This large-scale design/build federal project, valued at more than $100 million, provides premium living facilities for over 1,150 Marines with modern amenities including a 550 space parking facility, amphitheater and multiple indoor and outdoor recreation facilities.  The three, four-story BEQ buildings are energy efficient with solar panels that offset 90 percent of the buildings’ energy expenditures – a USGBC LEED Platinum certified sustainable project.  These cutting-edge housing quarters provide our heroes with the 21^st century comforts of home.

Under the extreme conditions of the Mojave Desert, the JV delivered a design/build project that improved the morale of Marines stationed at the Combat Center and kept an almost identical architectural pattern to existing buildings.  The project was completed on-time and within budget despite $25 million in client initiated change orders and facility user requests and upgrades.  The JV served as the prime contractor of this project and had the ability to self-perform many projects on their own. However, they used experienced small business contractors to exceed NAVFAC’s small business utilization goals.

With a proven commitment to safety, the JV completed this project with zero accidents in 547,487 man-hours worked.  They also developed a site-specific safety and health policy manual and held weekly toolbox safety meetings with employees.

Alberto Equihua, Capital Improvements Design Manager for NAVFAC Southwest, commended the BEQ project and said, “This project raised the bar and improved the marines quality of life on bachelor enlisted housing.  Straub’s management and design team were really proactive in accommodating many design changes requested by the government design team without incurring any additional cost.”

This project was so successful it was awarded a National Excellence in Construction Eagle Award at the 23^rd annual Excellence in Construction (EIC) Awards hosted by Associated Builders and Contractors, Inc. (ABC).  The project took top honors in the Mega-Projects ($100-$200 million) category.

In recognition of the project, ABC president and CEO Michael Bellaman said, “ABC is proud to recognize Straub-Martin Harris for its outstanding work on the Bachelor Enlisted Quarters & Parking Structure  project.  This project embodies a commitment to innovation, safety and superior craftsmanship through creativity and skill.”

Built without a government-mandated project labor agreement (PLA), this project demonstrates what the federal government already knows about merit shop contractors: They deliver value to taxpayers with on-time, on-budget and safe construction projects.

From 2001 until it was repealed by President Obama’s Feb. 6, 2009, pro-PLA Executive Order 13502, President George W. Bush’s Executive Orders No. 13202 and 13208 ensured there were no government-mandated PLAs on $147 billion worth of federal construction projects and hundreds of billions of dollars of federally assisted construction projects.  Research found there were no labor-related problems on federal projects as a result of a lack of PLA mandates.

It was just as true then as it is now: There is no justification for government-mandated PLAs. Open competition works and merit shop contractors deliver value to taxpayers and owners.

The only reason for a government-mandated PLA is to steer construction contracts via a PLA to special interests benefiting from these unfortunate crony contracting schemes.  

This project shows how taxpayers benefit when politics stay out of federal contracting.

The post Merit Shop Contractors Deliver Award-Winning Large-Scale Federal Project For NAVFAC appeared first on The Truth About PLAs.

This new law will ensure that taxpayers get the best construction at the best price.  PLA and other union-only mandates have been found to increase construction costs by an average of 12-18 percent—and much more in some cases.

It is likely that this new statute will ensure fair and open competition for the new Atlanta Falcons’ $950 million stadium project. Supporters of this bill believe that it will prevent the Georgia World Congress Center from requiring contractors to sign a PLA as a condition of performing work on the stadium project, which will give the 96 percent of Georgia’s private construction workforce that chooses not to join a union the opportunity to compete on a level playing field for work on this critical project.

Additionally, numerous examples of stadium projects subject to unnecessary PLA requirements gone bad show these mandates do not ensure a local workforce, quality construction, cost savings or on-time delivery.  This point is critically important as local officials prepare for the construction of the new home for the Falcons.

Georgia is the 16^th state to take action to protect taxpayers and the vast majority of the construction industry workforce from wasteful and discriminatory PLA mandates, and the 12^th enact their reform since President Obama issued Executive Order 13502, which encouraged federal agencies to require PLAs on federal construction projects costing more than $25 million.

