Big Dig Prepared to Open Bidding to Nonunion Members

BOSTON-The Big Dig’s project labor agreement with its workers may soon become history as the massive highway construction project in the heart of the city here prepares to bid a huge contract to bidders who will not be obligated to employ union workers. The move comes just days after President George W. Bush reaffirmed his commitment to an executive order that prohibited federally funded projects from having project labor agreements.

The Big Dig’s project labor agreement was negotiated in 1989 and it guaranteed union members exclusive rights to work on the Big Dig in exchange for the union’s commitment not to strike for the duration of the project. To date, there have been no work stoppages on the Big Dig.

“They’re on schedule,” Joe Nigro, president of the Boston Building trades Council, tells GlobeSt.com. “We’re not trying to hold up the Central Artery. They have the same question in mind that we do, whether they can do this.”