Buckle Up…Turbulence Ahead

By: G. David Sload, President-CEO, ABC Keystone

As I sit to write this article the election results are still not definitively known. What we do know is that PA will have Josh Shapiro as our next Governor. The State Senate will remain Republican. However, there is a good possibility the Statehouse will flip to the Democrats. On the National front, the Democrats will retain the Senate while the house, through leaning Republican, is still undecided.

What does this mean for Keystone ABC and its members? On the National front we should expect a lot more of the same. No real legislation and more executive orders to do the will of the Democrats in Congress. This is the most unfriendly administration that has existed for business. ABC National will continue to monitor all things coming out of the White House and where needed bring legal challenges.

At the State level, the House and Senate are divided not much will get accomplished. We can be certain that legislative issues we pursue will be squashed in committee. How will the new Governor govern? Knowing that he aspires to be President of the United States, we have to wonder if he will be moderate or progressive. He has stated he will govern all citizens of PA. Does that include the 87% that choose not to belong to a union, or will he follow the National party line, saying that he will create “good union jobs”? For PA to prosper, we need to create good jobs for all sectors and all citizens.

Hopefully, the Governor elect, Shapiro will not take a page out of the current governor’s playbook. As a parting gift to the unions, Governor Wolf instructed the Department of General Services to put a Project Labor Agreement (PLA) on a State Police project in Westmoreland County. This PLA will prohibit any meritshop contractor that bids on the project from using their own hard-working craft professionals. Needless to say, meritshop contractors will not bid on this project and the results will be less competition and higher bids.

ABC Keystone will not stand by and let this happen without a fight. Your Board of Directors has approved moving ahead with legal action to stop this project from being bid with a PLA. This is not our first time fighting a PLA on a PA project and we are sure it won’t be our last. In addition, we have seen other bid shenanigans going on in other municipalities. We are working through two other projects where the lowest responsible bidders were overlooked in favor of only union contractors. Just like in the PLA case ABC Keystone will not sit silently on the sidelines.

Elections, regardless of the outcome, have consequences. It may be early to tell, but based on what we have seen so far, we need to be prepared to play defense. Get ready and buckle up for the turbulence ahead. We are here to help and serve you. Don’t hesitate to reach out to the Chapter should you run into rough times.

Posted November 28, 2022