Carol Shea-Porter
In just a year and a half as the representative for New Hampshire's first district, Republican Rep. Frank Guinta has racked up some serious accolades. Not only did Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) name him
one of the most corrupt members of Congress, but the anti-union construction lobby group the Associated Builders and Contractors named him 2011 legislator of the year.
Why is that? Because Guinta pushed an anti-union amendment, of course.
During his 2010 campaign, Guinta pulled in nearly $55,000 in contributions from the construction industry, and one of the first things he did in office was offer an appropriations bill amendment to ban Project Labor Agreements on federal projects, claiming that "PLA mandates and PLA preferences are designed to discourage competition from qualified contractors." But the only "qualified contractors" PLA's discourage competition from are those who are so anti-union they aren't even willing to enter into a short-term collective bargaining agreement for a single big job. That's what Project Labor Agreements are. They don't require that union contractors be used; rather, they establish uniform pay, working hours and conditions, and more across all contractors and trades on large, complicated construction projects, increasing efficiency, eliminating labor disputes, and sometimes adding other priorities such as hiring local workers or workers from disadvantaged populations.
Guinta's predecessor, 2012 Orange to Blue candidate Carol Shea-Porter, took a different view:
She advocated along with Congressman Hodes and Senator Shaheen for a Project Labor Agreement on the Manchester Jobs Corp building. The Manchester Job Corps building would have been the first project in over a decade to have a mandated PLA from the US Government. This is the same Job Corps building that the ABC helped to delay to avoid using Project Labor Agreements. Now the Job Corps Center in NH is once again underway but this time Congressman Guinta got his way. The project moves forward without a PLA.
It's not hard to see the contrast here. For his backing of anti-union legislation, Frank Guinta is beloved by the same construction lobby group that
endorsed Mitt Romney. Like President Obama, Carol Shea-Porter supported Project Labor Agreements, and with them, good jobs in New Hampshire.
Please, give $4 to help return Carol Shea-Porter to Congress.