Non-union workers deserve local work, too

Todd Dorman (Feb. 17 column), how about cutting me a little slack? My 63 employees deserve to work in this city, too. They are all local or from around here, as you put it. We still cannot work on Cedar Rapids or Linn County (project labor agreement) projects unless we sign a union agreement.

What happened to our right to work? Under the guise of keeping it local, local government forces me to find work in other cities to keep my employees busy. There should be room for union and non-union to work side by side to rebuild this community. “PLAs don't have to exclude non-union contractors” is what Mayor Ron Corbett said to me before his election. Seems he's changed his story.

With federal dollars in these projects, prevailing wages' must be paid. I have no problem with that. Times are tough enough without this kind of one-sided government protectionism. Cedar Rapids needs to abide by the law and our governor by discontinuing these union payback tactics.

Doug Kohoutek, President

Colony Heating & Air Conditioning

Cedar Rapids