SECTION: OP-ED; Pg. A19; FREE FOR ALL

LENGTH: 438 words

HEADLINE: The Best Way to Build the Bridge

BODY:




Virginia Gov. James S. Gilmore III errs when he states that Project Labor Agreements require contractors to hire only union workers ["A New Bridge, but No Blank Checks," op-ed, Sept. 23]. Furthermore, Project Labor Agreements neither block non-union contractors from competing for work nor drive up costs.

Project Labor Agreements in the public sector are pre-hire agreements negotiated between union organizations and construction owners or managers. They are valuable on large projects like the Wilson Bridge because they establish common work rules for dozens of crafts, guarantee a steady supply of skilled labor and allow project managers to concentrate on factors other than labor. On public projects like the Wilson Bridge, it is illegal to discriminate against non-union contractors or non-union workers--work must be awarded by bid, and jobs must be open to all who apply and qualify.

Projects as large and complicated as the Wilson Bridge do run into problems, but on the Wilson Bridge it won't be the result of "union prices," as Gilmore suggests. All workers on the project will be paid prevailing wages, because the federal Davis-Bacon Act ensures fair compensation on both sides of the Potomac. And we doubt there will be a lack of competition--projects in this market are usually fiercely sought after and attract many non-union as well as union bidders. A good example is the Washington Convention Center, which is being built under a Project Labor Agreement. Clark Construction, which was selected as the general contractor, is one of the largest non-union construction firms in the United States.

Finally, Gilmore should not have given a "blank check" to anti-union Wharton professor Herbert Northrup, whom the governor quoted as saying, "The effect [of a Project Labor Agreement] is quite large and all bad." The truth is that in the past two decades, the Building and Construction Trades Department of the AFL-CIO has negotiated and administered 53 Project Labor Agreements on federally funded heavy infrastructure and highway projects in the Washington area involving $ 1.437 billion, and our record speaks for itself: no work stoppages, no delays, no cost overruns attributable to labor.

What happens when a Project Labor Agreement isn't negotiated? One need look only five miles from the Wilson Bridge, where the interchange in Springfield is fast becoming the most expensive highway project in this region's history, already 45 percent over budget.

--Edward C. Sullivan

The writer is president of the

Building and Construction Trades

Department of the AFL-CIO.







LOAD-DATE: September 30, 2000