A Project Labor Agreement between organized labor and a project owner includes a provision giving the unions all the jobs on the worksite. This locks out merit shop construction firms and their employees from bidding and working on the project.
In exchange for the monopoly, the unions promise not to strike. Except, they will break that promise.
Exhibit 1: Unions shut down the Vineyard Wind project for six days in May 2023 with a strike by unions who had signed a PLA.
“'That’s how we roll,' said one member of the International Union of Operating Engineers, who asked not to be identified by name," reported The New Bedford Light newspaper.
In this instance, the local longshoreman's union started the strike to protest not having a deal with Vineyard Wind. Once the longshoreman started picketing, unions with Mass. Building Trades Council joined in solidarity - even though they signed a PLA with Vineyard Wind.
There are many examples of unions breaking the PLA promise.
Union Strikes Are Actually Rare
In reality, union strikes are rare. The threats are hollow and no project owner should bend to demands for a PLA because of them. Unions are around 18% of the construction workforce in Massachusetts and cannot afford to disrupt projects. It will just reduce their share of the marketplace even further.
In the 20 years following the landmark Callahan case (which found PLAs counter to state public bidding statutes in almost all cases) there have been only twelve different work stoppages across all projects in Massachusetts, for a total duration of 13 days, across all projects, public and private.
That averages .6 work stoppages per year across all projects and an average amount of lost time of 11 days per work stoppage, or 6.65 days of lost time per year across all projects.
Seven of those work stoppages involved work stoppages against individual employers, as opposed to only 5 involving work stoppages against employer industry organizations that negotiate CBAs with the building trade unions.
The data from the Federal Mediation & Conciliation Service is clear. Strikes or strife causing delay to projects in Massachusetts are very rare.
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