3 Reasons Project Labor Agreements are WRONG for DC.
Reason 1
PLAs are sold as a solution to problems that DON’T EXIST.
PLAs are sold on the lie of helping local DC construction workers and preventing labor disputes. They do neither.
First, PLAs do not increase pay or benefits of local construction workers. Wages on District-assisted construction projects are set by the Federal Davis-Bacon Act, meaning that PLAs have no impact on wages.
Second, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, there have been no major construction work stoppages in the District of Columbia in the last 30 years. Click to see table.
Work stoppages have occurred on a number of projects covered by PLAs around the country. In fact, the very terms of the last several D.C. Council-imposed PLAs contemplate the possibility of a work stoppage. PLAs are a false solution to non-existenant problem in the District of Columbia. See The FAQs of PLAs to learn more.
Reason 2
PLAs CHEAT local and minority-owned contractors.
“Show me a PLA and I will show you Jim Crow employment plus a locking out of most Black-owned firms that happen to be nonunion most of the time. A Project Labor Agreement is a license to discriminate against Black workers. ”
Due to the devastating potential of pension withdrawal liabilities, local non-union contractors will not, indeed cannot, become signatories to PLAs. Because black-owned construction firms are overwhelmingly non-union, PLAs effectively shut them out of DC projects that their own tax dollars support.
Here’s an example of what can happen when a contractor unwittingly signs a PLA:
American Dream Project Turns into American Nightmare for Local Contractor
Reason 3
PLAs STEAL from DC construction workers.
PLAs require DC workers to contribute up to 19% of their pay to union administered pension funds for which they have no hope of vesting in during the course of the PLA project. Unions do not return this money to workers at the end of the project. Studies show that union-run health benefit plans are, on average, 7% more expensive for the same coverage than market-based plans. Plus, PLAs require workers to contribute 6% of their salary in the form of union dues while working on the project, even if the worker is not a member of the union.
PLAs result in government sanctioned wage theft in DC. It’s wrong.
To learn more about how PLAs result in wage theft see: