Despite a miniscule union footprint in South Carolina, the construction industry is lobbying state lawmakers to take stronger steps to suppress union activism.
“We’ve seen what is happening with Boeing and the NLRB (National Labor Relations Board). I think we all realize South Carolina is on the radar of the unions,” said Leslie Hope, S.C. government relations director of the Carolinas Associated General Contractors.
 Read more exclusive in-depth business news in the biweekly print edition of the GSA Business. Click here to subscribe online or for more information. |
Critics argue the agreements can drive up construction costs and scare away nonunion contractors from bidding on projects. Proponents say PLAs ensure reliable labor and deliver projects on time and on budget.
Obama’s executive order did not mandate PLAs, but it suggested they be used on all federally funded construction projects exceeding $25 million.
The Army Corps of Engineers is taking testimony from construction companies about potentially using PLAs on the barracks project at Fort Jackson, said Bill Caldwell, president of Waldrop Mechanical Services in Spartanburg.
Another S.C. project that could be subject to a PLA is the eventual construction of a new federal courthouse in Greenville, said Brian Gallagher, Upstate chairman for the Associated Builders and Contractors Carolinas Chapter and director of marketing for O’Neal Inc. in Greenville.
“What we see and we fear is today its $25 million, by executive order by President Obama, but it only takes a strike of a pen to lower that amount to $20 million, $10 million,” Gallagher said. “It’s going to shut out most of the construction companies in South Carolina from even bidding on the work.”
Other states have fought PLAs without success. Michigan enacted a ban on PLAs that was ruled unconstitutional by a federal judge in February. An appeal is expected.
South Carolina lawmakers are pursuing a similar measure that would prohibit project labor agreements on any publicly funded projects. It’s a provision of the “Right to Work Act of 2012," or House Bill 4652, that has already garnered Gov. Nikki Haley’s support. The House passed the legislation 70-19.
“I thought it was much to do about nothing,” said Rep. Chandra Dillard, a Greenville democrat who voted against the bill. “South Carolina already has a really low union environment. I see this as a very divisive conversation that often occurs in Columbia around election time to divert our attention from the real issues in South Carolina – funding education and transportation infrastructure.
“At the very end of the day, is it so bad that people are making a living wage if they’re working for a union?” Dillard added.
Caldwell called PLAs a threat to his livelihood and career, saying they prevent his company from competing for projects.
The union membership rate in South Carolina is 4.6%, one of the lowest in the nation, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. But unions are attempting to organize here, Caldwell said. Waldrop employees have found union fliers on their vehicle windshields when leaving job sites, he said. That organization quickly died though.
Still, Caldwell, Gallagher and Hope all agreed that South Carolina is likely to be a union target following NLRB’s unsuccessful challenge to Boeing’s decision to build a plant in North Charleston. The NLRB’s complaint argued that Boeing’s decision was retaliation against the Machinists union for past strikes. NLRB dropped the case shortly after Boeing and the Seattle-area union ratified a new contract.
“The threat of union organization coming south and infiltrating South Carolina is growing because of that,” Caldwell said.
This article was writer by Scott Miller and originally appeared in the GSA Business on March 12, 2012.
http://www.gsabusiness.com/news/43077-construction-industry-fears-union-action
