Unions usually get most of the blame for inflation in building costsand much of the blame is merited. Labor has pressed the fragmented construction industry into huge pay boosts. In the twelve months ending last June, construction labor won wage and fringe gains averaging 10%or 55¢ an hour. The unions have had powerful, if often unnoticed allies in the industrial corporations that order new factories built, and will pay almost anything to get them finished on time. Such corporations urge contractors to pay heavy overtime, and if the projects are struck, says George Cline Smith, a Manhattan construction economist,...
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