The Truth About PLAs

Author Archives: Ben Brubeck

Union Favor on Federal Construction Project in New Hampshire Draws Criticism

February 9, 2012 – 12:54 pm

This week, U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) grabbed headlines with her public opposition to President Obama’s discriminatory policy, Executive Order 13502, favoring union contractors and union members competing for federal construction contracts. In a press release and letter to the White House issued Monday, Sen. Ayotte asked President Obama to repeal his pro-union Executive Order 13502 and [...]

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Executive Order 13502, Federal Construction, Federal Contracting, Manchester, New Hampshire, New Hampshire Union Leader, PLAs, PLAs Cut Competition, President Obama, Project Labor Agreements, protest, Rep. Bass, Rep. Guinta, Sen. Ayotte, Union-only PLAs harm local workers | Comments (0)

Construction Union Membership Near Historic Low

January 27, 2012 – 11:38 am

A new report released today by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) indicates that from 2010 to 2011, 874,000 workers in the private construction industry belonged to a union, the second lowest number of construction union members since BLS started tracking this information in 1973. According to BLS data, the construction industry [...]

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Executive Order 13502, Federal Construction, Federal Contracting, PLAs, PLAs are political payoffs to union leaders, President Obama, Project Labor Agreements, Union Membership Report | Comments (0)

President’s SOTU Remarks About Construction Industry Raise Questions

January 25, 2012 – 11:17 am

In last night’s State of the Union address, President Obama made some remarks about the construction industry: “Building this new energy future should be just one part of a broader agenda to repair America’s infrastructure. So much of America needs to be rebuilt. We’ve got crumbling roads and bridges. A power grid that wastes too [...]

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Executive Order 13502, Federal Construction, Federal Contracting, PLAs, PLAs are political payoffs to union leaders, PLAs Cut Competition, PLAs Increase Costs, President Obama, Project Labor Agreements, Section 7 | Comments (0)

Barack and a Hard Place: President’s Decision to Kill Keystone XL Pipeline Pleases Environmentalists, Riles Unions

January 20, 2012 – 12:26 pm

This week the Obama administration killed Phase 3 and Phase 4 of TransCanada’s Keystone XL pipeline project (for now), which would have connected Phase 1 and Phase 2 of the existing pipeline to new pipeline that would carry crude oil 1,600 miles from Alberta, Canada, to Gulf Coast refineries. The State Department’s denial of the [...]

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Keystone XL Pipeline, PLAs, PLAs Discriminate, private PLA, Private PLAs, Project Labor Agreements, TransCanada, Union-only PLAs harm local workers | Comments (0)

Federal PLA on Navy Project in Washington Will Harm Local Construction Workforce and Procurement Efficiency

January 12, 2012 – 4:04 pm

Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) Northwest has mandated a project labor agreement (PLA) on the construction of a $450 million to $550 million explosives handling wharf #2 (Solicitation No. N4425511R9004) at Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor in Washington. The PLA mandate harms Washington’s experienced and skilled nonunion construction workforce and will discourage competition from qualified contractors that have [...]

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Corruption, Executive Order 13502, Federal Construction, Federal Contracting, Kitsap Sun, Kitsap-Bangor, NAVFAC, Navy, PLA survey, PLAs, PLAs are political payoffs to union leaders, PLAs Cut Competition, PLAs Discriminate, PLAs Increase Costs, President Obama, Project Labor Agreements, Washington State | Comments (3)

Labor Department to Mandate Controversial Project Labor Agreement on Manchester Job Corps Center

December 29, 2011 – 4:56 am

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued a pre-solicitation on Dec. 22, 2011, for a $20 million to $50 million DOL Job Corps Center in Manchester, New Hampshire, indicating the project will be subject to an anti-competitive and costly project labor agreement (PLA) mandated by the DOL. Bidding is open only to certified small business [...]

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Executive Order 13502, Federal Construction, Federal Contracting, GAO, H.R. 735, Legal Challenge, local, local hire, Manchester, New Hampshire, New Hampshire Union Leader, PLAs, President Obama, Project Labor Agreements, Rep. Bass, Rep. Guinta, S. 119, Sen. Ayotte, Take Action, Union-only PLAs harm local workers | Comments (0)

Navy and Army Corps of Engineers Request Feedback on Use of Project Labor Agreements for Federal Projects

December 16, 2011 – 12:16 pm

The Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) issued three surveys requesting information from the construction industry on the potential use of project labor agreements (PLAs) on projects in the San Diego region, where just last week San Diego Unified School District (SDUSD) internal documents revealed how a new SDUSD PLA mandate policy is reducing competition and [...]