Despite the fact that only a small sliver of all American construction spending is subject to PLAs, Big Labor leaders are doing everything they can to grow their market share through pressuring public and private construction owners into mandating PLAs on their construction projects.  Government neutrality laws, like the one adopted in Georgia this week, protect taxpayers by prohibiting public entities from requiring contractors to agree to Big Labor’s terms as a condition of performing construction work on taxpayer funded projects.  This helps ensure that taxpayers get the best construction at the bests price.

Additionally, these laws also protect taxpayers from the cycle of corruption that frequently leads public officials to agree to require PLA mandates.  When a state adopts one of these laws, everyone, except construction union bosses, wins.

Supporters of PLA reform are not finished with state-level efforts to guarantee quality and accountability on taxpayer funded construction projects.  Similar bills are still alive in North Carolina, South Carolina and Texas.

Taxpayers from coast-to-coast are saying NO to PLA mandates.  Here at TheTruthAboutPLAs.com, we strongly encourage all public officials to do the same.

The post Georgia Becomes the 16th State to Ban Government-Mandated PLAs on Public Construction Projects appeared first on The Truth About PLAs.

A private PLA mandate should not be confused with a PLA voluntarily executed by a contractor with various construction labor unions, a non-controversial practice permitted by the National Labor Relations Act that does not end open, fair and competitive bidding for construction contracts.

In an effort to convince lawmakers to require PLAs on taxpayer-funded projects (known as government-mandated PLAs), PLA proponents make fallacious claims about the use of PLAs in the private sector.

Proponents of these union-favoring schemes site a handful of well-known private PLA projects and argue that since PLA mandates are “widespread” in the private sector, government should follow the private sector’s lead and require PLAs on more taxpayer-funded projects.

As TheTruthAboutPLAs.com exposed April 22, PLAs in the private sector actually are not “widespread,” as only a small fraction of public and private construction put in place in 2010 and 2011 was built with a PLA (unverifiable data supplied by PLA advocates suggests 4 percent to 6 percent of all construction put in place is covered by PLAs).

And of the private projects subject to PLA mandates, private owners often require PLAs because they are coerced into doing so by construction trade unions.

Owners complain there is little they can do but agree to require a PLA to avoid expensive, time-consuming and frustrating union-organized corporate campaigns that harm their brand, employees and shareholders.  George Washington University Professor Jarol B. Manheim’s 2006 study highlights notable union corporate campaign tactics used by Big Labor for decades to extract results from owners favorable to the union agenda.

Following are nine ways private owners are coerced into mandating PLAs on private projects:

1. Threat of Union Strikes
Unions market PLAs to public and private owners as a tool to prevent strikes and labor unrest caused exclusively by union members. Strikes can delay projects, resulting in lost sales, oversupply of seasonal merchandise and longer construction schedules, which all increase owner costs. Time means money to private owners and PLAs are seen by many owners as an insurance policy–a necessary evil of sorts–to prevent union-led strikes on mixed and union-only jobsites.

In 2009, Big Labor’s public relations consultants advised union bosses to rebrand PLAs as Community Workforce Agreements (CWAs) because the public wasn’t comfortable with the implicit threats at the heart of PLAs.  In short, they weren’t buying the concept of unions being rewarded with a labor monopoly on a project (a PLA) for preventing a problem created by labor unions (strikes and labor unrest). PLAs felt too much like blackmail, so spin doctors pushed unions to focus on the alleged benefits a PLA could deliver to a community, even though these benefits can be easily achieved without PLAs.

Don’t be fooled: This slick marketing is simply putting lipstick on the PLA pig.

Meet Ms. Porkzilla, the Project Labor Agreement (PLA) Pig

PLAs have failed to prevent strikes on a number of high-profile private projects, such as the construction of the $850 million Trump International Hotel and Tower in downtown Chicago, just as they have failed to prevent strikes on publicly financed projects.

2. Bad Publicity
Some private owners fear bad publicity from construction unions threatening to picket, boycott, handbill or harass owners with inflatable rats and deploy other tactics if they don’t agree to a PLA or an all-union workforce.

