BHI Survey: Don't mandate key feature of PLAs

A poll conducted by the Suffolk University Political Research Center for the Beacon Hill Institute shows that Massachusetts voters, while holding a favorable impression of organized labor, oppose a key feature of a union-only Project Labor Agreements that have received the imprimatur of the Obama administration. Project Labor Agreements, which are often applied to public construction projects such as the Big Dig, require that all workers be hired through union halls.

Opposition to the idea of requiring construction contractors to hire through union hiring halls runs counter to voters’ otherwise sympathetic attitudes to unions. The same survey showed that a majority (52%) of Massachusetts voters have a favorable opinion of unions. It also found that only 19% of voters believe that public sector union workers are overpaid.

The requirement that construction contractors hire their workers through union hiring halls is opposed by almost every segment of the electorate. Eighty‐eight percent (88%) of Republicans, 76% of Independents and 52% of Democrats oppose the requirement. Even among households with union members, 59% are opposed. Opposition is consistent across voters segmented according to age, gender, race and attitudes toward candidates for governor and the U.S. Senate. Only the 15% of voters who have a "very favorable" view of unions support the requirement.

Press release.
Cross-tabs.

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