Contact: Brent Sailhamer
Director of Government Affairs, ABC PA
717.653.8106 or brent@abcpa.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – May 8, 2019
(HARRISBURG, PA.) Today, the Associated Builders & Contractors (ABC) of Pennsylvania applauded the efforts of Lebanon County Commissioners Robert Phillips and Bill Ames for their vote to prohibit the use of project labor agreements (PLAs) on public works projects in the county. The ordinance makes Lebanon County the third county in the Commonwealth to prohibit the use of discriminatory PLAs.
“PLAs have been exposed time and time again as discriminatory tools that do nothing more than exclude nearly 90% of the construction workforce,” said G. David Sload, President-CEO of ABC’s Keystone chapter. “In fact, the Commonwealth Court recently ruled that PLAs inherently create an uneven playing field and prevent local merit shop employees from participating in projects paid for by taxpayer dollars. On behalf of the Associated Builders & Contractors and thousands of employees in the construction industry, I applaud Commissioners Phillips and Ames for their courage and commitment to the merit shop and what is right. This sends a clear message that discrimination is not welcome in Lebanon County.”
PLAs are pre-hire collective bargaining agreements negotiated prior to the bidding process that mandate that, while any contractor can bid on a project, they must agree to utilize employees from prescribed labor halls. Under a PLA, merit shop contractors would be forced to exclude their own employees and instead hire unknown employees from labor halls. Ordinance Number 59 of 2019 will instead ensure that any contractor, regardless of signatory status, can bid and compete for county projects and use his/her own employees to perform the work. The ordinance applies to projects managed by the county as well as any project that is financed in any part by the county.
ABC of Pennsylvania is comprised of five chapters across the Commonwealth.
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Within Pennsylvania, ABC PA is comprised of five chapters that offer construction related skills training and advocate for free enterprise and the merit shop philosophy throughout the Commonwealth. Founded on the merit shop philosophy, ABC and its 69 chapters nationally help members win work and deliver that work safely, ethically, and profitably for the betterment of the communities in which they work. Visit us at abcpa.org.