Owners often require PLAs to prevent union behavior that could drive away customers or hurt brands. Check out www.ShameOnUnionBanners.com for examples of such tactics.

However, disruptive tactics can backfire on unions, as evidenced by this local news investigation video:

3. Project Approval/Political Considerations
In many localities, private owners need the approval of lawmakers to get rights and permits to build a project. If Big Labor-favoring lawmakers control project approval, developers often sign PLAs to mollify lawmakers and enlist union lobbyists to get the project approved by voters and lawmakers. For example, review the recently approved casino in Prince George’s County, Md., Wal-Mart projects in Chicago and TransCanada’s Keystone XL Pipeline.

4. Tax Breaks and Corporate Welfare
While still technically a private project, some owners agree to PLAs in order to receive tax breaks or other forms of corporate welfare when looking to relocate corporate headquarters or build new manufacturing facilities that will bring jobs to a region. Union-friendly lawmakers cut these backroom deals to ensure union supporters benefit from this transaction. In return, union-friendly lawmakers receive campaign contributions and grassroots support from construction unions. It is similar to the well-rehearsed cycle of corruption perfected with government-mandated PLAs.

5. Interference with Unionized Employees
Some casinos, hospitals, hotels retailers and manufacturers in the private sector employing a unionized workforce fear a dispute with construction trade unions will interfere with daily operations. To owners, paying a PLA cost premium to avoid a construction union-led strike during a project renovation offsets increased ong-term costs associated with any labor-related interference of their business’ daily operations. In addition, owners sign PLAs with construction unions when faced with corporate campaigns seeking to unionize service-related employees. Owners divide the labor movement by pitting unions opposed to the project (as long as service workers are not unionized – a favorite tactic of SEIU) versus construction unions in favor of the project because of the union jobs created by the PLA.

6. Monetary Pressure
Banks, pharmacies and insurance companies building headquarters or small-end retail facilities often are targeted for PLAs because of their relationship with labor’s institutional bank accounts, pension funds, medical and other benefit plans. If these service providers don’t build with a union-only PLA, unions threaten to take their business to another competitor who will build all-union and they will create public problems for their brand.

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

7. Greenmail
In California, astroturf environmental groups created and bankrolled by construction trade unions “greenmail” private developers of solar and other energy projects into mandating a PLA on contractors. Unions “greenmail” developers by exploiting the California Environmental Quality Act, which allows third parties to obstruct and indefinitely delay approval of construction projects by filing thousands of pages worth of frivolous environmental objections. Time and again, once developers agree to require a PLA, the phony environmental objections vanish. It’s no accident that almost every new energy project in California since 2000 has been built with a PLA required by private owners.

California lawmakers are taking steps to prevent greenmail abuse, but efforts are being hijacked by Big Labor lobbyists and PLA advocates controlling California legislature’s Democrat majority. Real reform is unlikely.

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

8. Labor Concessions for Union-Controlled Urban Real Estate Deals
In areas with high union market share such as New York City, unions pimp PLAs to private owners to achieve concessions to archaic union work rules and the greater-than free market wage and benefit rates required by union collective bargaining agreements. As explained in this recent article, without these concessions, union market share would continue to erode. Excessive labor rates mothball projects by making financing impossible. Or union-friendly developers lose development deals to nonunion competitors because nonunion teams have lower construction costs and can afford to outbid union-friendly developers.

However, a 2011 report found New York developers have been “universally disappointed” by the promised cost savings from PLAs on recent New York real estate projects, calling into question the effectiveness of this strategy. While it isn’t particularly coercive, developers should be wary that promised cost savings resulting from PLAs are often illusory, especially if the developer mandates a PLA instead of using a competitive bidding process.

