RE: “OBAMA kowtows to labor unions’’ (oped, Oct. 7). David Tuerck and his ne’er-do-wells at the Beacon Hill Institute refuse to let the facts get in the way of their outlandish allegations. To state that “Obama’s kowtow to the construction unions is the same politics-as-usual against which he campaigned last year’’ is absurd and misleading. It is particularly specious when, in the same diatribe, Tuerck admits that “Obama has made good on his campaign promise by lifting the ban on [project labor agreements] imposed by President Bush.’’ Moreover, Tuerck and the Beacon Hill Institute’s study includes another deceitful and cleverly crafted premise. They report: “How many disputes attributable to PLAs did we find? None.’’ No kidding! How can they possibly find disputes attributable to PLAs when Tuerck clearly illustrates that President George W. Bush banned PLAs during his eight-year reign? He then glosses over disputes they did find, while admitting the possibility that they may have overlooked other disputes.
If Mr. Tuerck understood the underlying machinations of the construction industry, he would know that workers who are not afforded the protection of fair and adequate representation are sitting ducks. As a result, they keep their mouths shut to protect their jobs. While this works well in limiting disputes, the aggregation of this policy with Tuerck’s additional wish of abolishing prevailing wages and thereby further diminishing the reinvestment of earned income in middle-class communities is the true legacy of Bush’s banning of PLAs.
JAY HURLEY
Boston
The writer is president of the Iron Workers District Council of New England. 
