August 8, 2001—Associated Builders and Contractors recently testified before the Pennsylvania House of Representatives’ Labor Relations Committee in support of open contracting legislation, HB 1123, which was introduced by Rep. Dennis Leh.
According to Rep. Leh, the legislation would prohibit public entities from requiring that a contractor enter into a project labor agreement with one or more labor organizations.
Under such an agreement, companies are required to use union labor for all or part of the work on their projects. Currently, there is no state law specifically banning the use of project labor agreements.
ABC, a national association representing merit shop construction and construction-related firms, believes the legislation will open contracting to competitive bidding, thereby preventing project costs from becoming excessive. The organization feels that contractors and subcontractors should be selected on the basis of their qualifications and price, without regard to their labor relations policy.
For more information, contact ABC at 610/279-6666.