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

9. Union-Backed Financing
Union-backed financing instruments, such as the AFL-CIO’s Housing Investment Trust, invest union pensions and other assets into private projects in exchange for a promise by developers to build the project union-only.  See projects such as the proposed Las Vegas City Hall, the disastrous Westin Diplomat Hotel in Hollywood, Fla., Potrero Launch apartment project in San Francisco and the Carpenter’s Tower in Washington. An investment of a few million dollars of union pension funds can jump start a project and steer tens of millions of dollars worth of contracts to unionized contractors and create jobs exclusively for union members without real competition from merit shop firms.

A Coercion-Free Choice
Finally, some owners make a coercion-free choice to build a private project with a PLA or an all-union workforce for legitimate reasons. In these instances, unionized contractors and unions operating under a PLA offer a product that appeals to a specific owners’ needs.

While it is disappointing a private owner would choose to engage in discrimination against 86 percent of the U.S. construction workforce and discourage competition from otherwise qualified contractors and skilled employees by requiring a PLA, it is their prerogative in a free market to do what they want with their money (like spend an extra 12 percent to 18 percent).

Shame on competitors for failing to educate private owners about their product and/or failing to meet the needs of customers and the market.

TheTruthAboutPLAs.com recognizes the right of private owners to require PLAs as long as it is a choice made free from coercive tactics of PLA advocates.

The Bottom Line
Private projects and taxpayer-funded projects are subject to a different set of rules. Taxpayer-funded projects must comply with competitive bidding statutes supporting fair and open competition and other regulations and standards ensuring taxpayers get the best possible product at the best possible price. In short, government-mandated PLAs restrict competition, increase costs, and needlessly discriminate against experienced competitors and their employees. If private owners want to experience these headaches, they are free to do so on their own dime.

If you have documented other coercive tactics used by PLA proponents to secure private sector PLAs in your market, let us know by leaving a note in the comments section.

The post Nine Ways Private Owners Are Coerced By Unions Into Requiring Project Labor Agreements appeared first on The Truth About PLAs.

The USACE has confirmed this additional PLA survey was not issued by mistake. According to a USACE spokesperson, the USACE is ”not processing the first survey” responses and are asking new survey questions.

To review and respond to this new PLA survey, click here.

All responses must be submitted to USACE contact Kevin Cook (Kevin.j.Cook@usace.army.mil) by 1 p.m. EST on Friday, May 9, 2013.

TheTruthAboutPLAs.com encourages the merit shop contracting community to respond to this PLA survey. Tell the USACE that government-mandated PLAs reduce competition, increase costs, and impede the economy and efficiency of government contracting.

For more information or assistance responding to the PLA survey, contact us here.

USACE and other federal agencies have issued similar surveys requesting information about the potential use of PLAs on construction projects across the country as a result of regulations and federal agency policies stemming from President Obama’s pro-government-mandated PLA Executive Order 13502, which encourages federal agencies to mandate PLAs on a case-by-case basis for federal construction projects exceeding $25 million in total cost.

TheTruthAboutPLAs.com has taken the opportunity to respond to all PLA surveys – more than 175 to date – and encourages the merit shop contracting community to do the same. Responding with accurate and timely information is critical and effective at creating more work for qualified merit shop contractors and their skilled employees.

To stay up to date on future federal PLA survey alerts, “Like” our Facebook page at Facebook.com/thetruthaboutplas and follow us on Twitter at Twitter.com/truthaboutplas.

To help TheTruthAboutPLAs.com continue to ensure fair and open competition on federal, state and local construction projects funded by taxpayer dollars, make a donation here.

The post Second Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, USACE Project Labor Agreement Survey Due May 9 appeared first on The Truth About PLAs.

This important example of a federal project bid with and without a PLA requirement undermines baseless claims made by PLA advocates and President Obama’s Executive Order 13502, which encourages federal agencies to mandate PLAs on a case-by-case basis on federal construction projects exceeding $25 million in total costs to “promote the economy and efficiency in federal procurement.”

Actual results proved the opposite is true: The DOL’s PLA mandate reduced competition, increased costs, harmed local businesses and created needless litigation and delays on this federal project.

Government-mandated PLAs remain anti-competitive schemes to steer federal construction contracts and jobs to well-connected unionized contractors and union members. They harm taxpayers, qualified merit shop contractors, skilled nonunion construction workers and result in less building and hinder the creation of construction jobs as the industry faces a 14.7 percent unemployment rate.

