GOP Congressman Under Fire For 'Detroit Union Boss Agenda'

U.S. Rep. Thaddeus McCotter, R-Livonia, is under fire again, this time from a construction trade group that says he has a "Detroit union boss agenda."

Rep. McCotter angered the Associated Builders and Contractors of Michigan when he voted May 31 to strip out language in a bill that would have prevented the government from awarding contracts exclusively to unionized companies on certain military construction projects.

The eight other Michigan Republican representatives voted to keep the language in the bill. The bill stripped the language that would have prevented the project labor agreements by a 218-198 vote.

Rep. McCotter's spokesman Randall Thompson didn't return emails seeking comment.

"It's a taxpayer financed handout to construction union bosses," said Chris Fisher, spokesman for Associated Builders and Contractors of Michigan. "There is no reason why non-union employees should be discriminated and blackballed from construction projects paid for with their own tax dollars."

Fisher said 75 percent of the state's construction workers are not unionized.

McCotter announced June 2 that he was not running for re-election after his campaign failed to collect the necessary signatures to get on the ballot for Michigan's 11^th Congressional District.