Greg Beeman, president of the Associated Builders and Contractors of Massachusetts, told the Joint Committee on Transportation that while his organization supports investment in transit expansion, it opposes House Bill 3,633's requirement to mandate project labor agreements.

Beeman said the bill "requires that all of the trade labor comes solely from the construction unions" and warned that mandatory PLAs would prevent the majority nonunion construction workforce in Massachusetts from fairly competing for public projects. "According to estimates ... 83.4% of the current Massachusetts construction workforce is actually nonunion," Beeman said, citing government data.

He argued that mandating PLAs would reduce bidder competition, drive up costs, and disproportionately harm minority-owned contractors who are more often nonunion. Beeman asked the committee to advance transit investment measures but to remove the mandatory PLA provision.

The committee accepted the testimony and did not take a formal vote during the hearing.