Linn labor agreement fiscally irresponsible

I have always been told that elected officials were supposed to be fiscally responsible in spending taxpayer money. Now the Linn County supervisors are about to enact a project labor agreement that requires the contractor who builds a county building to pay union wages and hire a certain number of employees through local union halls.

This infers that the Democratic supervisors prefer payback for election support rather than allowing lower-cost, non-union contractors to bid. Of course, it's only taxpayer money.

It's also interesting to note (Gazette, Feb. 22) that the unions had “a direct hand in shaping this agreement.” These agreements are political-directed discrimination against non-union contractors. On Feb. 3, Culver recommended that they also be used at the state level.

This really looks like an attempt by the unions to dismantle Iowa Right to Work law.

Donald Schmidt

Cedar Rapids