For the record, let me begin by saying that The Research Bureau is not antiunion or anti-anything – We are PROWorcester.
The case for abolishing Worcester’s REO is simple and has two parts. First, by requiring that contractors on City construction projects operate apprenticeship programs for all trades that they employ and thereby excluding all nonunion contractors, the REO reduces the number of bidders on such projects and thus raises construction costs at the expense of Worcester taxpayers. Second, that same requirement unfairly denies the opportunity to work on Cityfinanced projects to the roughly 80% of the construction work force who are employed by nonunion firms – even though those workers pay taxes like everyone else.