Here is a link to an apple-to-apples comparison of bid results of this federal project bid with and without a PLA.

Below is a press release from ABC National about this imortant win for taxpayers and critical case study on the benefits of fair and open competition free from discriminatory PLA mandates.

News Release

Contact: Gerry Fritz, (703) 812-2062, fritz@abc.org

April 24, 2013

TAXPAYERS SAVE MORE THAN $6 MILLION ON DOL’s NEW HAMPSHIRE JOB CORPS CENTER

ABC Contractor Awarded Contract without Project Labor Agreement Mandate

Washington, D.C. – Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) today celebrated a victory after the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) awarded Eckman Construction Company a $31.6 million contract to build a DOL Job Corps Center in Manchester, N.H., after removing a controversial government-mandated project labor agreement (PLA) from the federal project’s solicitation for construction services. Eckman Construction Company, Bedford N.H., submitted a bid that was more than $6 million below the lowest offer when the project was subjected to a PLA.

“The award of this contract to a local contractor demonstrates the benefits of fair and open competition in federal contracting and undermines specious claims made by PLA advocates,” said ABC Director of Labor and Federal Procurement Ben Brubeck. “The apples-to-apples comparison of the Job Corps Center bidding with and without a PLA mandate proves these special interest schemes reduce competition, increase costs and harm local contractors.”

The solicitation for construction services to build the Job Corps Center project was first issued in 2009, but the project was delayed for nearly three years as a result of bid protests filed with the Government Accountability Office (GAO) against repeated efforts by DOL to mandate a PLA.

The first attempted PLA mandate for the project was issued in September 2009 as a result of President Obama’s Executive Order 13502, which encourages federal agencies “to consider requiring the use of project labor agreements in connection with large-scale construction projects in order to promote economy and efficiency in federal procurement.”

In response, a federal contractor, with the help of ABC, filed a bid protest with the GAO, prompting the DOL to cancel the Job Corps Center solicitation in November 2009.

“Rather than remove the controversial PLA mandate and proceed with the procurement process using fair and open competition, the DOL waited more than two years to issue a new solicitation, and it still contained a PLA mandate,” said Brubeck. “Public record requests revealed that the DOL spent $428,000 in taxpayer funds to hire a consultant, Hill International, to complete two studies to evaluate the use of PLAs on federal contracts and erroneously justify the DOL’s use of a PLA on the Job Corps Center.”

In March 2012, federal contractors filed another GAO protest against the DOL’s second PLA mandate, again with the assistance of ABC. That summer, the GAO advised the DOL to take corrective action and rebid the project without a PLA. The DOL canceled the solicitation—but after it had already received and publicly unsealed bids that were subject to the PLA mandate.

Finally, in October 2012, the DOL issued a solicitation free from a PLA mandate. Those bids were opened in February. The low bidder, Eckman Construction Company, came in 16 percent less than the low bidder from the first round of bidding subject to a PLA, saving taxpayers $6.2 million. In addition, Eckman is a local firm from New Hampshire, and the first-round low bidder was an out-of-state company.

“When the PLA mandate was removed, the number of qualified contractors bidding on the project increased threefold,” said Brubeck. “Even contractors that submitted proposals during both rounds of bidding lowered their price by an average of 10 percent when bidding on the solicitation without a PLA mandate. Experts familiar with the anti-competitive and costly effect of government-mandated PLAs are not surprised by these results, but taxpayers should be concerned.

“It is time for the Obama administration to stop trying to steer lucrative federal construction contracts to well-connected unionized firms and union members—some of the president’s largest political supporters—through unlawful government-mandated PLAs,” Brubeck said. “The American people deserve the best possible construction project at the best possible price. We can’t afford the increased costs, reduced competition and delays created by these special interest handouts. ABC will continue to fight for fair and open competition, and will challenge federal agencies attempting to impose unjustified PLAs on federal projects.”

