Construction unions rally in state capital

Senate Bill 849 and House Bill 1498 would prevent public bodies from negotiating project labor agreements and would prevent unions from using job targeting funds to match their bids with nonunion bids, according to a news release from the Missouri State Building and Construction Trades Council.

“New legislators need to understand that their current anti-worker, anti-union legislative efforts will cripple the state’s economy,” said Garry Kemp, business manager of the Greater Kansas City Building & Construction Trades Council, in the release. “Good, solid union wages, and the millions of dollars in benefits our pension and health and welfare funds pour directly into local communities everywhere, impact every single city in Missouri.”

The state council estimates that Missouri building trade unions have a $6 billion economic impact annually on the state’s economy, including payouts from health care funds, skills training programs and investments from union pension funds into local construction projects.

Unions from all parts of the state, including Springfield and Joplin, participated in the rally.

The unions also showed support for two other Senate bills that would require the payment of prevailing wages on all state-funded projects and keep undocumented workers from working on public projects.