For Immediate Release
Dateline: Harrisburg, PA
Time: 10:00 am, Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Contact: Frank Sirianni, President
Pennsylvania Building and Construction Trades Council
717-233-6726

Hundreds of Union construction workers rally for Project Labor Agreements on Capitol steps.

Hundreds of unionized construction workers from all over Pennsylvania gathered today on the steps of the State Capitol building in support of Project Labor Agreements (PLAs) for use on construction projects funded with tax dollars.

The rally coincided with a press conference headed by State Representative John C. Bear (R-Lancaster) who is introducing legislation seeking to outlaw PLAs in the Commonwealth.

Frank Sirianni, the President of the Pennsylvania Building and Construction Trades Council noted that a PLA on a publicly funded building project is the only way to guarantee that Pennsylvania taxpayer dollars spent on construction projects like roads bridges, schools and prisons would stay in the Commonwealth and go to pay Pennsylvania workers.

“While Representative Bear, the Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) and their allies in the Legislature would like to paint a different picture, the reality is that without PLAs, our state tax dollars are being siphoned off by out of state contractors and the benefits are going to workers from other states,”said Sirianni. “In fact, of the more than 5,000 publicly funded projects released in 2008, only a handful had PLAs. We think it is time for our state and local governments to stop catering to the big out of state contractors who feed on our tax dollars and put Pennsylvania skilled construction trades workers first.”

Sirianni said that PLAs were specifically designed to guarantee more job opportunities for Pennsylvania workers and contractors and that they also allowed contractors to access a pool of skilled and qualified local workers taking away the need for importing unskilled and many times undocumented workers that out of state contractors often use to undercut the bidding process on publicly funded projects.

“At a time when Pennsylvania is trying to work its way out of a budget crisis the last thing our state and local governments need to be doing is looking for ways to make it easier for unscrupulous out of state contractors to exploit unskilled and undocumented workers from states like Ohio, Alabama, Indiana, Arkansas and other states to win construction bids that result in shoddy workmanship and send our tax dollars to support some other state’s economy’ said Sirianni.

Unionized building trades members at the rally pointed out that PLAs put tighter controls on how Pennsylvania taxpayer’s dollars are spent, requiring local workers to have demonstrated skills and qualifications, and be subject to drug testing and criminal background checks. PLAs were also described as guaranteeing opportunities for minorities and women, decent health care benefits, a safer work environment, reductions in lost time on projects and better on time and on budget stability.

Contrary to the assertions of Legislators opposed to PLAs that such agreements “discriminated” against nonunion contractors Sirianni noted that the National Labor Relations Act specifically prohibits both employers and unions from discriminating against employees based on their membership or non-membership in labor organizations and that the Pennsylvania Building and Construction Trades Council followed this Federal law.

“The fact of the matter is that many non-union contractors here in Pennsylvania bid on projects with PLAs and win those bids,” said Sirianni, “They then go on to complete those projects using unionized local crafts persons and still turn a profit. The myths that the ABC like to spread about PLAs are nothing more than a smokescreen to deny local Pennsylvania workers the opportunity to work close to home in a stable job funded by our tax dollars.”

For more information on Projects Labor Agreements please contact the Pennsylvania Building and Construction Trades Council at 717.233-5726.

PLA ALERT!?!!!

WE JUST RECEIVED NOTICE THAT:
REP. STAN SAYLOR IS HOLDING A HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES REPUBLICAN POLICY HEARING ON PROJECT LABOR AGREEMENTS IN A NON-UNION SHOP IN HARRISBURG HAS HAS BEEN CANCELLED!

THANKS AGAIN TO EVERYONE THAT PARTICIPATED IN THE RALLY FOR PROJECT LABOR AGREEMENTS

YOUR VOICES WERE HEARD - KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK

 
Workers disrupt a news conference led by local legislator

A news conference at the state Capitol about legislation banning work rules favorable to unions in state-funded construction projects drew some unwanted visitors.

Hundreds of unionized construction workers drowned out state Reps. Stan Saylor, R-Windsor Township, and John Bear, R- Lancaster County, when they tried to speak out against the so-called “project labor agreements.

Some testy exchanges and pushing and shoving followed.

Capitol Police arrested one man for climbing up scaffolding set up for restoration work on the Capitol.

PLA Opponents say the agreements drive up the cost of taxpayer-paid projects by requiring winning bidders to honor union wages and rules for a specific project.

Union officials say the requirements ensure that experienced tradesmen and Pennsylvania residents work on taxpayer-funded projects.

The news conference was called for Bear and Saylor to announce new legislation that would end PLAs.

The bill would ensure that no contract can require a successful bidder or subcontractor to use workers who are members of a labor union or are referred by one, according to a Bear news release.  It would also require that the union or non-union status of a bidder’s workforce cannot be used as criteria during the selection process.

Cost: Saylor said Wednesday that PLA’s drive up the cost of construction projects by limiting bidders to union contractors. Non-union contractors could only do the work if they hired union workers outside their company, he said, noting that most contractors’ are not unionized.

“This is a case of discrimination,” he said.

But Frank Sirianni, President of the Pennsylvania State Building and Construction Trades Council, said PLAs don’t keep non-union contractors from bidding on contracts.  The contractors simply have to follow union rules, he said.

For example, the contractors would have to test their employees for drugs and offer health care, he said.
Local:  Sirianni said PLA’s ensure that Pennsylvania tax money stays within Pennsylvania because they require any out-of-state contractors to use Pennsylvania workers on construction projects.

“The whole thing is preposterous,” he said)of the new legislation, noting that PLAs are optional and that only a handful of projects last year included such agreements.

Saylor said the state could simply require local workers be used on state-funded projects.

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