Numerous studies show PLAs discourage merit shop contractors and subcontractors from competing for federal contracts, thereby increasing costs to taxpayers and discriminating against the 86.8 percent of the construction workforce that does not belong to a labor union. PLAs typically force contractors to hire most or all of their craft employees from union hiring halls; follow inefficient union work rules; hire apprentices exclusively from union apprenticeship programs; and pay into union benefit plans on behalf of employees, even if they have their own qualified benefit programs. PLAs force employees to pay union dues, accept unwanted union representation, and forfeit benefits earned during the life of a PLA project unless they join a union and become vested in union benefit plans.

View this news release and full bidding results on ABC’s educational blog, TheTruthAboutPLAs.com.

###

Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) is a national trade association representing 22,000 members from more than 19,000 construction and industry-related firms. Founded on the merit shop philosophy, ABC and its 72 chapters help members win work and deliver that work safely, ethically and profitably for the betterment of the communities in which they work. Visit us at www.abc.org.

Update: Additional Resources

• Link to Oct. 2012 Solicitation and award notice (No PLA mandate – 9 bids opened).
• Link to DOL’s Jan. 2012 Solicitation, Canceled (PLA mandate – 3 bids opened).
• Link to DOL’s Sept. 2009 Solicitation, Canceled (PLA mandate – no bids submitted due to bid protest).
• Here is the Job Corps Center’s proposed PLA and here are the numerous union collective bargaining agreements (CBAs) contractors must agree to for the life of the project concerning issues not specifically addressed by the PLA.
• Affidavit of Prof. David G. Tuerck, PhD., professor and Chairman of Economics and Executive Director of the Beacon Hill Institute at Suffolk University in Boston, before the Government Accountability Offce refuting the need for a PLA mandate and the pro-PLA Hill International report.
• Report by Hill International recommending a PLA mandate on the Manchester, NH, DOL Job Corps Center project (submitted Oct. 28, 2010).
• Evidence documenting cost to taxpayers for Hill International’s pro-PLA mandate report on the Manchester, NH, DOL Job Corps Center ($128,000, solicitation number DOLJ109630678 paid in two installments).
• Evidence documenting cost to taxpayers for Feb. 25, 2011, Hill International report for promoting PLA mandates for all federal agencies  ($300,000, solicitation number DOLF09F422062, subcontracted to Hill International by Interactive Elements).
• Read a sample government-mandated PLA and learn how it harms nonunion contractors and workers here.

The post Taxpayers Win Big Without Federal Project Labor Agreement on New Hampshire Job Corps Center appeared first on The Truth About PLAs.

To review and respond to the survey, click here.

All responses must be submitted to USACE contact Demetrius Terrell (Demetrius.l.terrell@usace.army.mil) by Friday, April 26, 2013.

TheTruthAboutPLAs.com encourages the merit shop contracting community to respond to this PLA survey. Tell the USACE that government-mandated PLAs reduce competition, increase costs, and impede the economy and efficiency of government contracting.

For more information or assistance responding to the PLA survey, contact us here.

USACE and other federal agencies have issued similar surveys requesting information about the potential use of PLAs on construction projects across the country as a result of regulations and federal agency policies stemming from President Obama’s pro-government-mandated PLA Executive Order 13502, which encourages federal agencies to mandate PLAs on a case-by-case basis for federal construction projects exceeding $25 million in total cost.

TheTruthAboutPLAs.com has taken the opportunity to respond to all PLA surveys – more than 150 during President Obama’s first term – and encourages the merit shop contracting community to do the same. Responding with accurate and timely information is critical and effective at creating more work for qualified merit shop contractors and their skilled employees.

To stay up to date on future federal PLA survey alerts, “Like” our Facebook page at Facebook.com/thetruthaboutplas and follow us on Twitter at Twitter.com/truthaboutplas.

To help TheTruthAboutPLAs.com continue to ensure fair and open competition on federal, state and local construction projects funded by taxpayer dollars, make a donation here.

The post USACE PLA Survey For Dredging Projects in SEC States Due April 26 appeared first on The Truth About PLAs.

