ABC NorCal is the voice of the construction industry.
- ABC NorCal’s Government Affairs team advocates for the construction industry at every level of government by speaking out against harmful laws and regulations that prohibit the growth and success of construction businesses. We promote free market policies and champion candidates who share our views.
- ABC NorCal and our over 500 contractor members are up against a well-funded and deeply entrenched establishment. Yet we fight for you at the federal, state and local levels of government.
- ABC NorCal gives members the tools they need to stay on top of regulations that affect their business and voice opposition to discriminatory legislation.
ABC of CA is the statewide organization for the California chapters representing members involved in building commercial, industrial, multi-family residential, and public projects. They represent the ABC Central California Chapter, ABC Northern California, ABC San Diego, and ABC Southern California Chapters in carrying forward a common voice on issues that impact merit shop contractors and construction apprenticeships at the California Legislature and Regulatory Agencies.
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Key Issues:
Project Labor Agreements (PLAs) discourage merit shop contractors from bidding on construction contracts. In some cases, merit shop contractors are prohibited from competing on construction projects because the PLA is drafted so the project is awarded exclusively to contractors who belong to a union and recruit union workforces.
PLAs often have requirements that hold back merit shop contractors from competing in construction projects:
- Merit shop contractors must pay union trust funds for their workers’ health and retirement benefits, even if they have their own benefit plans. That means, they pay twice: once to the union and once to the company plan.
- Apprentices have to be from union apprenticeship programs; participants in federal and state-approved non-union programs cannot work on the job.
- Most or all workers should be from union hiring halls. Merit shop companies are not allowed to recruit their own employees and must use union workers they are unfamiliar with.
- Nonunion employees need to pay union dues or join a union to work on a PLA project.
These restrictive provisions result in:
- Construction cost increases: When there is a lack of competition, prices increase.
- Apprentice discrimination: Non-union apprentices are not allowed to work on a project unless they pay union dues.
- Local hire decrease: Membership in a union takes precedence over being a local resident. More than 85% of the construction workforce choose not to be members of a union.
For more information about PLAs, visit thethruthaboutplas.com.
In 1970, Governor Ronald Regan signed the California Environmental Act (CEQA) with the intent to “develop and maintain a high-quality environment now and in the future, and take all action necessary to protect, rehabilitate and enhance the environmental quality of the state.” The law states that “each public agency shall mitigate or avoid the significant effects on the environment of projects that it carries out or approves whenever it is feasible to do so.”
CEQA, also known as Greenmail, is one of the primary obstacles for private developers and public agencies looking to build in California. The problem is not so much complying with CEQA, but dealing with the many parties that exploit the law for ends unrelated to environmental protection. In the mid 1980’s, union officials realized they could use CEQA as leverage to win labor concessions from owners, developers and public agencies by delaying or blocking proposed projects using tactics such as massive data requests, complex objections to environmental impact reports and lawsuits.
Project Labor Agreements are a common objective sought by unions when they “discover” that a proposed project presents a threat to the environment. When a private developer or public agency becomes a party to a union labor agreement, all construction contractors must sign the agreement as a condition of work.
The contractor essentially becomes unionized while working on the project. ABC NorCal looks for opportunities to streamline local or state environmental laws to permit objections to those that have legitimate purposes. We will work with developers and owners to ensure CEQA/Greenmail abuse is exposed and does not impede on important projects to help improve the economy and increase opportunities for everyone in California.
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