Bumble Bee wrote:
In this case, they are requiring all contractors to be signatory. That is joining the union in my book.
In my market, unions are not strong and many craftsmen have forsake unions because they get to keep more of their pay.
I do not notice a difference between open shop or union contractors here (TX).
It's highly unlikely that they're being required to become anything but a signatory for the duration of the project. There's a slight chance that they may be required to sign on to recognize the respective union for other projects, but if that were the case, the recognition could subsequently be withdrawn once the project was over and the other terms had expired. In this regard, it should be noted that the construction industry is different, in that the law allows an employer in that industry to recognize a union despite the fact that a majority of employees have not selected the union as their representative. But on the flip side, unless a construction employer has recognized a union as the majority representative, it can also withdraw recognition relatively easily.
I also suspect that for something like an airport project, there are not that many non-union contractors here who would be capable of submitting a complaint bid.
In California, and while not always true, there's general a big difference in the quality of labor you get from a union versus a non-union construction contractor, especially when you're looking a contractors who have to capacity to take on a large project.