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BHI
Survey: Overwhelming majority of state voters oppose a key feature
of Project Labor Agreements
(BOSTON)
A new survey conducted by the
Suffolk University Political Research Center for the Beacon
Hill Institute shows that 69% of Massachusetts voters oppose a requirement
under which private contractors who perform public projects must
hire workers through union hiring halls. The finding is important
because the requirement is a key feature of Project Labor Agreements
(PLAs), which are strongly favored by construction unions for conducting
public projects.
Last
year, President Obama issued an executive order encouraging the
use of PLAs on federal construction projects. The order is controversial
in part because PLAs require contractors to use labor provided by
the unions, whether or not their own workers are union members.
Proponents
argue that PLAs guarantee the availability of a skilled workforce
and labor peace. Opponents argue that nonunion workers
are just as a skilled as union workers and that the requirement
puts nonunion contractors at a competitive disadvantage, penalizes
the vast majority of construction workers, who do not belong to
unions, and increases construction costs. Worries
about labor peace, say opponents, are an empty threat.
Opposition
to the idea of requiring construction contractors to hire through
union hiring halls runs counter to voters otherwise sympathetic
attitudes to unions. The same survey showed that a majority (52%)
of Massachusetts voters have a favorable opinion of unions. It also
found that only 19% of voters believe that public sector union workers
are overpaid. MORE
Press
release PDF
Questions
and Responses
Questons
and Response in PDF
Cross-tabs.
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