Associated Builders and Contractors New Jersey Chapter Issues Statement On Passing Of Bill S-3414/A-5378

Mt. Laurel, NJ – March 15, 2021:  Today, the New Jersey Assembly Labor Committee voted to pass Bill S-3414/A-5378, which revises the “public work projects” definition to permit government-mandated project labor agreements on additional categories of jobs. Under the existing Project Labor Agreement Act, if a public works contract is for the construction, reconstruction, demolition, or renovation of buildings over $5 million, it is subject to a government-mandated Project Labor Agreement (PLA). S-3414/A-5378 will extend the PLA requirement to any public works contract exceeding $5 million.

A PLA is a project-specific collective bargaining agreement unique to the construction industry. Typically, PLAs force contractors to recognize unions as the representatives of their employees on a given project, discouraging merit shop contractors from bidding on taxpayer-funded construction activities. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2019), only 17.8 % of New Jersey’s private construction workforce is represented by a union.

“It is beyond disappointing that our legislators continue to support this exclusionary legislation that shuts out 80% of the construction workforce in New Jersey, many of which are minority and female-owned businesses,” said Samantha DeAlmeida, Second Vice President and Government Affairs Liaison. “The Project Labor Agreement Act, mandated the creation of a yearly report analyzing the effectiveness of project labor agreements and a comparison of the performance of public works projects with PLA’s to those public works projects without PLA’s. New Jersey has been non-compliant for 13 years, only having followed their own law once.”

On July 25th, 2002, The Project Labor Agreement Act was signed into law. Section C:52:38 of the Act required an annual report be provided to the Governor and Legislature detailing the effectiveness of all PLAs entered pursuant to the act. Parameters of the required report were outlined including a requirement that the first report is prepared and submitted on December 31, 2003, and each year thereafter. Additionally, the Act requires that in the 2006 report an analysis should be included detailing the overall effectiveness of the Act. To date, the only study that has been conducted took place in 2010, based on data from 2008.

“This is simply unacceptable. Until the State complies with its own law, it should not be creating additional laws to expand PLAs, without having an understanding of the impact on the State. Our organization which represents over 450,000 workers in the State vehemently opposes this action,” DeAlmeida continued.

“We are at a point in time where job growth and workforce diversity should be the priority, not restricting who can bid on jobs,” said Sam Fiocchi, President of ABC-NJ. “We simply ask on behalf of our members, taxpayers in the State of New Jersey, and the entire construction workforce that the vast majority of the construction industry have an equitable opportunity to work on these public projects.”

“According to the State’s own study, enforcing PLAs on public school projects resulted in increased costs of 33%, and slowed project timelines by 6-8 weeks. This bill will simply cost taxpayers more, exclude the vast majority of construction workers from these jobs, and harm those it claims to help,” Fiocchi concluded.

About Associated Builders and Contractors: ABC is a national association representing 21,000 merit shop construction and construction-related firms in 69 Chapters across the United States. Our membership represents all specialties within the U.S. construction industry and is comprised primarily of firms that perform work in the industrial and commercial sectors of the industry. ABC NJ is the industry’s liaison to federal, state, and local governments and the public at large. For more information, please visit our website at www.abcnjc.org.