Building Trades Unions Creating Unlevel Playing Field

Philadelphia construction unions enforce their wage agreements in the city, while competing at non-union-scale wages in the suburbs.

1 minute read

August 28, 2001, 1:00 PM PDT

By Abhijeet Chavan @http://twitter.com/legalaidtech

"The unions are just strong enough to control the labor market in the city but not strong enough for the suburbs. They can enforce their wage scales in town, where political judges and sympathetic police will help. But in the suburbs, the unions offer their lower "B rate" wages when they have to compete with other workers. The result of this city/suburb cost difference is that residential construction is priced out of existence in the city for all but the very high-end market."

Thanks to Mark Alan Hughes

FULL STORY: Unions Need to Be More Constructive

Tuesday, August 28, 2001 in The Philadelphia Daily News

Community / Economic Development Pennsylvania

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