Why Should Delaware Care?
Construction trades are one of the last well-paying, blue-collar jobs in Delaware, regardless of whether working for a union or not. But a new legislative proposal could prioritize some of the most lucrative, taxpayer-funded projects in the state to a smaller number of unionized workers, which has drawn criticism from competitors.
A bill that would require school districts to use unionized laborers on major construction projects has split Delaware’s construction industry as lawmakers near the finish line in the debate.
While leaders of the competing factions have framed the issue in dramatic terms, interviews with 18 construction workers at various sites in Delaware this month showed that rank-and-file workers largely were not as ideological. Many workers said they are indifferent to being in a union, saying instead that they support whatever arrangement would bring them the biggest paychecks.
Senate Bill 272 would mandate that a school district sign an agreement with the Delaware Building and Construction Trades Council – the umbrella organization for the state’s various unionized trades – to use union labor for construction projects that cost at least $5 million and have at least two bidders. Those deals are known as project labor agreements, or PLAs.
If merit shops – or non-unionized construction companies – win a project bid covered by the bill, they would be required to hire a percentage of unionized workers. That percentage would be negotiated with the Delaware Building and Construction Trades Council, whose president, Jim Maravelias, told Spotlight Delaware that they would seek half of the available jobs.
An analysis using data from the monthly household Current Population Survey estimated that Delaware’s private construction industry was roughly 15% unionized, totaling about 4,000 members.
Multiple major industry groups, including the Associated Builders and Contractors of Delaware and organizations representing minority-owned businesses, are starkly opposed to the bill, and have been holding protests over it for months.
An evolving proposal
The prioritization of unionized labor on publicly funded projects has become a growing trend in the legislature in recent years.
Lawmakers piloted a version of SB 272 in 2023, when they required project labor agreements be used in the construction of three major state construction projects.
Since then, Sen. Jack Walsh (D-Stanton), a leader in the Delaware Building and Construction Trades Council, has continued to push for more requirements to support union labor.
Over the past year, he has filed and amended several versions of the current bill, settling on a proposed minimum of $5 million in aggregate project cost, limiting the requirement to school construction, and finally limiting PLAs to projects that have at least two bids.
Rep. Edward Osienski, the lead House cosponsor and a retired union tradesman, testified at a June 10 committee hearing that the bill aimed to resolve frequent claims of unpaid claims to construction workers.
According to data from the Department of Labor’s Construction Enforcement Office, 66% of sites it inspected led to investigations. The department has $385,000 in outstanding wages owed to workers – a big reason why he helped propose the legislation.
“The Department of Labor has been very active, but they can’t go to them all – that’s one of the issues,” Osienski said. “We can’t just depend on the Department of Labor to police what’s going on out there.”
Construction workers express concerns
On the grounds of construction projects, many workers said they are indifferent to being in a union.
About five non-unionized workers told Spotlight Delaware they don’t think much about the union versus non-union issue. A couple unionized workers said they benefit from protections like the ability to walk off a job out of safety concerns without being fired.
A few workers had strong opinions.
A group of commercial plumbers expressed disapproval of unions. One plumber who used to be in a union remembered when he was sent two hours away to do work for $7.50 an hour, which he felt he could not do comfortably.
Brian Valdelamar, another one of the plumbers, argued unionized workers are less efficient – and may even “milk jobs out.”
“They might take three years to build this, we did it in roughly three or four months,” Valdelamar said.
Asked about the implications of the bill on his work, Valdelamar said he does not think the requirement of a project labor agreement would be fair.
James Mitchell, a non-unionized electrician, said he had heard about the bill and believes it is unfair because it could cut small companies, like his, out from bids.
“I guess they would get dibs on all of it then,” Mitchell said. “It cuts the other guys out.”
In particular, Mitchell said the cost of living was so high right now that it was financially “hard to live.”
“Paying [union] dues for somebody else to retire sounds crazy to me right now. I need that money for myself,” he said.
Local non-unionized general contractor Tommy Ogden said he’s conflicted on whether he’d support the measure, believing the state’s prevailing wage – an average of all wages paid in an industry in each county – is a “happy compromise.” Delaware law requires workers on state-funded projects that meet certain cost thresholds to be paid fairly.
For example, carpenters would earn about $62 an hour and electricians nearly $87 an hour for prevailing wage work in New Castle County or $52 and $87 in Sussex County, respectively.
However, unions have helped raise wages and standards for union and non-unionized workers alike, Ogden noted. He believes that if it had been solely left up to “the businesspeople,” tradespeople may be working 80 to 100 hours per week to support their families.
“Now, they can work 40 hours and be home for dinner,” Ogden said.
Leaders debate inclusiveness of PLAs
During public comment in the June labor committee hearing, a couple union workers voiced support for the bill citing fair wages and worker protections, but most speakers were opposed to the measure.
State Budget Director Brian Maxwell warned legislators that the cost of school construction projects with PLAs would be higher than without the agreements. A fiscal note on the impact of the bill likewise suggested more costs in negotiating the PLAs but couldn’t estimate an impact.
Mary DuPont, the executive director of La Plaza, a nonprofit advocacy organization for Delaware’s Latino community, opposed the bill, citing Delaware’s 2022 Disparity Report which found that less than 3% of state construction contracts went to minority-owned businesses.
She told Spotlight Delaware that in Sussex County, a large proportion of construction projects are done by small Latino-owned businesses that are not likely to be unionized. DuPont added that some minority-owned businesses have told her of unpleasant experiences in unions.
“They’re not exactly waiting with welcome signs for minorities to join the union,” she said.
Ayanna Khan, founder and CEO of the Black Chamber of Commerce, told Spotlight Delaware that because minority-owned businesses are more likely to operate in a deficit, they wouldn’t want to pay the additional expense of union dues, especially when the cost of living has significantly increased due to gas and utility prices.
She also said unions are historically composed of “middle-aged white men,” as unions discriminated against Black workers in the early 20th century.
However, according to an analysis, Black males were more likely to be in a union than White males in 2025. Nationwide, 10.3% of white men were union members compared to 12.3% of Black men and 8.6% of Hispanic men.
Maravelias, the leader of the trade union organization, denied the assertion of minority groups and associations that because most Black and Latino workers are not part of unions, the bill would harm them.
“We don’t need a minority contractor to hire minority workers,” Maravelias told the committee. “Let’s not bring race into this.”
Maravelias told Spotlight Delaware he believes that the business owners’ race or ethnicity does not have as much of an influence on who they hire,
“That little riff they want to put in there about Black, white, Latino, brown, whatever, they can take that and throw it in the garbage, because it doesn’t exist,” he added.
The bill includes a provision where PLAs could include protections for minority-owned businesses, which Maravelias hopes contractors see through. But one of his biggest problems with non-unionized labor is the proliferance of out-of-state workers who would contribute less to the state’s economy.
“Unlike the out-of-state worker, the Delaware worker will pay taxes and spend his money in Delaware, where the other guy stays here for the week in a motor lodge and then takes off,” he said.