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged ABC California, California, Camp Pendleton, Cannon AFB, Clovis, Executive Order 13502, Federal Construction, Federal Contracting, NAVFAC, Navy, New Mexico, PLA survey, PLAs, PLAs Cut Competition, PLAs Increase Costs, Project Labor Agreements, San Diego, US Army Corps of Engineers | Comments (0)

Virginia Construction Industry Supports Legislation Ensuring Fair and Open Competition On Public Construction Contracts

December 14, 2011 – 12:55 pm

Yesterday, ABC Virginia issued a press release supporting the Fair and Open Competition in Government Contracting Act (HB 33) pre-filed this Monday in Richmond (see the full release below). HB 33 prohibits Virginia and recipients of state funding or assistance from requiring or prohibiting contractors to enter into union agreements, such as a project labor agreement (PLA), as [...]

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged ABC Virginia, Arizona, Barbara Comstock, Boston Herald, Dulles Transit Partners, Fair and Open Competition in Government Contracting Act (HB 33), Idaho, Iowa, Louisiana, Maine, Metro Washington Airport Authority, Michigan, MWAA, PLAs, PLAs are political payoffs to union leaders, PLAs Cut Competition, PLAs Discriminate, PLAs Increase Costs, Project Labor Agreements, Silver Line, State Legislation, Take Action, Tennessee, Tim Hugo, VA, Virginia, Virginia Chamber of Commerce, Wall Street Journal | Comments (0)

Is Phase 2 of the Dulles Metrorail Silver Line Subject to a Government-Mandated Union Project Labor Agreement?

December 13, 2011 – 12:56 pm

Will a recent deal to save the multi-billion dollar Phase 2 Dulles Metrorail Silver Line project in Northern Virginia force prime contractors to agree to an anti-competitive and costly project labor agreement (PLA) with labor unions in order to win construction contracts? What level of protection will Virginia’s right-to-work law offer to the state’s nonunion [...]

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged ABC Virginia, Dennis Martire, Dulles Transit Partners, Gov. McDonnell, Ken Cuccinelli, LIUNA, Metro Washington Airport Authority, Michael Curto, MWAA, Patton Boggs, PLAs, PLAs are political payoffs to union leaders, PLAs Cut Competition, PLAs Discriminate, PLAs Increase Costs, Project Labor Agreements, Right to Work, Secretary Connaughton, Silver Line, Thelma Drake, VA, Virginia, Virginia Chamber of Commerce | Comments (1)

San Diego Unified School District PLA Reduced Competition and Increased Costs

December 9, 2011 – 10:03 am

On Dec. 7, 2011, TheTruthAboutPLAs.com explained how government-mandated project labor agreements (PLAs) reduce competition and increase costs. Yesterday, the Free Enterprise Coalition released this press release (see below) about documents recently obtained from the San Diego Unified School District (SDUSD). They prove government-mandated PLAs reduce competition and increase costs. (Note: SDUSD calls these union agreements Project Stabilization [...]

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged ABC California, Ballot Initiative, California, Chula Vista, Oceanside, PLAs, PLAs Cut Competition, PLAs Increase Costs, Project Labor Agreements, project stabilization agreement, San Diego, San Diego County, SavePropS.com, SDUSD | Comments (0)

Author Archives: Ben Brubeck

Union Favor on Federal Construction Project in New Hampshire Draws Criticism

Construction Union Membership Near Historic Low

President’s SOTU Remarks About Construction Industry Raise Questions

Barack and a Hard Place: President’s Decision to Kill Keystone XL Pipeline Pleases Environmentalists, Riles Unions

Federal PLA on Navy Project in Washington Will Harm Local Construction Workforce and Procurement Efficiency

Labor Department to Mandate Controversial Project Labor Agreement on Manchester Job Corps Center

Navy and Army Corps of Engineers Request Feedback on Use of Project Labor Agreements for Federal Projects

Virginia Construction Industry Supports Legislation Ensuring Fair and Open Competition On Public Construction Contracts

Is Phase 2 of the Dulles Metrorail Silver Line Subject to a Government-Mandated Union Project Labor Agreement?

San Diego Unified School District PLA Reduced Competition and Increased Costs

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