Letter to the editor: Amish advantage

I am a father, a husband, a carpenter, a taxpayer and a Christian. I do not hate the Amish people; I only wish they played by the same rules as the rest of us.

I was recently on a job site where the level of hypocrisy was so insulting that it has left me feeling abandoned by humanity’s basic principles of what is right and wrong. Myself and many others not only work hard to put food on the table, we educate ourselves tirelessly to ensure that what we are building is of the highest quality. You don’t think the building you’re standing in is going to collapse on you and your family until it’s too late. Even after an apprenticeship in my union, we have required training we must complete on a regular basis.

That being said, over the past two years alone, my employer has lost millions in potential work as a direct result of Amish contractors underbidding us. Amish contractors have a secret advantage: as a “church,” they are not required to pay self-employment tax, workers compensation or unemployment insurance, and are able to claim other tax exemptions. If my company neglected to pay workers comp, it would result in heavy penalties.

The next time you drive past a highway convenience store being built by the Amish (who use modern power tools, equipment and arrive on the job every day in a company van), just know that they won’t be paying the “gas tax” that you do when they turn the pumps on.

Philip Vecchio

New Kensington