So here we have right off the bat a union thug advocating violence against somebody who uses facts to show what every American already knows, PLA drive up the cost of construction and hurt the taxpayers. This kind of behaviour is no big suprise to me or anyone who has delt with these thugs before. ALL contractors pay taxes and ALL contractors are held to the same building standards. There is no logical reason to pay more for a job than it's worth, unless of course your a local pol in need of union votes to stay in office. PLA's DON'T work for everybody because only 20% of the workforce is invited to participate. Maybe your 20% can foot the bill for the the Hynes convention center (way over budget of course) or the pig pig, no explanation necessary.

The PLA is a Union tool that teh legislature passed to cover 6%-20% of the construction workforce (based on estimates). Thus gives nothing back to taxpayers and only benefits union mangement!

The basic laws of supply and demand for wages are not in place therefore you pay inflated rates and benefits to a small portion of the overall workforce. This takes from taxpayers not give something back. And your comments on illegal aliens does not hold water. Based on your comments, all non-union workers are illegals who send money back home!! Please base your argument on facts which you have not used to make your case here!

That letter by Saliba may be the dumbest I\'ve read in a long time. I\'m embarrassed for the writer.

You Lie!

Daniel, you must think we're incredibly stupid if you thought you could convince us that we have to choose between PLAs and undocumented workers, with no other options.

Next time, check with your union rep before you hit "send." Politically, you've hurt your cause today because NOBODY WILL BUY THIS.

I have to respectfully disagree with Mr. Saliba’s opinion in today’s Herald on PLA’s.
He states that 30% of his pay goes to taxes, well so does the non-union shop employee. However only 5.25% of those taxes go back to the state the rest is federal income tax.

The open shop must submit a qualified bid on a public project. They are required by law to pay the “prevailing wage” to their employees. They must also build some profit into their bid. Even at that they still come in about 15% lower than a union shop. These projects should be open to all qualified bidders union and non-union and let the best bid win. After all what are they afraid of?

Our town is building a new Middle School and renovating the High School which is estimated to cost $85 million. If the PLA is not adopted we can expect to save all the taxpayers of our town and the state over $10 million! Using Mr. Saliba’s logic the state would take in an extra $525k but cost us over $10 million to get it.

Our town is doing just the opposite, we're renovating the middle school and building a new High School. After the recient PLA debacial in neighboring Worcester I can gurantee you PLA's will not even be discussed.

I hope not. Our town is using a CM - construction mgr. who is appointed by the MSBA. Sounds similar to the many Czars our fearless leaders use when they don't want to make a tough decision.

If it is prevailing wage you alredy have a level playing field
It takes the same amount of man hours to complete the project regardless of who is used
PLA S are allowed under MA law it has been to court aleast twice and an awarding authority can enter into that type of agreement
The awarding authority does not have to take the lowest bid if the contractor has a poor history or screws up the qualification
In the original news story the AGC which is an association of contractors ( they have thier union also )
The ABC has always claimed they do 80% of the work in MA It has always struck me as odd that if they do 80% and the union does 20% of the work what is thier beef that they do not have the remaining 20% as well
I have used union contractors in the past no problems
Now I guess I will use them all the time what the hell the ABC has plenty of work
As far as PLAS go it is the awarding authorities call

What a bunch of lies, do you union people think EVERYONE is that gullible? Please see my comments to Jose on the related article. You guys simply cannot make the case for using taxpayer money in such a wastefull and unnecessary manner no matter what drivel you try to pass as fact. Tell you what next time you buy something, baseball tickets, TV, new car or anything just tell the sales person you want to pay 17-19% more... OK ?