Construction Equipment Guide
470 Maryland Drive
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800-523-2200
Wed June 20, 2001 - Northeast Edition
Keystone Chapter, Associated Builders & Contractors Inc. (ABC) opposes the United Way, Capital Region’s efforts to build its new office facility using only union labor.
“Keystone Chapter, ABC is discouraged with the United Way, Capital Region’s decision to use union labor only to build their new facility. Their decision prohibits all non-union employers and employees, who donate to the United Way, Capital Region, from having the opportunity to build this project. It is hard to comprehend that a building paid for by personal donations will discriminate against the very same people who contribute to this organization. The United Way,
Capital Region is discriminating against all individuals in the construction industry who choose not to belong to a union,” stated Keystone Chapter’s 2001 President Todd M. Witmer, president of Witmer & McCoy Inc., Mount Joy, PA.
Under the United Way, Capital Region’s decision, all companies interested in bidding on this project would be required to be affiliated with a labor union.
This will reduce significantly the number of possible bidders, most of whom are likely contributors to the United Way, Capital Region. By adhering to this decision, more than 82 percent of the construction workforce will be prohibited from working on this project. (Recent figures from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics show that only 18 percent of the nation’s construction workforce is unionized.) ABC’s belief is that contractors and subcontractors should be selected on every construction project on the basis of their qualifications and price, without regard to their labor relations’ policy.
It also is Keystone Chapter, ABC’s belief that a non-profit, community-based, organization, like the United Way, Capital Region, that rely on personal contributions from both employers and employees, should give all business in the community the opportunity to build this project, not just a select few.
Keystone Chapter, ABC strongly urges the United Way, Capital Region to rescind its decision to use only union labor and open this project up to all bidders.
Keystone Chapter, Associated Builders and Contractors, Inc., operating out of Rapho Business Park, Manheim, represents more than 700 construction-related firms involved in commercial, industrial, and institutional merit shop construction throughout South Central Pennsylvania.