The Associated Builders and Contractors was founded in Baltimore on April 14, 1950, by seven contractors to protect their right to work. We're over 16,000 strong today. ABC's cornerstone is the belief that contract awards should be made to the lowest qualified bidder, regardless of affiliation with a union or not. This is an important aspect of "merit shop."

In those days, there were intimidation and excesses. Some of those excesses still exist in our time - the most recent was the importing of baseball bat-wielding goons who burned down a camp for construction workers at a mill in International Falls, Minn., in 1989.The Daily Journal, International Falls, Sept. 11, 1989, in an editorial, stated in part, "Let's be sure that everyone understands the situation. It started as a contest between construction unions and a nonunion contractor - merit shop, really - at the Boise Cascade Mill expansion. But it evolved into an orchestrated, however loosely, terroristic campaign.

"The monetary loss already is in the millions and the loss of human rights and community self-esteem is incalculable. Though Boise and BE & K were the original targets, it's the entire community which is being torn asunder and reviled. Anyone not sickened or enraged by the course of events or who feels that violence is acceptable or inevitable if it wears the union label isn't playing with a full deck."

Lawful competition benefits us all, while intimidation promotes monopolies and a resultant increase in cost and loss of freedom.

President Clinton on Feb. 1, 1993, by rescinding the George Bush executive order of Oct. 23, 1992, set the clock back by giving in to pressure groups.

Just two weeks later, in a national address, he made statements such as, "The cost of doing the same old thing is far higher than change." The Bush order did away with "the same old thing" by opening up federal projects to free and open bidding regardless of union affiliation (the merit shop philosophy).

The Clinton order, on the other hand, put the same old thing back in place - not "balance" as it so incorrectly stated. The Bush order was detailed and factual, but the Clinton order gave no facts. It restored a monopoly.

In the face of the evidence brought to the attention of the president in a letter from "Contractors for Equal Rights," Pocatello, Idaho, dated Feb. 1, 1993, he can he ask for "sacrifice" and "contributions" when he did away with the job opportunities of the skilled and safety-conscious nonunion workers and contractors in Utah and Idaho?

The president has prevented those workers and contractors from freely bidding projects at the chemical demilitarization facility at Tooele and the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory (INEL) west of Idaho Falls, and in many cases, caused the hiring of out-of-state workers and contractors because of lack of competition.

The president should read the GAO report on INEL. He should read the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) report on INEL.

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He should read the DOE letter directing unions and contractors not to withhold money from union workers' paychecks to target nonunion contractors on private work - it's illegal. He should read the other 15 documents with the Feb. 1 letter.

Clinton has asked for specifics as to where costs can be cut. The GAO report says the union-only INEL projects cost at least 17 percent more in wages alone. The FOIA report from a Department of Energy contractor at INEL shows a cost of 60 percent more. Another document shows (and the GAO agrees) that the unions and union-signatory contractors discriminated against the federal government by charging higher wages than they did for private projects off the INEL site - contrary to a written agreement.

Clinton now has some specifics. We shall be watching to see if he does something about them. We don't want to just read his lips. We want to see recognition of these wrongs and costly programs - by elimination of the union-only agreements.

The ignoring of these specifics will most certainly indicate that the administration is not to be trusted and that the rhetoric is the same old thing - not change.

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