Told You So: Project Labor Agreement on Connecticut High School Increased Costs and Reduced Competition
In 2012, the merit shop contracting community and city employees predicted Meriden, Conn., would face increased costs and reduced competition if the city council mandated a union-favoring project labor agreement (PLA) on $220 million worth of contracts to renovate two local high schools. (TheTruthAboutPLAs.com covered the controversy here and here). Despite the warnings, testy public [...]
Boston Globe Editorial Blasts Government-Mandated Project Labor Agreements and Patrick Administration
An editorial in today’s Boston Globe decimates flimsy arguments in favor of government-mandated project labor agreements (PLAs) and skewers Mass. Gov. Deval Patrick (D) for requiring PLAs on major state projects, including the Whittier Memorial Bridge, which TheTruthAboutPLAs.com covered last week (“Project labor agreements: Mass. taxpayers lose again,” 7/24/12): Although it lacks any compelling reasons for doing so, [...]
Who Is Hill International and Why Does It Promote Government-Mandated PLAs?
Who is Hill International and why does it consistently support and promote anti-competitive and costly government-mandated project labor agreements (PLAs)? In short, Hill International is a corporate PLA pimp. Read on to learn why this isn’t hyperbole. Many local, state and federal entities in charge of taxpayer-funded construction contracts are required by law or directed [...]
Beacon Hill Institute Responds to Attacks on Project Labor Agreement Research
Dr. David Tuerck, Executive Director of The Beacon Hill Institute (BHI) and Professor and Chairman of the Department of Economics at Suffolk University, asked TheTruthAboutPLAs.com to post the following note and related correspondence to U.S. Congress in response to attacks by Dr. Peter Phillips, economics professor at the University of Utah, on BHI’s research on the impact of government-mandated [...]
MWAA Officials Overlook Cause of Potential Phase 2 Project Labor Agreement Cost Increases
Recent correspondence from Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) officials indicate that despite months of education and discussion with local stakeholders and the business community, MWAA does not fully understand the potential negative economic impact of its April 6 resolution mandating a union-favoring project labor agreement (PLA) that contractors are required to agree to in order [...]
ABC Members Testify in Support of Legislation Restoring Fairness in Federal Contracting
On June 3, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee’s Technology, Information Policy, Intergovernmental Relations and Procurement Reform Subcommittee held a hearing, “H.R. 735 and Project Labor Agreements: Restoring Competition and Neutrality to Government Construction Projects.” The subcommittee, chaired by Rep. James Lankford (R-Okla.), heard testimony about the negative impact of President Obama’s controversial Executive Order 13502 [...]
Waterbury Board of Education Gives Taxpayers Half a Loaf of Good Government
In a head fake in the direction of good government, the Waterbury, CT Board of Education rejected proposals requiring contractors to enter into wasteful and discriminatory project labor agreements (PLAs) with union bosses on 2 of 3 upcoming school construction projects totaling $105 million in taxpayer funds. Unfortunately, the board did approve a PLA requirement [...]
Op-Ed: Labor Agreements Raise Construction Costs
In a guest op-ed published by the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle (“Labor Agreements Raise Construction Costs,” 8/28/10), Marci Miller of the Empire State Chapter of Associated Builders and Contractors has some thoughts on the impact of wasteful and discriminatory project labor agreements (PLAs) on local construction projects. Here are the highlights: Despite some claims to [...]
Middletown, NY School Board Rejects Crony Contracts for Future Construction
The Middletown, NY School Board rejected a proposal to require contractors to sign a wasteful and discriminatory project labor agreement (PLA) in order to work on the upcoming construction of a new elementary school. Here is the coverage from the July 2 edition of the Middletown Times Herald-Record (“School Board Vote Rejects Project Labor Agreement,” [...]
Columbus Dispatch Examines Value of PLAs, OSFC Director Loosens Corrupt Grip on Ohio Schools
With Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland’s appointed director of the Ohio School Facilities Commission (OSFC), former Big Labor boss Richard Murray, under investigation for pushing school districts to use union-favoring project labor agreements (PLAs) as a condition of receiving funding from the OSFC, the media stands ready scrutinize these corrupt and wasteful agreements. A recent Columbus Dispatch points to evidence that PLAs in Ohio [...]