President Obama has signed an executive order that encourages all federal agencies to use “project labor agreements.” The Executive Order refers to all construction projects that will cost $25-million or more.
Project labor agreeemnts are, in effect, collective bargaining agreements that are reached by contractors and unions prior to anyone being hired! As with all collective bargaining agreements, project labor agreements establish the conditions and terms of employment for each construction project and for each worker. Mr. Obama believes that the such agreements “would promote economy and efficiency in Federal procurement.”
Since the course of a construction project varies and the number of workers necessary to complete a project often changes as the project develops, project labor agreements will only serve to force employers to maintain superfluous employees and pay salaries for work that will not be done. This is just another example of the new administration’s pro-labor policies, which will serve to drive up costs for tax payers and hamper the profitability of Corporate America.
Project labor agreements are profitable for unions, but not for the rest of the country; the implementation of such agreements during the current recession will make economic conditions worse, not better.
