A new study of California public works projects found that those built by union signatory prime contractors were completed faster and with significantly smaller cost overruns than projects led by non-union contractors.

The report, “Union Contractors Deliver,” was released in July by NorCal Construction Industry Compliance, a joint labor-management organization known as NCIC. It was written by Matthew Hinkel, an economist at Alma College in Michigan, and Larissa Petrucci, a policy and research analyst at NCIC who holds a doctorate in sociology.

The researchers examined 128 public works projects in Sacramento County, Calif., each completed between 2018 and 2022 at an average cost of about $6.5 million. Using statistical models that accounted for project type, start year and infrastructure category, they compared the outcomes of projects led by union contractors with those led by non-union prime contractors.

Across all projects, final costs ran an average of $235,866 (about 3 percent) higher than the amount in the original contract.

However, the gap was far wider for non-union work. Final costs on non-union projects exceeded their starting costs by an average of $511,123, compared with just $41,351 on union projects – a more than tenfold difference or 1.9 percent higher than starting costs.

After accounting for other factors that affect price, the study found cost increases were 4.9 percent to 6.3 percent less on projects with a union signatory prime contractor.

The findings reinforce the case Ohio building trades leaders have long made for Project Labor Agreements and overall use of a union construction workforce – they get work done on time and on budget.

“This has long been a key selling point when attempting to appeal to public agencies and private developers,” said Cleveland Building and Construction Trades Council Executive Secretary/Business Manager Dave Wondolowski.

The study also found that union contractors also finished faster.

The need to deliver on time can have an impact on a company’s bottom line, said John Holbrook, Tri-State Building and Construction Trades Council Business Manager/Financial Secretary-Treasurer.

“Speed to market is everything for the project owners,” he said.

Projects took an average of 274 calendar days (about 39 weeks) to complete. On average, union contractors wrapped up work just over two weeks (15 days) earlier than non-union contractors, according to the study.

Once other factors were considered, the union building trades completed their work 14 percent to 22 percent faster than their non-union counterparts, coming in between 38 to 60 days sooner.

The authors attributed the union advantage largely to worker productivity and training.

Much of that edge, the study surmises, comes from Registered Apprenticeship Programs. Union construction workers who complete a Registered Apprenticeship Program can earn up to 33 percent more than those who do not. Over the past decade, the authors noted that wages earned by union apprentices have kept pace with inflation, while real wages in management-controlled programs fell by 12 percent.

However, higher union wages may not result in a higher overall cost of construction, the study
found. They referenced a different recent study of 1,550 union and non-union projects that found union labor is associated with 4 percent cost savings. Another study, they noted showed union workforce productivity was at least 30 percent higher than on non-union jobsites.

Training performed at JATCs allows both apprentices and journeymen to work more safely and efficiently.

These factors, combined with union contractors’ better access to manpower, all play a role in union-performed projects finishing faster.

Wondolowski acknowledged the benefits JATC training provides, and pointed to another workforce aspect that should be considered – the worker pipeline.

“The training is pivotal, of course, but the ongoing pipeline to more workers is equally appealing when selling union construction,” he added.

For Holbrook, who has a handful of megaprojects within the Tri-State territory that goes into Ohio, Kentucky and West Virginia, the total workforce package union building trades offers – recruiting apprentices, mobilizing building trades members from other Local’s and organizing the non-union, all adds up.

The training is what makes the workforce elite, he said.

The report also noted additional research that union construction jobsites tend to have fewer health and safety violations when compared to non-union construction projects.

The findings arrive as building trades leaders across the country have pushed the benefits of Project Labor Agreements and Community Benefit Agreements to control costs and ensure a project is finished on time, while guaranteeing access to a well-trained workforce.

The study lends support to that argument. The authors noted that a separate peer-reviewed study of Sacramento County found projects that include a PLA were completed an average of 15 percent to 17 percent faster than non-PLA projects.

The report concluded that collectively bargained labor standards do not come at the expense of cost-effectiveness or timeliness. Faster, on-budget delivery, the authors wrote, benefits not only the contractors and workers on a project but also the taxpayers who finance public works and want to see the return on their investment.

PLAs have been an effective tool for the building trades in Northeast Ohio and Wondolowski stressed the importance of discussing them when meeting with project owners and general contractors.

“Those are standard commitments that we make when the owners agree to an exclusively union-built project,” he said.

Study: Union builds cost less, finish faster. Non-union work is less efficient, costlier

For more information about joining a Union,

Please call Cleveland Builds at 216-314-1682.