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 [...]
By Ben Brubeck
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Posted in Uncategorized
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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
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Construction unions market project labor agreements (PLAs) to public and private construction owners as a tool to guarantee labor peace on construction projects. But recent examples of strikes on PLA projects in NYC and other areas across the U.S. call into question the value of these anti-competitive schemes designed steer contracts to union contractors and union members. MYTH: [...]
By Ben Brubeck
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Posted in Uncategorized
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Tagged Boston Herald, Cement and Concrete Workers of New York, Crain's New York Business, featured, Government-Mandated Project Labor Agreements: The Public Record of Poor Performance (2011 Edition), Indiana, Ironworkers, Joseph Hunt, Labor Unrest, Laborers International Union of North America, Laborers Union, Local 150 of the International Union of Operating Engineer, Los Angeles, Maury Baskin, New York, New York Building and Construction Trades Council, PLA Basics, PLA Myth, PLAs, PLAs Cut Competition, Project Labor Agreements, Regional Plan Association, Strikes, Wall Street Journal
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The Boston Herald published another editorial opposed to government-mandated project labor agreements (PLAs) last week. It longed for the day Mass. officials enact legislation ensuring that all qualified contractors and their skilled employees have a fair opportunity to compete and win state-funded construction contracts (“End Unpopular Pacts,” 7/27/11): The Wall Street Journal recently tallied up the [...]
August 11, 2010 – 9:35 am
Yesterday, The Boston Globe reported that a group of nonunion contractors filed a complaint with the State Ethics Commission alleging that a project labor agreement (PLA) favoring union labor on $750 million worth of construction at the UMass Boston campus violated the state’s conflict of interest law when it was approved by a board that includes two [...]
By Ben Brubeck
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Posted in Uncategorized
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Tagged Boston Globe, Boston Herald, Charles Baker, Editorial, Executive Order 13502, Federal Construction, Federal Contracting, Gov. Patrick, Gov. Strickland, Illinois, Iowa, Massachusetts, Ohio, Ohio School Facilities Commission, PLAs, PLAs are political payoffs to union leaders, PLAs Cut Competition, PLAs Increase Costs, President Obama, Project Labor Agreements, The Politics of PLAs, UMASS, Union-only PLAs harm local workers
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h/t Red Mass Group The Boston Herald editorial board summarized this doublespeak nicely (“A Labored Response,” 7/8): Gov. Deval Patrick yesterday seemed baffled by the notion that unions have any advantage in the competition for certain public construction jobs. He should read his own public comments more closely. During his monthly radio appearance on WTKK [...]
By Andy Conlin
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Posted in Uncategorized
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Tagged Boston Globe, Boston Herald, Charles Baker, Editorial, Gov. Patrick, Massachusetts, PLAs, PLAs are political payoffs to union leaders, PLAs Cut Competition, PLAs Increase Costs, Project Labor Agreements, The Politics of PLAs, UMASS, Union-only PLAs harm local workers
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A Boston Herald editorial lampoons the fuzzy logic used by the Patrick Administration regarding their defense and promotion of a project labor agreement (PLA) for a new UMass project TheTruthAboutPLAs.com covered here (“Love song to labor,” 6/17/10). Project labor agreements limit competition, drive up costs and exclude a majority of Bay State tradespeople from working on a [...]
By Ben Brubeck
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Posted in Uncategorized
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Tagged Boston Herald, Editorial, Gov. Patrick, Massachusetts, PLAs, PLAs are political payoffs to union leaders, PLAs Cut Competition, PLAs Discriminate, PLAs Increase Costs, Project Labor Agreements, UMASS, Union-only PLAs harm local workers
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As reported in the Boston Globe here and here, this week the UMass Building Authority board of directors voted for a project labor agreement (PLA) on the Boston campus’ master plan, a 10-year blueprint with an estimated $750 million in future construction projects. The UMass Building Authority’s vote comes after Mass. Governor Deval Patrick pledged to unions that [...]
By Ben Brubeck
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Posted in Uncategorized
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Tagged Big Dig, Boston Globe, Boston Herald, Charles Baker, Federal Contracting, Gov. Patrick, Massachusetts, PLAs, PLAs are political payoffs to union leaders, PLAs Cut Competition, PLAs Increase Costs, Project Labor Agreements, UMASS, Union-only PLAs harm local workers
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In response to a recent Boston Herald report that Massachusetts stimulus work is going to out of state contractors, ABC Massachusetts chapter Greg Beeman offered his thoughts on how Gov. Deval Patrick’s push for PLAs on state work will make this problem worse in an April 8 op-ed published by the Herald. Here are the [...]
According to a press release by the Beacon Hill Institute at Suffolk University, in Boston Mass., a new poll of Massachusetts voters indicates the public opposes a key provision of typical PLAs. A new survey conducted by the Suffolk University Political Research Center for the Beacon Hill Institute shows that 69% of Massachusetts voters oppose a [...]
By Ben Brubeck
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Posted in Uncategorized
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Tagged Beacon Hill Institute, Boston Herald, David G. Tuerck, Executive Order 13502, Massachusetts, McGowan, pensions, PLA Basics, PLAs, PLAs Discriminate, Polls, Project Labor Agreements, The Public Opposes PLAs
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November 20, 2009 – 3:15 pm
There is an update to a TheTruthAboutPLAs.com blog post from November 19 titled, “PLAs Rocked Plymouth Studio.” The post highlighted an op-ed by ABC Massachusetts Chapter Chairman Jerry Simmer of the same title that was published by the Boston Herald on November 17. Through a letter to the editor in the Boston Herald and comments [...]
