New Jersey Senator: Pro-union bill benefits no one


Gerald Cardinale, Republican State Senator from New Jersey, explains why he opposed a PLA bill for Hurricane Sandy recovery. 

PLAs swell project costs because they eliminate competition.

ON JAN. 14, many of my colleagues and I voted against an expansion of project labor agreements, which allow elected officials to funnel more public projects to labor unions of their choice.

Both the motivation and consequences of this bill are equally destructive to bipartisan Sandy recovery efforts. Senate Democrats called a vote on this measure because Governor Christie recently received a labor union endorsement that they felt entitled to, and that union justly opposes this bill.

I oppose this bill because it tilts the playing field in favor of 14 percent of the workforce that is unionized and against 86 percent of non-unionized workers struggling in the aftermath of the Great Recession and superstorm Sandy.

It is appalling that this is the only Sandy recovery bill that the Senate Democrats posted for a vote. Ironically, it increases the cost of recovery projects; it is a direct burden to Sandy victims, New Jersey families and their communities. Plus, the added cost of PLAs may eliminate other necessary public projects and the jobs that they create.  

 

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