ABC chairman’s message: Use free and open competition to build new high schools

Several Massachusetts communities – including Boston, Brockton, Lexington and Medford – are planning to build new high schools. In Boston and Brockton, the schools are expected to cost $700 million, and Lexington’s high school will likely cost more.

The new construction comes at a time when Massachusetts is among the five states with the highest rates of domestic outmigration. Study after study finds that affordability is the biggest reason why Massachusetts residents are fleeing to places like Florida, New Hampshire, the Carolinas, Texas and Tennessee. 

The communities that will be building new schools will undoubtedly be pressured to build them using union-only project labor agreements. We need to stay informed and to educate municipal leaders on the facts about PLAs. 

At a time when affordability is critical, PLAs add up to 20% to project costs. The primary reason is simple: 82.7% of the Massachusetts construction workforce chooses not to affiliate with a union. Fewer bidders mean higher costs.

Twenty percent is significant money on a $700 million school; the kind of money that can affect local tax rates. In a Boston Globe op-ed published earlier this year, Pioneer Institute executive director Jim Stergios pointed out that a PLA would add at least $100 million to the cost of building a new Madison Park High School in Boston.

When a judge ordered the Springfield Water and Sewer Commission put a water treatment project out to bid without a PLA in 2024, the electrical bid alone, submitted by an ABC MA member, was more than $15 million less than the lowest union bid.

Supporters claim that PLAs ensure that workers will earn fair wages. What is important to clarify here is that everyone who works on a public project in Massachusetts – union and merit shop – is subject to the same state and federal prevailing wage laws. 

PLAs can also reduce participation by women- and minority-owned businesses. Bidders on public projects must be certified by the Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance. Among companies with DCAMM certification, nearly 9 out of 10 minority businesses and 72% of women-owned businesses are merit shop.

Allowing all qualified contractors and workers to participate gives local builders and workers whose taxes fund these school projects the chance to work on them. And an inclusive policy that welcomes all workers, whether they choose to join a union or not, creates a broader pathway to bring much-needed new talent to the industry.

We urge you to reach out to your municipal officials, state representatives and senators to tell them that free and open competition is the best way to build our public schools! 

Luiza Mills is the chairman of Associated Builders and Contractors Inc.-Mass. Chapter and is a senior vice president at Interstate Electrical Services Corp., North Billerica, Mass.