Originally posted by: BoomerD
Originally posted by: sactoking
Originally posted by: Red Dawn
That's why all the large Construction Companies with good reputations are Union.
As an underwriter in construction bonds and subdivision work, I would STRONGLY disagree.
Having worked in the industry for over 30 years, I agree with Red. The union companies do the job better, faster, safer, and generally under budget and under schedule. The non-union companies tend to have more "re-do's" to fix things they fucked up than the union companies and thus go over schedule more often.
While that may not apply in all areas, it sure does here. All too often, a project owner will hire a union contractor to come in and fix what the scab contractor fucked up...
If non-union contractors are so dammed good, why does the lion's share of work go to the union contractors, even in municipalities like Modesto that have no "Little Davis-Bacon" laws? The union contractors who pay about double the wages (triple if you count benefits) of the non-union contractors, STILL manage to outbid them on 90% of the jobs.
Sounds to me like the BIG difference is in how much goes to the owner's pocket and how much goes to the employees' pockets...