POLITICS

Once again New Hampshire is playing its essential role as host of the first-in-the-nation presidential primary. Despite efforts in recent years to diminish the primary’s role and status, our unique crucible of democracy remains strong and viable.

This year we have seen prominent and accomplished GOP candidates campaigning across New Hampshire, while a few brave Democrats have also shown up to make their case, even as President Joe Biden declines to campaign here.

If President Biden did come to New Hampshire to argue for a second term, our members would have a number of questions for him. As president and CEO of the Associated Builders and Contractors for New Hampshire and Vermont (ABC), I have the honor of leading an organization made up of more than 270 member businesses in New Hampshire who employ thousands of Granite Staters, dedicated to helping contractors develop their people and deliver work safely, ethically and profitably for the betterment of our state and its communities.

Since we can’t ask President Biden, we will instead ask some important questions of those candidates who are choosing to embrace New Hampshire’s iconic primary.

For instance, where do you stand on socalled “project labor agreements,” or PLAs?

In short, a government-mandated PLA invalidates privately negotiated arms-length agreements, replacing them with government-set terms and conditions. We know the Biden administration embraces PLAs that direct taxpayer-funded public works contracts to union contractors, effectively giving unions a monopoly to build projects procured by federal agencies. Over 90% of New Hampshire’s construction workforce is non-union.

PLAs therefore discourage competition and act as a barrier to hard working non-union firms here.

Additionally, PLAs force qualified, local contractors to replace all or most of their current employees with union workers and follow inefficient union rules, creating excessive cost burdens as well as safety and quality risks for high-performing non-union contractors. PLAs not only result in wage theft from non-union workers, but studies show they increase construction costs by 12% to 20%, particularly painful as we continue to deal with the effects of inflation.

The result? Fewer construction projects and improvements to roads, bridges, utilities, schools, affordable housing and clean energy projects, and ultimately, the creation of fewer jobs. Our members are keenly interested in the candidates’ positions on PLAs.

Next question: Where do you stand on the Biden administration’s recent update to the Davis-Bacon Act, which makes drastic revisions that make it much more likely that the federal Department of Labor will more regularly adopt union wage scales at the prevailing wage?

The administration already applies a generous standard, considering that just 11.7% of America’s construction industry is unionized. This is another Biden administration handout to organized labor that falls onto the backs of taxpayers, small businesses and the free market.

This onerous federal regulatory mandate is not only disappointing, but it comes when our construction industry here and throughout the country faces economic challenges, from the high cost of materials to ongoing skilled labor shortages. Our members are paying close attention to the candidates’ thoughts on this issue as well.

Final question (for now): What is your plan to create a skilled workforce for the 21st century?

We are not unique as an industry facing workforce challenges. For too many years, education in the trades has been stigmatized, leaving our country with too many philosophers, and too few welders, carpenters and electricians. We aren’t opposed to philosophers, but we need more good men and women who can expertly wield a hammer or solder a wire. This is a challenge that demands public and private sector leadership alike.

ABC recently created a Carpentry Apprenticeship Program in collaboration with Manchester Community College. This program, funded by ABC members sponsoring their participating employees, graduated its first class earlier this summer. We’re proud of our graduates and grateful to our generous members for answering the call for more skilled workers. However, we can’t do it alone. Our members want to know what the candidates’ plans are to build a skilled American workforce we can all be proud of and rely upon.

ABC is honored to be the voice of the merit shop in the construction industry. We believe in free enterprise and that employees and employers should have the right to determine wages and working conditions through either individual or collective bargaining, as they choose, within the boundaries of the law.

The questions posed here are just a few that ABC and its members have for the candidates seeking the presidency in 2024. We are looking forward to hearing from the candidates, and engaging them in this critical conversation on the campaign trail over the next few months.

Josh Reap is president and CEO of Associated Builders and Contractors NH/VT. He lives in Candia.