Some Republicans like project agreements

President Bush may not like union-only project agreements, but his opinion is not shared by all Republicans.

The Construction Labor Report said a surprising number of Republican House lawmakers - 33 - signed a March 12 letter to President Bush expressing disappointment with his Feb. 17 order restricting the use of project labor agreements on federally funded construction projects.

The letter signed by the Republicans said they have "constructive and mutually supportive relationships" with building trades unions. Such agreements, they said, "increase productivity and keep complex projects on schedule."

A ban on such agreements, they said, "would unfairly hamper decision makers who are closer to the particular needs of a given project."

Project labor agreements typically include no-strike, no-lockout clauses, standardize work rules among the crafts, and stipulate that the project must be performed with all union crafts.

Bush voids contractor rule

President Bush on March 30 ordered the suspension of a Clinton Administration rule that would have significantly strengthened the government's ability to deny contracts to companies that have violated workplace safety, environmental and other federal laws.

The move was yet another jab at organized labor. The rule originally took effect the day Bill Clinton left office, and directed federal agencies to assess whether prospective contractors have violated federal laws. Any violations could be held against companies in the competition for more than $200 billion in government contracting work.

The Clinton Administration maintained that the new rule was needed to reduce the risk of fraud and abuse by contractors, but the business community said the rule would amount to "blacklisting" of federal contractors and was a payback to labor unions.

'The administration's decision on the contractor responsibility rule is just the latest in an almost daily and distressful drumbeat of regulatory rollbacks," said Sen. Joseph Lieberman.

The Bush Administration has been in office for less than three months, but in that time it has killed the above rule, suspended union-only project labor agreements, halted new pro-worker ergonomics guidelines, and has suspended rules that would have strengthened standards governing arsenic levels in drinking water.

ABC's contributions get Bush's attention

If there's any doubt as to why President Bush has been so anti-union in his first months in office, follow the money.

The web site of the Associated Builders and Contractors says the anti-union contractor group had the nation's 29th largest Political Action Committee in the nation during the last election cycle, with $1.4 million in donations. The ABC was also the fifth-largest campaign contributor to Republican candidates.

Of course, organized labor contributed heavily to Al Gore's campaign, so that didn't help the standing of unions with Bush.