Unions move in on rail project

State construction union officials are again trying to get control of the jobs on a Central Valley project through a project labor agreement. Last time it was the University of California at Merced. This time it's high-speed rail.

The unions didn't get their labor agreement for the campus, in part because people in the Central Valley starting speaking out against it. This time the unions are claiming their project labor agreement will help give jobs to homeless people and other disadvantaged workers. That's nonsense. As long as there's an unemployed union member in the Bay Area wanting a job, the unions will not be recruiting for homeless people.

If high-speed rail were funded only by the taxes of union members, then I'd say a labor agreement might be justified. However, we all pay the federal and state taxes that will fund this project. As such, I see no basis upon which to make this project a union-only project. This project labor agreement is just another case of pay to play by the unions and their cronies in Sacramento. We don't need high-speed rail and we especially don't need another project labor agreement.

CHARLIE MENGHETTI

Modesto