U.S. Economy, contractors, and American workers benefit from PLAs

Chuck Goodrich, the Chair of Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC), recently slammed Project Labor Agreements (PLAs) for not, as he proclaimed, creating “equal opportunity for the entire construction industry.”

Oh, the irony.

{mosads}Because at the heart of all PLAs is the concept of “opportunity” – for workers, contractors, businesses, whole communities and, yes, taxpayers.

This theme of “opportunity” was central when nearly 3,000 members of North America’s Building Trades Unions (NABTU) just convened in our nation’s capital to discuss topline policy priorities, including – and especially – the rebuilding of America’s crumbling infrastructure and the need to ensure strong community wage and benefit standards for hard-working Americans.

President Donald Trump and a bipartisan roster of elected officials addressed the conference, and there was no shortage of vigorous discussion on the importance of advancing a major infrastructure investment.

To be certain, prioritizing an infrastructure bill would be a win for the administration and for a Congress desperate to show their constituents that they can deliver for their districts.

But, there are two critical secondary issues that are attached to the infrastructure question – namely, the need to recruit and train a qualified skilled workforce to do the work, coupled with the need to safeguard community wage and benefit standards.

Today, NABTU and its signatory contractors invest more than $1.2 billion annually to fund and operate over 1,600 joint labor-management training centers across the U.S. which, in turn, produce the safest, most highly-skilled, and productive craft workers found anywhere in the world.

Further, NABTU leads the construction industry in innovative workforce development by providing increased opportunities to underserved communities and diversifying the construction workforce through the use of apprenticeship readiness programs and formal apprenticeship training and education.

Such opportunities are being created in conjunction with the use of PLAs, which are pre-hire collective bargaining agreements that, at their core, have been proven to provide one of the most effective project planning tools available for large capital facility construction projects.

By providing construction owners with a unique and exceptionally reliable source of skilled, trained manpower in all applicable trades, PLAs promote safe, timely, cost-effective construction delivered to the highest quality standards. Moreover, PLAs help address long-term needs of project owners and communities by providing a highly effective strategy for recruiting and training the next generation of skilled construction workers, assisting the industry’s critical need for future workforce planning and development, and addressing various socio-economic challenges.

Over the past three years in Augusta, Ga., for example, local building trades unions have been training apprenticeship candidates for work at the Plant Vogtle Nuclear Project.

In partnership with the project owner, Southern Company/Georgia Power, along with the general contractor, the Burke County Board of Education, local Workforce Investment Boards, and Goodwill of Central Georgia, the program has now recruited and trained hundreds of apprenticeship candidates – with a special emphasis placed upon women, communities of color, and transitioning military veterans.

One of those military veterans is Dawn Renee Benitez, a one-time staff sergeant with the U.S. Army.

Dawn earned an Iraq Campaign Medal with a Campaign Star. Unfortunately, and like all too many of America’s veterans, Dawn found it increasingly difficult to find meaningful employment and career options when transitioning back to civilian life. But, through the joint efforts of Southern Company, Georgia Power, and our “Helmets to Hardhats” program, Dawn is now on the path to securing a stable career as a union ironworker.

To be sure, PLAs are not just a tool to achieve desired social ends. They are also a proven and effective tool for private sector project management success, as evidenced by the recent announcement by Toyota Motor Corporation that its $1.3 billion investment to re-tool and upgrade its Georgetown, Ky. plant will be covered under a PLA.

This continues the confidence that Toyota has in PLAs, inasmuch as all of the company’s North American manufacturing facilities have been constructed under PLAs.

Then, there is the example of the Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor where, in 2016, the U.S. Navy returned $267 million it was allocated for an explosive-handling wharf project.

When the project was authorized in 2012 under the terms of a PLA, the price was projected at $715 million, but the actual cost of the project ended up with an adjusted price of $448 million.

And because PLAs have been embraced in the private sector with profit-oriented and cost-conscious companies such as Toyota, and have demonstrated success on federal projects like the Kitsap-Bangor Naval Base, they enjoy significant support from both sides of the aisle in Congress.

In fact, a bipartisan group – Reps. Donald Norcross (D-N.J.), Derek Kilmer (D-Wash.), Kathleen Rice (D-N.Y.), David McKinley (R-W.Va.), Peter King (R-N.Y.), and Frank LoBiondo (R-N.J.) – recently sent a letter to President Trump calling on the administration to continue the use of PLAs in future federal construction projects. These members pointed out that President Trump’s own businesses have benefited from PLAs:

“Several of your company’s projects in New York and New Jersey have used PLAs, including the Trump National Club House in Briarcliff, NY, Trump Plaza in New Rochelle, NY, and the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City, NJ. Many other companies in the private sector, including Disney, Toyota, and General Motors, utilize PLAs,” they wrote the president. “The federal government should not be barred from using such a popular instrument of construction management.”

Moving forward, the question that U.S. policymakers must ask is this: How can we, as a nation, ensure that investments in our nation’s infrastructure are not only prudent in terms of “on time, on budget” results, but also work to ensure that American workers and American communities are empowered through strong community wage and benefit protections, combined with life-changing opportunities via apprenticeship-readiness and formal apprenticeship programs?

As we anticipate the release of President Trump’s infrastructure plan, we must remember that the socio-economic wellbeing of American workers and American communities must enjoy consideration ahead of the interests of wealthy contributors, special interest groups, developers and crony capitalists.

The federal government’s construction procurement needs are not any different than those of private sector companies. They both want the same thing – productivity, stringent safety standards, maximum efficiency, and quality workmanship. Which is why companies like Toyota have embraced PLAs.

The bottom line: Project Labor Agreements are a friend to business and industry, the American middle class, and the American taxpayer.

Sean McGarvey is President of North America’s Building Trades Unions. On April 3-5, NABTU hosted its annual legislative conference in Washington, DC.

The views expressed by this author are their own and are not the views of The Hill.