US Labor Dept Reviews NH Job Corps Building Terms

KATHY McCORMACK

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — Construction of a $35 million federal Job Corps center in New Hampshire, where union workers amount to only a small percentage of the work force, has been stalled over contract language that requires the center be built by union labor.

Planned for Manchester, the center will offer education and vocational training to students, ages 16 to 24. It has been in the works for years and the government wanted to break ground this fall on the six-building complex.

But last month, a Concord-based nonunion firm protested the requirement. And the U.S. Labor Department recently canceled the bidding process to evaluate the "project labor agreement" that requires union workers.

New Hampshire and Wyoming are the only two states without Job Corps centers. Money has been allotted for the Wyoming center. It is scheduled to be complete in 2011.

When asked Thursday if there was a timetable for reopening the bidding process on the Manchester center, Labor Department spokesman Jesse Lawder said, "I don't think it's been established yet. They're looking into the options."