Associated Builders and Contractors released the following statement in response to the Biden administration’s White House Task Force on Worker Organizing and Empowerment report on how to boost union membership in the federal government and public and private sectors:
“Monday's report from the White House task force is of great concern, especially for Americans who expect the government to create and support policies ensuring fair and open competition on taxpayer-funded federal and federally assisted construction projects,” said Ben Brubeck, ABC vice president of regulatory, labor and state affairs. “The report’s recommendations to expand the use of anti-competitive and costly project labor agreements will increase infrastructure project costs by 12% to 20%, reduce competition from the best quality public works contractors and exacerbate the construction industry’s skilled labor shortage by discriminating against the nearly 9 out of 10 members of the construction workforce who choose to be union-free.
“Combined with President Biden’s Feb. 4 executive order requiring project labor agreements on federal contracts exceeding $35 million, it is clear that the Biden administration will not create opportunities for all construction workers, small businesses and experienced contractors who build America safely, on time and on budget,” said Brubeck. “Lawmakers and the Biden administration must promote inclusive, win-win policies that welcome all of America’s construction industry to compete to rebuild our nation's crumbling infrastructure, increase accountability and competition and reduce waste and favoritism in the procurement of public works projects.”
