December 2, 2009 Contact: Chris Fisher, President ABC/MI
Michigan construction companies are crying foul over an unexpected change in bid rules that effectively bars nonunion employees and contractors from working on a $15.5 million project at Michigan State University.
The criticism comes the day after MSU officials opened bids Tuesday for the renovation of Emmons Hall. The MSU Board of Trustees in late October unexpectedly adopted a project labor agreement (PLA) just days before bids on the project were originally due – a move that nonunion contractors condemn as discriminatory and a waste of public dollars.
“This overtly discriminates against Merit Shop contractors and their workers based on the exercise of their employees’ federal rights not to select union representation,” James C. Warmels, president of Grand Rapids-based Peninsula Fire Protection Inc., wrote in a letter to MSU President Lou Anna K. Simon.
Warmels says his company’s employees spent 320 hours preparing to bid on the project before the PLA was suddenly adopted.
“Companies have had the rug pulled out from under them,” says Chris Fisher, president of Associated Builders and Contractors of Michigan. “They invested time and money that cannot be recouped because of the last-minute, politically motivated adoption of the PLA.”
The PLA’s requirement that only workers paying union dues can work on the project will end up costing MSU money, says Renee M. Sandborn, president of Portland-based Sandborn Construction Inc. The exclusion of contractors based upon union affiliation will limit competition and deprive citizens of the accountability they deserve from a public university, she says.
“Such provisions exclude 70 to 80 percent of the construction work force and infringe upon the equal opportunity rights of working men and women,” says Sandborn, noting that her company has successfully worked on MSU projects in the past. “When a public entity limits the work force to a select few, costs tend to increase, sometimes as much as 20 percent, according to an overwhelming number of national studies.”
The Emmons Hall project is part of the ongoing renovations of buildings within MSU’s Brody Complex, a group of six student-housing buildings. The MSU board in December 2008 adopted a PLA for the $49.8 million renovation of Brody Hall. Board minutes, as well as plans and specifications provided by the university, made no reference to a PLA applying to other buildings within the complex, Fisher says. “The Emmons Hall PLA was handled particularly poorly,” Fisher says.
“It was done at the last minute and caught everyone by surprise. Instead of engaging in special-interest handouts to labor unions, MSU needs to treat all Michigan companies and workers – union and nonunion alike – equally.” The renovations are being funded by student housing fees, which MSU raised in April by 5.25 percent, or $369 per student.
ABC of Michigan, a statewide trade association representing the commercial construction industry, is dedicated to equal opportunity in contracting.