Agreement for high school project sparks opposition in Penn Hills
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At its meeting Tuesday, the Penn Hills school board worked toward obtaining the state's approval for construction plans for a new high school.
The plans include a controversial project labor agreement, or PLA, that opponents say favors union contractors and reduces competition.
The project labor agreement with the Pittsburgh Regional Building and Construction Trades Council, approved by the board last week, requires all contractors to agree to standardized work practices, hours, holidays and other requirements. Strikes and other work stoppages are prohibited.
School officials said a study by the independent consulting firm Keystone Research Center suggested that the school district would benefit from such an agreement.
Associated Builders and Contractors of Western Pennsylvania, a trade group that describes itself as promoting open market practices, issued a news release last week criticizing the school board for signing the agreement and warning that it may be vulnerable to litigation. The trade group has challenged similar agreements in the Shaler Area School District and at Community College of Allegheny County.
Supporters of the agreement have said it ensures that work is completed on time by highly trained workers.
School board member Don Kuhn said the PLA will not add cost to the project, as has been speculated.
"The prevailing rate would be the same as the union rate with a few more cents for taxes," he said."
Additionally, he said, the agreement gives workers who live in and near Penn Hills the chance to work, rather than "[workers] from other states who come in and leave and return to their home states, increasing their economy with our funds."
Board member Bob Hudak asked for and received clarification that the agreement permits up to 10 percent of workers to be nonunion.
School board member Margie Krogh, who voted against the project labor agreement, said, "Do I want local people to have jobs? Yes. My concern is that the expertise needs to be top-notch."
The board heard a report on the district's performance on the 2009-10 PSSA tests, which had higher proficiency requirements than in previous years.
First Published September 9, 2010 5:31 am
