While we voice concerns about debt and spending, we also need to be mindful of the state of employers, particularly small business and their struggles to remain competitive and viable. Statistically small business, employers of at least 50 percent of our workforce, are struggling, and eager to get your business. They are begging to serve you while balancing unclear taxes, health insurance obligations, and uncertain ability to make payroll. Public project labor agreements (PLAs) provide another hurdle, unless their employees choose to pay union dues.

Here is the ugly truth for small business employers without union workers…

As the result of $50 Million in Hurricane Sandy damage, the New Jersey Senate passed Bill S24251 that approves PLAs. That means that non-union employers will not be included in the bidding process for public work or state funded contracts unless there is a collective bargaining (union) contract representing employees. This is not only bidding preference, this is a freeze small businesses out of competitive bidding unless their employees pay union dues.

In other words, non-union contractors have no place in this public work, period. The NJ Senate Bill S2425 enhanced their existing law in New Jersey for PLAs to include roads, bridges, and water treatment. The bill was introduced and sponsored by Senate President Steve Sweeney, former vicinity president of Iron Workers District Council of Philadelphia. This is a stark contradiction to Sweeney’s inaugural goals including “encourage shared public services among local governments as a way to reduce spending… and make the state business friendly.”2 This Senate Bill is hardly a cost saving, business friendly measure.

Further, in support of unions, on February 6, 2009, President Obama signed an executive order reversing George H. W. Bush’s prohibition on the requirement for project labor agreements on federal projects.3 Obama claimed “it was the government’s policy to encourage the use of labor agreements to avoid misunderstandings about the cost of labor and to ensure that one contractor’s workforce problems during a project not delay other teams involved in the contract.” What it does not address is the freezing out of non-union bidders and the increases in taxpayer costs.

Statistically speaking, only 13.2 percent of the 2012 U.S. private construction workforce belongs to unions.4 This information represents that 87 percent of this employment sector are non-union employees, a solid supposition that they are from the small business sector.

Is this precipitating and/or worsening the status quo with small business? The success of small business is largely measured on their ability to hire and maintain employees. Their success for work is neither viable nor likely considering PLAs. According to the 2012 Year End Economic Report of the National Small Business Association,

* Just over one-third (38 percent) anticipate their firms will grow in the coming year—the lowest this indicator has been since we began asking this question in December 2009;

* Hiring remains stagnant with the number of small-business owners who project decreases to their employment size in the coming year rising from 12 percent to 16 percent;5

The reality is that there is a major difference between supporting unions and taking away legitimate bidding power from small contractors and family owned, non-union businesses. And, the competitive bidding process is in place to assure the best look at products, quality of services, at the best price. Competitive bidding is most often used by government agencies that are required by law to open contracts for bid and must award business to the lowest bidder. This is intended to ensure impartiality in buying decisions and assure the best price.

Further included in a PLA is the stipulation that may require even non-union contractors to...