Andrew Cassel wrote the following editorial in the Philly Inquirer today:

This was all about building trades boss Pat Gillespie's admission, in an interview with my Inquirer colleague Nathan Gorenstein, that his organization limits the number of union carpenters, electricians and metalworkers in an effort to keep wages up by keeping competition for work down.

This probably didn't come as a startling revelation to anyone familiar with the rough-edged world of construction, but it still struck me as something worth thinking about.

Particularly if you wonder why Philadelphia attracts so little investment - why so little gets built or renovated in the many city neighborhoods crying out for renewal - Gillespie's explanation should help connect some dots.

Everyone knows the construction unions guard their turf jealously. Nonunion contractors are discouraged, to put it politely, from working on privately funded projects, and generally barred flat-out from working on those involving public funds.

Trades-union supporters argue that their members are better trained, more safety-conscious, and generally more productive than nonunion workers, and thus worth whatever wage premium they demand.

That could all be true; in an open, competitive market, builders and consumers would decide how much the unions' extra skill and productivity were worth. But it's not the question here.

If, as Gillespie said, the unions also impose an arbitrary limit on how many skilled trades workers there are here, then they're going beyond simply upholding standards or advocating for better wages and working conditions.

They're effectively withholding an important resource from the region's economy.

For people not familiar with Philly, the unions rule. From Philly to Boston, the union rule everything. Philly has not had a Democrat for Mayor since the 50's. It's high time that the unions understand that the work in the area will dry up quite soon if they don't soften their stance. They have a stranglehold on everything from the trades to the Convention Center. The Convention Center has lost millions in business because of the various unions sniping about which does which work. If they don't bend a little, businesses will stop building in the city.