Health & Fitness
Save our School, No PLA
High School Renovation Project: On Monday, March 18th, the Town Council should vote against a Project Labor Agreement and increased taxes!
On Monday March 18 at 7:00 PM, the Rocky Hill Town Council will make an important decision on a union-only labor agreement for the construction of the $45 million Rocky Hill High School renovation project.
After years of campaigning, hours of public debate, and 3 referendums, the renovation is finally set to start. However, the Council still has to decide whether the construction agreement for the High School will be a union-only Project Labor Agreement (PLA) or whether they will allow for an open and competitive contract where every state qualified contractor would have the opportunity to bid on the project.
With millions of tax-payer dollars going towards the project, I think it’s worth examining both sides of the argument.
Find out what's happening in Rocky Hillfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Union leaders and some local politicians are leading an effort to ensure the project is completed under a PLA. These union exclusive contracts are costly and they deny 80% of skilled craftsman the opportunity to work on the project. This means that good local firms, with employees and their families from Rocky Hill will not have an opportunity to work on the high school construction in our own town.
Not only does a PLA prevent union-only craftsmen from working on the project, it will also cost the town more money. If only union employees are allowed to work, there will be less competition which will lead to a higher cost. PLAs cost 18% more than open competitive agreements and leave the town with nothing extra to show for it. Those extra costs get passed down to the tax payers of Rocky Hill.
Find out what's happening in Rocky Hillfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
While union leaders will ask for an exclusive contract that only allows their members to work on the project, open shop contractors are only asking for a fair and level playing field. They want every worker, union and non, the opportunity to work on the High School project. They are asking for an agreement that allows both union and non-union contractors to be able to work side by side, complete the project on time, without increasing its cost to the tax payers of Rocky Hill.
