In 2005, the City of Fall River planned construction of five new schools, but the fateful decision by the mayor to adopt a PLA caused the bids to far exceed the city's budget, delayed construction, and in the end, reduced the project scope from five to four schools.

Fall River's is a cautionary tale of how locking out a vast majority of the Massachusetts construction workforce in favor of pandering to the special interests is a costly mistake.

When Fall River announced plans to build five new schools, 75 contractors – union and non-union – pre-qualified to bid and work on the job. Then the mayor adopted a Project Labor Agreement, locking out open shop contractors and providing the unions with a monopoly on the project. Taxpayers quickly felt the negative impact of the PLA:

• Only 36 of the 75 pre-qualified contractors submitted bids.

• On the Slade School, no union electrical subcontractors submitted bids.

• The bids were grossly over budget.

• The Matthew J. Kuss Middle School's lowest general contractor bid was 25% over budget.

• Sub-contractor bids on the Slade and Small schools were 40% and 75% percent over budget respectively.

• The roofing bid on the Small School was $1.3 million when budgeted for $250,000

The Merit Construction Alliance filed a lawsuit against the city, arguing officials had failed to justify the use of a PLA according to the strict requirements of an earlier Supreme Judicial Court ruling. In the face of a costly lawsuit and bids coming in far over budget, the mayor relented and dropped the PLA before the court ruled.

Without a PLA the picture improved dramatically for the city:

• 60 of the 75 pre-qualified contractors participated in bidding.

• Kuss School sub-bids dropped 13%, or $3 million, without a PLA

• Slade School sub-bids dropped 15%, of $1.7 million, without a PLA

• Three electrical contractors submitted bids on the Slade School without a PLA, when none had been submitted under a PLA.

Overall, the City of Fall River and its taxpayers saved $8.5 million from lower construction costs and the need to borrow millions less to finance the project, thus reducing the interest payments. Unfortunately for taxpayers, the unaffordable, union-only bids and related delays rebidding under a PLA in an effort to obtain lower prices resulted in lost time while the cost of construction materials continued to increase. In the end, the city was only able to afford four of the five new schools.

Perhaps the saddest part of this tale is that it was entirely preventable. Had the city started out without a PLA, it would have built five quality new schools for a fair price.

Even the mayor learned the lesson. "With more bidders, you tend to get a better price," he told the Fall River Herald News.