Monthly Archives: January 2010

Project Labor Agreements: Quality Isn’t Real Issue

The public outcry over wasteful and discriminatory project labor agreements (PLAs) in Indiana is picking up steam.  The Indianapolis Star published an outstanding letter to the editor from a Zionsville resident in today’s paper. Project labor agreements: Quality isn’t real issue In regard to Ted Evanoff’s article Jan. 24, “An ailing process,” I believe the [...]

“Ordinance of the Year”

Here at TheTruthAboutPLAs, we want to congratulate the Orange County, California’s Board of Supervisors and the taxpayers they represent! PublicCEO.com, a daily web newsletter for public executive and administrative officials in California, has given the Local Government “Ordinance of the Year” award to the Orange County Board of Supervisors for the passage of the ordinance, [...]

Utica School Board Gives Sweetheart Deal To Big Labor

A quick note from Utica, NY, where the Utica Board of Education approved a requirement that PLAs be implemented on $187.6 million of upcoming capital construction in the district. Utica’s Observe-Dispatch noted the following as a footnote to an unrelated story: The board approved a project labor agreement setting construction workers’ wages for the $187.6 [...]

ABC Member Shares Small Business Concerns on Fox Business Channel

On 1/26 Brett McMahon, vice president of ABC member Miller & Long Concrete Construction, appeared on Fox Business Channel’s Diamond District program to share his concerns about the health of the construction industry’s small business owners in light of the 22.7 percent construction unemployment rate and meager solutions offered by the White House and Congress [...]

Maryland Transit Administration Recognizes PLAs As Potential Source Of Cost Overruns

In a document circulating around the blogosphere (Hat tip to Baltimore Brew), the Maryland Transit Administration (MTA) listed the top 10 potential risks to cause cost overruns on the proposed Red Line light rain construction project.  This expansion of public transportation opportunities in Baltimore is much anticipated by many residents. The only problem is MTA’s [...]

More Coverage of Big Labor’s Big Bailout

Matt Lewis at The Daily Caller has an excellent piece on some special interest pie baking in the ovens of the Obama administration and Congressional leadership (“Cadillac Compromise May Breathe New Life to Card Check,” 1/27/10). Of course, one of the key ingredients is President Obama’s pro-government-mandated project labor agreement (PLA) Executive Order 13502:   Recent developments are [...]

Asbury Park Press Calls On NJ Governor Christie To End The Use Of PLAs

In a January 24 editorial, the Asbury Park Press reduced newly inaugurated Governor Chris Christie’s 88 point plan for New Jersey into 20 items the editorial board believes should be tackled immediately. Item #17 caught our attention: 17. End the use of project labor agreements, which drive up the cost of public construction projects. Here [...]

Union Giveaways That Will Hit Your Wallet

The Washington Times ran an Op-Ed by Brett McMahon, vice-president of ABC member Miller & Long Concrete Construction, documenting a number of backroom deals that the White House and Congress cut with Big Labor that will harm private sector job creation and small businesses while giving Big Labor a big advantage (“Yet Another Reason to Oppose Obamacare: Union Giveaways That [...]

An Ailing Process Indeed

Wasteful and discriminatory project labor agreements (PLAs) continue to garner public attention in Indiana, as Wishard Health Services prepares to go forward with a PLA on approximately $750 million in hospital renovations at their Marion County facility. The latest PLA-related story titled, “An Ailing Process,” comes courtesy of the January 24 Indianapolis Star. Here are [...]

How Will Decline in Construction Union Membership Change Project Labor Agreement Debate?

A new report released today by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics indicates that from 2008 to 2009, union membership in the U.S. private construction workforce fell from 15.6 percent to 14.5 percent. In 2009, just 958,000 members of the U.S. private construction workforce belonged to a labor union, compared to 1.195 million construction union [...]

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