Salem building committee rejects project labor agreement for new high school

Salem High School Building Committee members voted 9–4 on Aug. 21 to decline use of a project labor agreement, rejecting a motion that the city—s best interests would be furthered by a PLA.

The committee heard roughly 90 minutes of presentations and questions before the roll call. Supporters, represented by Rodrigo Badaro of the North Shore Building Trades and Dan McNulty of the Massachusetts Building Trades Unions, argued a PLA would improve schedule stability, enforce local-hire and apprenticeship goals, and reduce workforce turnover. Opponents, led by Greg Beeman of the Associated Builders and Contractors— Massachusetts chapter, said PLAs curb competition by effectively limiting labor sourcing and risk higher costs and exclusion of open-shop and many minority-owned contractors.

Committee chair Margaret (staff member) opened the item and invited paired presentations from labor and open-shop representatives. Rodrigo Badaro, president of the North Shore Building Trades, outlined local-hire and apprenticeship benefits and noted the union group—s previous participation in large regional projects. Dan McNulty, operations director for Massachusetts Building Trades Unions, summarized national and state studies his group says show no consistent PLA-driven increase in final project cost, argued union-affiliated apprenticeship programs deliver most registered apprentices in the state, and said PLAs provide enforceable commitments beyond "good-faith" hiring promises.

Greg Beeman, president of the Massachusetts chapter of Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC), represented open-shop contractors and warned that PLAs make projects effectively union-only, reducing bidder pools. He cited examples his organization says show higher costs and fewer bidders where PLAs were adopted and raised concerns about potential reduced opportunity for open-shop firms and smaller minority-owned businesses.

Committee members questioned both sides about local labor availability, apprenticeship ratios, and the practical effects on bidding and schedule. Dan McNulty told the committee his organizations list roughly 450 trades members in Salem and more than 6,000 in Essex County; he emphasized that union halls can be "elastic" and scale labor up for multi-year projects. Beeman said he had no detailed local open-shop headcount but argued that open-shop contractors commonly choose not to bid on PLA projects because the PLA requires them to source labor through union referral systems.

After about a 10-minute committee Q&A, the committee voted on the motion as presented. A roll call recorded at the meeting produced four affirmative votes and nine negative votes and the motion failed. The committee—s formal conclusion, announced by the chair, was that it would not enter into a PLA for the Salem High School project.

The vote does not by itself resolve contract language for procurement; speakers on both sides noted the committee and the city can still write local-hire, apprenticeship, and diversity requirements into procurement documents regardless of the PLA decision. Supporters said a PLA provides enforceable corrective-action mechanisms and a centralized framework for local-hire goals; opponents responded that equivalent requirements can be pursued through open competitive procurement and contract provisions without a PLA.

The committee—s decision closes the PLA question for this phase of the project. Staff and consultants will continue schematic design, budgeting and procurement planning for the MSBA submission timetable.

Sources: presentations and Q&A during the Salem High School Building Committee meeting, Aug. 21 (transcript).