A new study conducted by George Mason University’s John M. Olin Institute exposes the existence of construction union slush funds that have expended more than $1 billion in union wages from 2000 to 2007 on a scheme known as “job targeting” aimed at bankrupting non-union businesses.
Union construction contractors — who are paid much higher wages and benefits than non-union workers and comprise fewer than 15% of the work force today — rely on the government-controlled “prevailing wage” diktats on public-sector projects for their bread and butter. Through these programs, organized labor officials collect fees from union members then funnel that money to union contractors — and in a few cases non-union contractors — to subsidize wages for the purpose of circumventing prevailing wage mandates and submitting a winning low bid. In many instances, these unfair business practices are used to target specific competitive, non-union businesses for extermination.