john, 

During the 94th Academy Awards of March 2022, actor icon Will Smith unceremoniously slapped comedian Chris Rock, who was hosting the Academy’s that year. In a seemingly personal, if not private, situation, Will Smith’s reaction to a joke, albeit in slightly bad taste, very publicly instructed Chris Rock, “Keep my wife’s name out of your mouth!" And I may be paraphrasing a tad.

 

In a recent article featured in the Guest Commentaries section of the Capital Times by the President of the Arizona Chapter of the Associated General Contractors of America Inc., it was titled, “We need to protect employers and workers."

 

I can appreciate that Mr. Martin does a fantastic job on behalf of the AZAGC, but in your role protecting the interests of general contractors in Arizona, please don’t pretend to care about WORKERS!  Mr. Martin goes on to bash the unions that provide the most qualified workers in the construction industry. In his role of interacting with the state legislature as a lobbyist, arguing for or against legislation pertaining to general contracting, Mr. Martin portrays the contractors as victims of misinformation by unions organizing workers. That Project Labor Agreements violate ‘free speech’ by employers, and that essentially, fair wages, benefits, and treatment should be determined unilaterally by the employer and the employer alone.

 

History will tell us different; we know that left to their own devices, through years of holding the political power, corporations will continue to benefit from a rigged system of ‘low bid’ contracting, resulting in inferior work and low-paying jobs! This is at the core of the issue, especially when we are dealing with government or public projects. For far too long, electeds have, including the work that they’ve been able to privatize, rewarded jobs to the lowest bidders, disregarding quality and safety for not only the worker but for the general public as well.

 

Since President Obama signed Executive Order 13502 in February 2009, which encourages federal agencies to implement project labor agreements on federal construction projects exceeding $25 million in total value on a case-by-case basis and permits states and localities to implement PLAs on federally assisted projects, 23 states have passed legislation or executive orders to ban PLAs in their states, including Arizona. And it’s no coincidence that the majority of these states also make the ‘dishonor roll’ for being in the bottom half of personal income per capita across the country!

 

Mr. Martin also questions the "motivation" of President Biden’s administration in regards to worker’s rights. I understand that in protecting the rights of corporations, in this case contractors, there is a desire to humanize unfettered profits and power, but if you really cared about workers, maybe you’d look for more ways to enter into ‘neutrality’ agreements that would benefit everyone!

 

To learn more about Project Labor Agreements click here.

 

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