By Luiza Mills, Interstate Electrical Services Company
2026 ABC Massachusetts Chair
It comes as no surprise to ABC MA members that a new study finds that union-only project labor agreements (PLAs) add an average of 16.2 percent to the cost of public construction projects.
The main reason for the PLA premium is simple: when you reduce competition, costs rise. PLAs require that all jobsite labor on a project come from unions, and according to unionstats.com, 82.7 percent of Massachusetts construction workers choose not to affiliate with a union.
The study, by the Fiscal Alliance Foundation (FAF), included the findings of 10 other studies that pegged the PLA premium at between 3.8 and 30.5 percent. Estimates from eight of them estimated that the premium was 12-to-20 percent.
One case study FAF used was the City of Fall River’s construction of 11 new schools in the early 2000s. At first the city sought to build the schools under a PLA but ultimately dropped it because the bids came in so far above budget.
Two elementary schools tell the tale: when subcontractor bidding for the Small School was conducted under a PLA, it received a total of 24 bids. The similarly sized Letourneau School, bid once the PLA was dropped, received 62.
As former Fall River Mayor Ed Lambert, who imposed and later dropped the PLA said, “with more bidders you tend to get a better price.”
A similar story played out more recently when the Springfield Water and Sewer Commission decided to use a PLA to build a treatment plant in 2024, despite their general counsel advising against it and the engineer on the project estimating that it would increase costs by $15.5 million. ABC MA was part of a group that sued and a Superior Court judge issued an injunction lifting the PLA. When the project was bid without it, the winning electrical bidder alone saved more than $15.5 million over the lowest union bid.
The FAF study estimated that a PLA would add $293 million to the cost of replacing the Sagamore Bridge. Unfortunately, just three days after the study was published, Gov. Healey announced it would be done under a PLA.
The savings from open bidding don’t come at the cost of quality or workers. All bidders on public projects must pass the Commonwealth’s strict certification and prequalification requirements, all tradespeople must pass the same state licensing tests and all – union and open shop – are subject to the state prevailing wage law that guarantees union wage scales.
And PLAs reduce participation from women- and minority-owned contractors. Among DCAMM-certified contractors, 87.5% of Minority Business Enterprises and 72% of Women Business Enterprises are open shop.
ABC MA operates in a challenging political climate, but the facts are on our side. Rest assured that we will continue the fight to allow our members to compete on a level playing field.