Nonunion Worker Challenges San Diego’s Discriminatory School Construction Scheme

Right to Work attorneys argue pact between San Diego school district and
union officials intends to illegally coerce workers into union ranks

San Diego, CA (October 7, 2009) – National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation attorneys today filed federal unfair labor practice charges against local area unions for establishing a discriminatory, union-only construction scheme with the San Diego Unified School District. The agreement enriches union officials, punishes nonunion workers and employers, and sticks taxpayers with the bill.

The discrimination against nonunion construction workers is facilitated by a so-called “Project Labor Agreement” (PLA) – essentially a collective bargaining agreement signed by contractors as a condition of performing work on a government-funded construction project. Arguing that the PLA between the school district and various unions (including the Southwest Regional Council of Carpenters and San Diego Building & Construction Trades Council, AFL-CIO) illegally discriminates against construction workers who exercise their right to refrain from union membership, Foundation attorneys are defending the interests of the vast majority of construction employees in California who have opted against unionization.

(Read the full press release)

Regular Freedom@Work readers may remember the now-infamous Executive Order 13502, which pressures all federal agencies to use discriminatory "Project Labor Agreements" (PLAs) to freeze out non-union contractors and workers from any opportunity to work on government projects.

Once adopted, PLAs require all companies - unionized or otherwise - to agree to unionization as a condition of receiving a government-funded contract. Project labor agreements usually require contractors to grant union officials monopoly bargaining privileges; use exclusive union hiring halls; force workers to pay dues to keep their jobs and work under wasteful union work rules.

Foundation attorneys have now filed formal comments with the Department of Labor urging the Administration to rescind Executive Order 13502. The Foundation argues that the directive is illegal under the the National Labor Relations Act, and that imposing discriminatory PLAs on federal contractors violates workers' rights, passes along higher costs to taxpayers, and serves no purpose other than to enrich Big Labor's coffers.

To download a copy of the Foundation's comments, click here. 

A few months ago, Foundation VP Stefan Gleason appeared on CNN to discuss the Administration's new directive:

The Philadelphia Inquirer today reports:

Accusing trade unions of standing in the way of minority hiring objectives, City Council yesterday declared the $700 million Convention Center expansion open to nonunion contractors and workers - an unprecedented gesture in a city dominated by organized labor.

Union officials commonly shut out minority and nonunion contractors from such projects through so-called "project labor agreements." These cynical pacts require all contractors, whether they are unionized or not, to subject themselves and their employees to unionization in order to work on a government-funded construction project.

For more information on the harmful effects of PLAs, see this study from the National Institute for Labor Relations Research.