The following is a letter written by Bruce Patterson, resident of Garwood in response to County Expands Labor Agreement Requirements on The Westfield Leader submitted to nj21st.
Dear Editor
In reference to the pg 5 article in your 7/22/26 edition. Union County plans to lower the threshold for county contracted work, which is to only be done with union labor in lieu of “non-union” shops from $5 million to $3 million. (This is called a PLA agreement.) This is a major blow to the workforce found within our county. A Stockton College study reported that 45% of this county’s workforce are immigrants. This is an important point that many of these immigrants are working as landscapers, minor contractors or in small construction companies, all that are not unionized but are considered “non-union” shops.
The original Union County imposed PLA threshold was $5 million for 2 decades. One would think that with escalation, the threshold would be raised to $7-10 million but instead the county lowered it to $3 million. Here is another important point. With this lower threshold it now encompasses many smaller diverse projects not just large building related construction. One recent project done before the new PLA is to be imposed, was the Green Lane Park in Union, which cost the county taxpayer $3.6 million. Under the PLA this park would have been forced to use union labor, where minor landscaping companies probably with immigrants as employees would be awarded the work.
I cannot see, union carpenters raking out mulch, or millwrights putting together a seesaw. In fact, a union site can demand any truck driver delivering that mulch must be a union driver. Landscape supply companies will have to hire an extra union driver just to deliver mulch. Union apprenticeship programs and deep expertise that are instilled in union labor is certainly not required for these minor project tasks, but it will be forced to be. Even simple renovation projects inside county buildings will certainly cost well over $3 million. In the next few years, our county has multiple park projects planned, both new and renovation. IMO with the county profligate spending we know that $3 million does not go far anymore.
The county is now practicing exclusivity not inclusivity for its residents. The immigrant workforce will not get a bite at the county apple. The county usually spends upwards of $100-150 million annually for all diverse county work. At least government work demands both union and open shop to be paid at the same prevailing rate, but the open shop will now be shut out of a lot of it. There will be no meaningful economic benefit, and it certainly is not smart public policy on their part.
Don’t get me wrong, I worked 30 years for a union contractor. As head of the ASME program the pipe fitters employed were top-notch. I worked for a general contractor doing federal work up and down the coast, and as one of the project coordinators I opted many times to subcontract out union companies for extensive work the project had. I also worked for a related “double-breasted” company, union and non-union branches. While there, I did a study of costs between using a union workforce and non-union workforce. I found the cost savings was between 7% and 12% favoring the non-union workforce.
Why?
This was because the unions have jurisdictional boundaries. IOW-a union carpenter cutting wood and creating sawdust will not sweep up that sawdust. It has to be done with a separate person, a union laborer; where a non-union carpenter will cut the wood and afterward will then sweep the floor up. Big difference we find. The county should not be wasting 7%-12% taxpayer monies on small $3+ million projects. That works out to an unnecessary $300,000. IMO, they should leave the threshold at $5 million or more.
Very Truly yours,
Bruce Paterson
Submitted directly by the author; content reflects their own views
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