New York City PLAs a ‘disservice to the hardworking non-union workers,’ says Sampson

Don Procter

Daily Commercial News

New York City’s outgoing Mayor Eric Adams recently announced two major Project Labor Agreements (PLAs) covering more than $7 billion in city capital projects such as recreation centres, libraries, clean energy systems, water treatment facilities and other infrastructure.

While designed to guarantee fair wages, benefits and set safety rules and training standards, the agreements do not sit well with every labor organization.

They primarily benefit union contractors, shutting out thousands of tradespeople employed by merit shop contractors, claimed Brian Sampson, president of the Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC), Empire State Chapter, which represents the merit shop sector.

Roughly 70 to 80 per cent of all construction in New York City is non-union, with that percentage varying by trade, he said. 

“The notion that only union labor can deliver fair standards simply isn’t true and does a disservice to the hardworking non-union workers who help build this city every day.”

The PLAs were made between the Building and Construction Trades Council (BCTC) and the NYC Office of Talent and workforce Development (NYC Talent).

“This kind of collaboration not only benefits the tens of thousands of union tradesmen and tradeswomen already working but opens more avenues for more individuals to build their own future in the city’s union construction industry,” Gary LaBarbera, president of the BCTC, said in a written statement to the Daily Commercial News.

The PLAs also embed community hiring requirements across the city.

“It’s a win-win situation that will improve the lives of countless New Yorkers and set a standard for these agreements moving forward,” wrote LaBarbera.

Sampson said annual construction in New York City is typically $40 to $50 billion.

“Taking more than $7 billion out of that sum and awarding it to people that you are favorable to has a significant negative impact” on the non-union sector, he added.

Prior to the PLAs, New York law guaranteed prevailing wages and benefits for anyone working on public projects, regardless of union affiliation, Sampson explained.

“So why rush to tie up billions of dollars in exclusive agreements with a single, politically-connected group?”

The ABC president said there was an era when all public sector work was union-exclusive but over the past few decades merit shop contractors have increasingly bid on and won public work.

“It is because so much work has transitioned over to the non-union side that the (union) building trades are asking government to put project labor agreements on them so they can get that market share back.”

He said on some major projects, union contractors might partner with large non-union firms but “the vast majority” of ABC’s members are too small to participate in a joint venture or an agreement with a large contractor.

While the “big signature projects” such as airport terminals, tunnels and convention centre work are a union lock as a result of PLAs negotiated with the BCTC, Sampson said, adding claims PLAs are more efficient are false.

Non‑union trades with cross‑disciplinary skills can get work done efficiently and without facing the work jurisdiction rules that can stall a union site project, he said.

Sampson said attempts by the ABC to negotiate different terms under the recently announced agreements have fallen on deaf ears. 

The ABC has “beat PLAs fairly often” in the past when it has shown frontline public officials that the agreements result in fewer bidders, “who raise the costs of the project because they know the competition isn’t there.

“We talk to them about alternatives, whether they want to go with apprenticeship as a means to qualify contractors (as an example). It’s still not perfect but it offers a fairer opportunity to bid and win work.”