Republican commissioners nix labor pact for Westmoreland County projects

Nonunion firms no longer can say they are being frozen out of securing high-dollar construction contracts with Westmoreland County.

Republican county Commissioners Sean Kertes and Doug Chew on Thursday terminated a controversial agreement with local trade unions.

They said the Project Labor Agreement with the Pittsburgh Regional Building and Construction Trades Council enacted by the previous Democrat-controlled board of commissioners in 2016 inflated costs and did not give businesses equal opportunity to win contracts.

“We want to make it a level playing field for all,” Kertes said. “Nobody up here is anti-union.”

The labor agreement mandated that contractors hired by the county for projects in excess of $150,000 meet a set of increased requirements and standards for its workers. It included a provision that companies have apprenticeship programs and prohibit work stoppages.

Opponents said the strict requirements barred nonunion companies from bidding for government work.

In his campaign last year, Chew was critical of the agreement and called for it to be rescinded. On Thursday, he echoed the comments made by Kertes. He said he doesn’t expect there will be much fallout from its termination.

“We don’t have anything pending that would have qualified for the PLA,” Chew said.

Democrat Gina Cerilli, who voted to implement the agreement four years ago, Thursday defended the labor pact.

“Obviously, we have a different board, but I still believe unions are the backbone of the middle class,” Cerilli said. “The (labor agreement) was not just for unions but did have a list of requirements that companies had to meet. I understand the board has changed, but I didn’t change my position.”

The labor agreement has been a political football in the county for more than a decade. It was first implemented in the mid-2000s by a board of commissioners controlled by Democrats. When Republicans seized control of the board in 2012, the agreement was rescinded, only to be reactivated four years later by the Cerilli-led Democratic majority.

The recent agreement was set to expire in May, but the county and labor council officials agreed to end the deal three months early, according to county Solicitor Melissa Guiddy.

Joshua Bloom, a Pittsburgh attorney who represents the trades council, said Thursday it was clear the county’s Republican commissioners were not going to continue with the labor deal.

“The building trades believes it was a very successful … working relationship with the county,” Bloom said. “It ensured our members got a lot of work. We really believe it was an advantage for the county, but we respect that the county commissioners have a different opinion.”

County officials Thursday could not provide a list of construction contracts that have been awarded under terms of the agreement.

Commissioners declined to discuss the impact the labor deal has had on county construction contracts, citing a pending federal lawsuit filed in September by the Associated Builders and Contractors of Western Pennsylvania, a Pittsburgh-based group that represents nonunion firms in the region.

In the lawsuit, the builder’s group claimed nonunion firms were not given an equal opportunity to bid on county contracts and sought to have the labor agreement dissolved.

“Effectively immediately, this decision will allow the more than 70% of Pennsylvania’s construction workforce who don’t belong to a union to compete to work on public works projects, which ensures fair and open competition and will help Westmoreland County taxpayers get the best possible construction project at the best possible price,” ABC President Pete Gum said.