In an April 2012 letter in support of federal government-mandated PLAs to the U.S. Department of Labor, Building Construction Trades Department (BCTD), Council Victoria L. Bor stated:

“These agreements are also commonly used by states and municipalities, as well as throughout the private sector. In fact, in 2010 and 2011 alone - hard times for the construction industry – the BCTD’s affiliated state and local building and construction trades councils from around the country reported signing PLAs for 300 private and public construction projects that together are valued at more than $66 billion.”

That might sound like a lot of work if you are unfamiliar with the construction industry economy. But in reality, it is just a drop in the bucket.

Roughly four percent to six percent of all construction put in place is covered by a PLA, according to unverifiable* data from PLA proponents.

To put these numbers into context, government data pegs the value of total construction put in place at $805.561 billion in 2010 and $778.238 billion in 2011, totaling roughly $1.584 trillion.

If the BCTD’s unverifiable* claim is accurate, a little more than four percent ($66 billion) of all construction put in place was covered by a PLA.

PLA advocates might object to this estimate because  it includes the value of residential construction put in place. PLAs rarely are used in the residential construction market, with the exception of multi-story/multi-family buildings in urban areas in markets with relative high union density such as New York, San Francisco and Philadelphia.

Even after eliminating a total of $494.79 billion worth of residential construction from 2010 and 2011, just six percent ($66 billion of the remaining $1.089 trillion) of the combined public and private construction market were subject to PLAs.

Maybe four percent to six percent of an industry market share is worth bragging about when just 13.2 percent of the U.S. construction workforce belongs to a union, but it certainly doesn’t meet the definition of “widespread” use, as PLA advocates erroneously claim.

PLA proponents overstate the use of PLAs—especially in the private sector—to encourage lawmakers to mandate PLAs on additional taxpayer-funded construction projects. They claim “cost-conscious and profit-oriented corporations in the private sector are increasingly turning to PLAs to achieve on time, on budget results for their construction needs.”

Translation: Inefficient government should take a cue from the private sector and require more PLAs on public works projects.

While the use of PLAs in the private sector has increased slightly, the truth is many private owners are coerced by construction unions and PLA advocates into requiring PLAs on private construction projects as part of a strategic campaign to regain lost market share. In short, some private owners use PLAs not because they provide value as PLA advocates claim, but rather, they are extorted by PLA advocates into requiring them.

Next week we will examine the tactics used by PLA advocates in, 10 Ways Private Owners Are Coerced Into Mandating Project Labor Agreements.

* NOTE: The BCTD’s claim of a total of 300 PLAs signed for $66 billion worth of construction in 2010-2011 is unverifiable because no government or independent private source collects data on the use of PLAs.

It is unclear if the PLAs were for 300 construction projects currently underway in 2010 and 2011 or if the 300 PLAs simply were signed contracts. Construction unions have secured PLAs on a number of large-scale projects that have yet to break ground (and may never break ground) such as the Keystone XL Pipeline. It is unknown if these PLAs are included in the BCTD’s dataset.

In addition, it is unclear if this dataset includes PLAs voluntarily entered into by contractors. The National Labor Relations Act permits contractors to voluntarily execute PLAs with multiple labor unions (learn more about the difference between mandated and voluntary PLAs and here). Voluntary PLAs are different than controversial PLA mandates, which is when a private or government owner requires their use in advance of the competitive bidding process.  When mandated, PLAs typically increase costs, reduce competition, and harm qualified merit shop contractors and skilled employees when compared to similar projects bid without PLA mandates.

If the BCTD dataset includes voluntary PLAs executed between contractors and unions free from owner requirements, the BCTD again is exaggerating the construction industry’s use of PLAs.  

The post How Much Construction Work is Subject to Project Labor Agreements? appeared first on The Truth About PLAs.

To review and respond to the survey, click here.

All responses must be submitted to USACE contact Bjorn Hale (bjorn.t.hale@usace.army.mil) by 10 AM EST on Monday, April 29, 2013.

