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In the fall of 2006, the Pioneer Valley Building
Trades (PVBT), a group of local trade unions, approached Smith to enter into a project
labor agreement (PLA) relating to Ford Hall, a building for engineering and the sciences.
The roughly 30-page sample PLA that PVBT provided to
Smith contained a number of provisions, addressing such matters as union representation,
management rights, work hours, jurisdictional issues and dispute resolution. The
draft stipulated that all trade labor would have to be (or become) members of the
PVBT unions and would have to be hired from the local union hall. The draft offers
a guarantee of no strikes or slowdowns on the project. The concept of a labor agreement
has been the subject of ongoing discussion by Smith officials and PVBT representatives.
Read updates here.
Smith’s 1,300 employees are a mix of
union members and unaffiliated workers. There has been a union presence at Smith
College for at least 50 years. Smith’s union employees are covered by seven
union contracts: Local 263 of SEIU (custodians, public safety officers, gardeners,
plumbers, HVAC); Local 7 (electrical); Local 108 (nurses); Local 211 of SEIU (dining
services); Local 35 (painters and allied trades); Local 108 (carpenters and joiners);
and Local 143 (firemen/oilers). Smith’s union and non-union staff are dedicated,
high-performing, and conscientious in their service. None of Smith’s experience
suggests that non-union workers bring any less commitment or skill to their jobs
or to the projects of which they are a part.
In addition to the many union contractors Smith regularly
works with, there are a number of local non-union firms that provide construction
services on a regular basis. These firms have a long track record of providing high
quality service, competitive pricing, maintaining a stable employee base and providing
an excellent product. Smith has had positive experiences working with union labor
and union contracts and often has a mix of union and non-union labor on a project.
This was the case with two of our very large recent projects, the construction of
the Campus Center and the renovation of the Brown Fine Arts Center.
As a non-profit supported by a significant
level of philanthropic giving, the college has a responsibility to use its resources
wisely and to have competitive contracts and wages. Competent union and non-union
companies are invited to bid for Smith’s business. It has been our experience
that allowing union and non-union firms to bid a project assures the college of responsible,
competitive bids.
Smith has hired William A. Berry & Son
to serve as construction manager for Ford Hall and to hire and manage the subcontracting
trades for the project. Established in 1857, Berry specializes in school, college
and university construction. Like Smith, the firm has a long history of hiring both
union and non-union contractors. Should the college agree to a PLA, Berry would be
the signer to the agreement.
Each PLA is unique to the project it covers. According
to information distributed by PVBT, a PLA commonly does not require workers to join
the local union to be referred for work, nor are they required to pay union dues
that fund collective bargaining representation. The materials explain that a PLA
typically standardizes work rules and labor conditions rather than wages and fringe
benefits, and that most agreements contain provisions allowing contractors’ use
of their own employees. The PLA proposal originally presented to Smith differed somewhat
from these typical provisions.
Given the differences between a more typical PLA and
the draft presented to Smith, Smith asked Berry to estimate the added cost of requiring
total union labor at the locals’ wage and benefit levels, which generally exceed
prevailing wage rates. The cost of Ford Hall is estimated to be $73 million, and
Berry estimated the added cost of an all-union proposal to be $2 million. |
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