President's Ban Could Dissolve Big Dig Agreement

BOSTON-Despite objections from local officials, President George W. Bush is committed to the executive order he issued last month banning project labor agreements. This could dissolve the labor agreement currently in place on the Big Dig, the $14-billion massive highway construction project in the heart of this city.

“We don’t know what the impact will be,” Sean O’Neill, spokesperson for the Big Dig, tells GlobeSt.com. “But it’s kind of obvious that it can have an impact.”

The project labor agreement on the Big Dig has specified that only union workers would be used on the project. In exchange, unions promised not to strike. “We have had an excellent quality of work and no work stoppages for ten years,” notes O’Neill. “We’re at peak construction and peak expenditures daily now. It’s been a huge benefit that there have been no strikes. That sort of situation could cause a huge problem.”