New Report Finds No Change in Cost of Construction-Industry Collective Bargaining Agreement in 2008

The cost of construction-industry collective bargaining agreement (CBA) terms and conditions as a percentage of wages and fringes was unchanged in 2008 at 6.4 percent, according to the Construction Labor Research Council's (CLRC) latest Cost of Terms and Conditions in Collective Bargaining Agreements report.  The dollar cost of these items increased, as the cost of many contract terms is directly related to wage rates, which increased.  Costs vary significantly across individual CBAs, from 4 to 10 percent, with a few even higher, and most dollar costs falling between $1.50 and $4.00.  Regional variation is moderate, CLRC reported, but craft variation is significant.  "The all-crafts average is reduced because Carpenters and Laborers, the crafts with the greatest number of workers, have among the lowest prevalence of most of the items adding to contract costs," noted CLRC. For more detailed information, click here or contact Denise Gold at (703) 837-5326 or goldd@agc.org.