California Environmental Quality Act | The Truth About PLAs

California’s Environmental Laws: A Weapon to Crush Potential Competition and Extort Developers

November 16, 2011 – 10:01 am

Legal exploitation of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) for purposes unrelated to environmental protection continues unabated throughout California, according to an article in the November 14 Los Angeles Times (“Firms Turning to Environmental Law to Combat Rivals”). This news is 25 years old, but it’s always good to see the news media remind people [...]

By Kevin Dayton | Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged ABC California, California, California Environmental Quality Act, California Unions for Reliable Energy (CURE), Greenmail, Kevin Dayton, Los Angeles, PLAs Cut Competition, Project Labor Agreements, State Legislation, The Politics of PLAs | Comments (0)

A Genuine California Union Conspiracy: Senate Bill 790 and the California Building Trades Council’s Ratepayer-Funded Political Slush Fund

September 23, 2011 – 12:30 pm

In California, a mini-public relations campaign is underway to defend Senate Bill 790, a bill now at Governor Jerry Brown’s desk dealing with “community choice aggregation” for electric consumers. Defenders of the bill are trying to downplay an obscure but controversial unrelated provision attached to the end of the bill that allows public utilities to [...]

By Kevin Dayton | Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged 20 in 2010, ABC California, Ballot Initiative, California, California Environmental Quality Act, Chula Vista, Greenmail, Kevin Dayton, local legislation, PLAs are political payoffs to union leaders, PLAs Increase Costs, Project Labor Agreements, SB 922, State Legislation, The Politics of PLAs | Comments (1)

Fair and Open Competition Measure Easily Qualifies for Ballot in City of San Diego

September 21, 2011 – 10:23 pm

The San Diego City Clerk announced late this afternoon that a proposed ballot measure for a Fair and Open Competition ordinance easily qualified for the next city election ballot. The well-organized, experienced campaign executive committee of local business owners and association representatives submitted their petitions on September 2, well ahead of the deadline, with far [...]

By Kevin Dayton | Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged 20 in 2010, ABC California, Ballot Initiative, California, California Environmental Quality Act, Chula Vista, Greenmail, Kevin Dayton, local legislation, Open Competition, PLAs are political payoffs to union leaders, PLAs Cut Competition, PLAs Increase Costs, San Diego, SB 922, School Construction | Comments (0)

New California Legislation Targets Union Abuse of Environmental Laws Meant to Squeeze Project Labor Agreements Out of Private Developers

April 11, 2011 – 4:00 pm

When Governor Ronald Reagan signed the California Environmental Quality Act, or CEQA, (now comprising California Public Resources Code Sections 21000-21177) into law in 1970, many California state legislators believed the law would only apply to public projects, such as highways. The courts decided otherwise, and now unions routinely victimize private developers by abusing and exploiting [...]

By Kevin Dayton | Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Assembly Bill 598, California, California Environmental Quality Act, California Unions for Reliable Energy (CURE), Greenmail, PLAs, Project Labor Agreements | Comments (0)

It’s Out in the Open: Project Labor Agreement a Costly Possibility for San Diego Convention Center Expansion

March 11, 2011 – 10:05 am

The Coalition for Fair Employment in Construction (CFEC) held a press conference on February 22 to oppose the rumored plan to require contractors to sign a project labor agreement (PLA) to work on construction of the proposed $700 million San Diego Convention Center Expansion. Accompanied by more than 50 construction workers, the organization unveiled its [...]

By Kevin Dayton | Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged ABC California, California, California Environmental Quality Act, Chula Vista, Coalition for Fair Employment in Construction, Gaylord Hotel, Kevin Dayton, PLA Video, PLAs Increase Costs, Project Labor Agreements, San Diego | Comments (0)

Newspaper in Mojave Desert: “Nobody with Half a Brain” Believes Construction Unions Fear Environmental Risks from Solar Power

February 15, 2011 – 3:24 pm

An editorial in the February 14, 2011 Barstow Desert-Dispatch (“Greenmail” a Threat to Energy Projects) is blunt about the union “greenmail” scheme to exploit the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and block permits for the construction of solar and other renewable power plants in the Mojave Desert: …we now have another reason to be concerned [...]

By Andy Conlin | Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged ABC California, California, California Environmental Quality Act, Green Jobs, Greenmail, IBEW, Kevin Dayton, PLAs, PLAs are political payoffs to union leaders, PLAs Cut Competition, PLAs Increase Costs, Radio Interview, Wal-Mart | Comments (0)

San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors Votes 3-0 to Reject Union Appeal of Solar Project

February 9, 2011 – 5:29 am

At its February 8, 2011 meeting, the San Bernardino County (California) Board of Supervisors voted 3-0 to reject a scheme by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 477 to block a permit to build a 40-megawatt solar photovoltaic generating facility in the Mojave Desert, near Kramer Junction. The San Bernardino County Planning Commission [...]

By Kevin Dayton | Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged ABC California, California, California Environmental Quality Act, Green Jobs, Greenmail, IBEW, Kevin Dayton, LA Times, Los Angeles, PLAs, PLAs are political payoffs to union leaders, PLAs Cut Competition, PLAs Increase Costs, Solar Power, Union-only PLAs harm local workers | Comments (0)

International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Union Blocks Yet Another Solar Project

February 7, 2011 – 1:14 pm

Tomorrow (February 8, 2011) the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors will discuss the environmental objections of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local No. 477 to a 40-megawatt solar photovoltaic generation facility proposed by LightSource Renewables for construction in unincorporated San Bernardino County near Kramer Junction in the Mojave Desert. Neither the San [...]

By Andy Conlin | Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged ABC California, California, California Environmental Quality Act, Green Jobs, Greenmail, IBEW, Kevin Dayton, PLAs, PLAs are political payoffs to union leaders, PLAs Cut Competition, PLAs Discriminate, PLAs Increase Costs, Project Labor Agreements, Solar Power | Comments (1)

Los Angeles is Laboring Under Greenmail

January 19, 2011 – 8:45 am

The January 17 Los Angeles Business Journal includes an opinion piece (Laboring Under ‘Greenmail’) by thetruthaboutPLAs.com blogger Kevin Dayton of Associated Builders and Contractors of California explaining that Los Angeles-based construction unions are exploiting the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and other environmental laws to hold up permits until the private developers of proposed projects [...]

By Andy Conlin | Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged ABC California, California, California Environmental Quality Act, Greenmail, Kevin Dayton, Los Angeles, Los Angeles Business Journal, Op-Ed, Orange County, PLAs, PLAs are political payoffs to union leaders, PLAs Cut Competition, Union-only PLAs harm local workers | Comments (1)

BigGovernment.com Contributor Calls Out Big Labor For Inciting Class Warfare

February 2, 2010 – 11:28 am

In one of the most outstanding and complete breakdowns of the project labor agreement (PLA) issue in the blogosphere, BigGovernment.com contributor “Liberty Chick” outlines the sad history of PLAs nationwide and specifically in California in a post titled, “California’s Class Warfare: PLAs Pit Union and Nonunion Workers Against Each Other.” This post – complete with [...]

By Andy Conlin | Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged ABC California, BigGovernment.com, Blogosphere, California, California Environmental Quality Act, Greenmail, Northern California Power Agency (NCPA), PLAs, PLAs are political payoffs to union leaders, PLAs Increase Costs, Union-only PLAs harm local workers | Comments (0)