Building and construction trades workers are one of the hardest hit groups in the nation’s job crisis. Yet state lawmakers, backed by construction industry CEOs, want to cut the wages of those workers by eliminating prevailing wage laws and project labor agreements (PLAs) on public construction projects. Prevailing wage laws protect communities and workers from unscrupulous contractors low-balling bids on taxpayer-funded construction projects by setting wage rates to the local or prevailing standard.

PLAs, which have been used for generations, are collective bargaining agreements between building trade unions and contractors. They govern terms and conditions of employment for all craft workers—union and nonunion—on a construction project. They protect taxpayers by eliminating costly delays due to labor conflicts or shortages of skilled workers.