TheTruthAboutPLAs.com encourages the merit shop contracting community to respond to this PLA survey. Tell the USACE that government-mandated PLAs reduce competition, increase costs, and impede the economy and efficiency of government contracting.

For more information or assistance responding to the PLA survey, contact us here.

USACE and other federal agencies have issued similar surveys requesting information about the potential use of PLAs on construction projects across the country as a result of regulations and federal agency policies stemming from President Obama’s pro-government-mandated PLA Executive Order 13502, which encourages federal agencies to mandate PLAs on a case-by-case basis for federal construction projects exceeding $25 million in total cost.

TheTruthAboutPLAs.com has taken the opportunity to respond to all PLA surveys – more than 150 during President Obama’s first term – and encourages the merit shop contracting community to do the same. Responding with accurate and timely information is critical and effective at creating more work for qualified merit shop contractors and their skilled employees.

To stay up to date on future federal PLA survey alerts, “Like” our Facebook page at Facebook.com/thetruthaboutplas and follow us on Twitter at Twitter.com/truthaboutplas.

To help TheTruthAboutPLAs.com continue to ensure fair and open competition on federal, state and local construction projects funded by taxpayer dollars, make a donation here.

The post USACE PLA Survey For Ohio’s Wright-Patterson Air Force Base Museum Hangar Due April 29 appeared first on The Truth About PLAs.

To review and respond to the survey, click here.

Responses should be sent via email to USACE contact Donna West (donna.l.west@usace.army.mil) no later than Tuesday, April 30, 2013.

TheTruthAboutPLAs.com encourages the merit shop contracting community to respond to this PLA survey. Tell the USACE that government-mandated PLAs reduce competition, increase costs, and impede the economy and efficiency of government contracting.

For more information or assistance responding to the PLA survey, contact us here.

USACE and other federal agencies have issued similar surveys requesting information about the potential use of PLAs on construction projects across the country as a result of regulations and federal agency policies stemming from President Obama’s pro-government-mandated PLA Executive Order 13502, which encourages federal agencies to mandate PLAs on a case-by-case basis for federal construction projects exceeding $25 million in total cost.

TheTruthAboutPLAs.com has taken the opportunity to respond to all PLA surveys – more than 150 during President Obama’s first term – and encourages the merit shop contracting community to do the same. Responding with accurate and timely information is critical and effective at creating more work for qualified merit shop contractors and their skilled employees.

To stay up to date on future federal PLA survey alerts, “Like” our Facebook page at Facebook.com/thetruthaboutplas and follow us on Twitter at Twitter.com/truthaboutplas.

To help TheTruthAboutPLAs.com continue to ensure fair and open competition on federal, state and local construction projects funded by taxpayer dollars, make a donation here.

The post Respond to USACE Alaska Project Labor Agreement Survey By April 30 appeared first on The Truth About PLAs.

To review and respond to the survey, click here.

All responses must be submitted to USACE contact Tom Dickert (tom.e.dickert@usace.army.mil) no later than 1:00 PM EST on Wed., April 24, 2013.

TheTruthAboutPLAs.com encourages the merit shop contracting community to respond to this PLA survey. Tell the USACE that government-mandated PLAs reduce competition, increase costs, and impede the economy and efficiency of government contracting.

For more information or assistance responding to the PLA survey, contact us here.

USACE and other federal agencies have issued similar surveys requesting information about the potential use of PLAs on construction projects across the country as a result of regulations and federal agency policies stemming from President Obama’s pro-government-mandated PLA Executive Order 13502, which encourages federal agencies to mandate PLAs on a case-by-case basis for federal construction projects exceeding $25 million in total cost.

TheTruthAboutPLAs.com has taken the opportunity to respond to all PLA surveys – more than 150 during President Obama’s first term – and encourages the merit shop contracting community to do the same. Responding with accurate and timely information is critical and effective at creating more work for qualified merit shop contractors and their skilled employees.

To stay up to date on future federal PLA survey alerts, “Like” our Facebook page at Facebook.com/thetruthaboutplas and follow us on Twitter at Twitter.com/truthaboutplas.

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