove that under PLA’s workers are safer.
  • Safety depends on the extent to which a company's Management Team stresses safety and insists that safe practices be maintained at all times.

 

MYTH: PLA's Provide Better Wages

  • FACT: This Project will be covered by Pennsylvania’s Prevailing Wage Act.
  • Pennsylvania Prevailing Wage Act mandates that ALL contractors must pay the same wage rates and benefits

 

MYTH: PLA's Provide Higher Quality Construction

  • FACT: When comparing projects with and without union-only PLA’s, there is no evidence of superior work on PLA projects.
  • Union-only PLA’s simply cannot and will not substitute for good quality control and day to day management involvement.

 

MYTH: Only The Union’s Have Enough Employees For This Project

  • FACT: Merit and open shop contractors employ 75% of the construction workforce in Pennsylvania.  We have enough workers!  
  • Anecdotal evidence suggests that labor shortages have not prevented completion of a Non-PLA project on schedule.
  • Without a PLA in place it is common for Merit and union contractors to work harmoniously on the same construction project.
  • Merit or open shop contractors draw from the entire construction universe and are not restricted to a minority of the workforce that is union.

 

MYTH: Unions Have Better Trained Employees

  • FACT: ABC members have access to Federal and State approved Apprenticeship Training Programs.
  • PLUS: We also make use of on-the-job training, Task or Block Training which has proven to be efficient and does not confine our employees to narrow or one craft education track.
  • PLUS: These Multi-Tasked trained employees can obtain a higher salary and benefits.

 

MYTH: PLA's Provide Worksite Harmony

  • FACT: In June 2006, the Laborers International Union Local 6 engaged in a work stoppage on an $850 million project in Chicago, Illinois under a PLA agreement.
  • San Francisco International Airport Expansion was $500 million over budget (30%), completed over a year behind schedule, had two separate strikes and it had a PLA agreement.
  • Strikes in the construction industry are only orchestrated by labor unions.
  • Legal picketing by any labor union protesting the use of workers, who choose not to belong to a union, does not disrupt worksites or jeopardize construction schedules.

 

A Summary of Union-Only PLA's

  • PLA's reduce competition which increase costs to the Taxpayer
  • PLA's discriminate against 75% of local workers and their families
  • PLA supporters have a record of making big promises but fail to deliver
  • Unions Do Not have or produce better trained workers nor do they deliver higher quality work than Merit Contractors
  • Merit employees are safer on the job and receive very competitive wages and benefits
  • Merit Contractors have already proven time and again that we have highly trained motivated employees.


    PLA's: Anti-Worker, Anti-Competitive, Anti-American & Costly     

 


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