‘Every Single Project’ Is ‘Going to be Union’

Biden/Harris Boxes Out Union-Free Hardhats From Public Works

It has been 42 months since Big Labor President Joe Biden was inaugurated in January 2021. Starting that very day, he has taken one radical step after another to promote compulsory unionism. 

Perhaps the most radical of all is Executive Order 14063, issued by Mr. Biden in February 2022. 

This power grab effectively mandated that tens of billions of dollars spent by the federal government on construction projects be offered to union-only workers and firms. 

Executive Order Forces Workers Into Unions 

E.O.14063 requires that contractors and subcontractors who bid on federal public works projects costing $35 million or more submit to a so-called “project labor agreement.” 

Such agreements, commonly referred to as PLA’s, force union-free companies to impose union monopoly bargaining on their employees and hire new workers through union boss-controlled hiring halls. 

“To even submit a bid for a taxpayer-funded PLA contract,” explained National Right to Work Committee Vice President Greg Mourad, “union-free firms have to agree to use a union hiring hall to obtain workers at the expense of current qualified employees. Apprentices have to be obtained from Big Labor-operated apprenticeship programs. 

“Instead of following their normal guidelines for working safely and speedily, hardhats have to submit to inefficient union work rules. Moreover, independent employees hired for federal public works are forced to contribute to union boss-controlled ‘multi-employer’ pension plans [MEPP’s] that are in many cases grossly underfunded.

“Even if the MEPP happens to be relatively sound, independent employees who contribute to it will never receive any benefits except in the extremely unlikely event they work long enough on unionized contracts to meet vesting requirements.” 

Biden-Harris Administration Funnels Taxpayer Money Toward Political Backers 

“And in states without Right to Work laws in effect,” continued Mr. Mourad, “PLA’s even force union nonmembers to join or pay union fees as a condition of employment!” 

By forcing contractors who do business with the federal government to have agreements with labor unions, Joe Biden is putting taxpayer money into the pockets of union officials, who overwhelmingly backed him in the 2020 presidential race, and will support Kamala Harris in 2024. 

Mr. Biden and Ms. Harris have used the promise of federal money to rally support from Big Labor partisans. 

The President was especially blunt during his public signing of E.O.14063 before an audience of ebullient construction union bosses and their militant followers in Upper Marlboro, Md. 

Referring to the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill that he had signed in November 2021 after it had passed through Congress with the support of many lawmakers hailing from Right to Work states as well as from forced unionism states, Mr. Biden declared: 

“Every single project that we’re talking about [that] is paid for with federal dollars . . . is going to be union jobs.” 

“Regardless of how his performance as America’s chief executive is judged in other ways,” said Right to Work President Mark Mix, “Joe Biden seems destined to go down in history as America’s most pro-forced unionism President ever. 

“Again and again, he publicly crows about how he is exercising the extraordinary powers of his office to deny job opportunities, whenever possible, to the 94% of American private-sector workers, and the 89% of construction sector workers, who have opted not to join a union.” 

Despite construction union bosses’ vast political clout, fewer than 11% of construction industry workers belong to a union today.

Union Bosses Wield Monopoly Power to Keep Many Workers Off Construction Sites 

Hardhats decide against union membership for a variety of good reasons, including widespread Big Labor corruption, union bosses’ preference for one-size-fits-all contracts over merit-based pay, and union dues that inevitably fund partisan political campaigns. 

Still others forgo union membership even though they would like to have access to the job pipelines that union bosses politically control. Because of the color of their skin, many workers reasonably doubt they would benefit equitably from what construction union bosses have to offer. 

Compulsory unionism has long been an instrument for racial discrimination. The federal Davis-Bacon law, which, akin to PLA’s, funnels federal construction money towards unions by fixing all wage rates at the “prevailing rate” paid to skilled union members, was originally pitched by union bosses in the 1930’s as a way of preventing “colored labor” from competing against white workers for jobs. 

After Davis-Bacon’s passage, African Americans began to constitute a smaller and smaller percentage of a construction workforce that had previously matched the demographics of the general population. 

And recent legal complaints have exposed the extent to which overt racial prejudice may well still be present in some powerful union hierarchies. 

Alleged Perpetrators of Racial Discrimination in Workplace Benefit From Biden Scheme 

Early this year, Tareck Williams, a black worker living in Pennsylvania, filed charges accusing Pipeliners Local 798 of racial harassment and bias. 

Mr. Williams’ lawsuit recounts dozens of examples of comments union officials and members made about his race. 

He charges that, while he was working for the Michels Corporation in Wilkes Barre, Pa., virulently racist fellow employees repeatedly called him “ape,” “monkey,” and “boy.” One such coworker even taunted him about how the murder of a black Local 798 member had been made to look like a suicide! 

Union and company officials allegedly brushed off complaints about such flagrant misconduct, telling Mr. Williams “that’s part of union membership.” 

In petitioning for class-action status, Mr. Williams notes that he experienced exactly the same types of discrimination at other Michels/Local 798 worksites, and that other union members “have reported experiencing [similar] discriminatory conduct and terms of conditions of employment” at “other Michels locations.” 

In a recent brief arguing the case should be dismissed altogether, union lawyers pooh-poohed Mr. Williams’ claims about rampant racism within the union hierarchy as mere “conjecture and theory,” arguing that he could not provide evidence that any of the treatment he suffered was union officials’ fault! 

But New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin, an appointee of union label Democrat Gov. Phil Murphy, evidently doesn’t believe worker charges of systemic racism among union officials should be brushed aside so quickly. In June, Platkin filed charges against Ironworkers Local 11 for systematically discriminating against African American workers. 

He cited multiple instances where African American workers had conspicuously been passed over on the union’s “referral book,” and the normal procedure of giving out jobs in the order workers signed up for them was ignored. 

“Workers may choose not to join and pay dues to a union for a number of valid reasons, but racism is perhaps the ugliest,” said Mr. Mix. 

“Workers must have the absolute right at all times to opt out of a union that they believe isn’t supporting their interests. Everyone deserves the protections of a Right to Work law.” 

“Moreover, government shouldn’t effectively reserve entire classes of work for union members by mandating PLA’s on federal construction projects. Doing so potentially forces workers to join a racially discriminatory union in order to get a job!” 

Committee Supports Legislation To Overturn Biden PLA Edict 

Legislation introduced by Congressman Clay Higgins (R-La.) and supported by National Right to Work would use the mechanism of the Congressional Review Act to overturn a Biden Administration edict that requires PLA’s in construction projects overseen by the Department of Defense. 

In a statement explaining H.J. Res. 132, his bill, Rep. Higgins has said: “I support individual rights and freedoms, including ‘Right to Work,’ and I oppose government oppression of those freedoms.” 

“Compulsory PLA’s waste taxpayer money and force workers to go through unions they may oppose in order to get access to economic opportunities,” added Mr. Mix. 

“The Committee will continue to fight back against efforts by the President to enrich his union-boss backers at the expense of ordinary workers.”

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