by Cole Lauterbach
New legislation in Phoenix would keep cities from nudging private businesses and others into a union shop before giving permission to build.
Although explicitly requiring union labor is illegal in Arizona, an amendment to Senate Bill 1191 would block cities from limiting a zoning permit, zoning variance, rezoning application, general plan amendment or other permit or land use requirement to those who promise to use union labor or only use contractors paying union wages. If enacted, it also would ban public works projects from having similar requirements or disclosing union ties in a bid.
The issue came up in 2014, when then-Councilmember Kate Gallego reportedly told the owners of a grocery store chain they needed to meet with community members before she would approve their liquor license for new locations. The meeting, according to the Arizona Republic, consisted of a town hall meeting with union representatives and Democratic activists. Gallego and others refuted the claims.
The amended bill passed Thursday in the Senate Judiciary Committee along party lines.
Mike Huckins, vice president of public affairs with the Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce, said several organizations have sought local ordinances that would allow or require purchase agents to consider union affiliation or include prevailing wages as part of a bidding process.
“We believe that mandates such as these increase cost, have a chilling effect on competition, and create undue burdens on businesses – especially smaller businesses – when trying to bid on these types of projects,” Huckins said.
Representatives for the cities of Phoenix and Tucson listed themselves in opposition to the bill but didn’t speak during the hearing.
Luke Douglas, representing Arizona Building Trades, said the decision should be left to local leaders to manage local products.
“It comes down to whether community leaders know best how to put guarantees for their workers,” Douglas said.
Jon Riches, director of national litigation at the Goldwater Institute, told committee members the issue distorts the free market, often costing taxpayers more.
“What these government mandates end up doing is driving up prices for consumers, depriving nonunion workers of the opportunity to work, and it’s infringing on private property rights,” Riches said. “The whole purpose of the public procurement process is to be open, fair, transparent and to get taxpayers the best possible deal. When you have government actors that are saying, ‘We want you to hire this type of labor instead of that type of labor,’ that is anti-free market, and, ultimately, that’s going to harm taxpayers who are going to bear these increased costs that are going to be passed on to them.”
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Cole Lauterbach is a regional editor for The Center Square covering Arizona, California, and Nevada. For more than a decade, Cole has produced award-winning content on both radio and television.
Photo “Downtown Phoenix” by DPPed. CC BY-SA 3.0.
