The Project Labor Agreement and Troubled Union Multiemployer Pension Plan Nexus
Construction unions attempt to entice merit shop craft professionals and new construction industry workers and apprentices into joining a union with promises of generous retirement benefits via multiemployer pension plans. Construction unions lobby elected officials in charge of procuring taxpayer-funded construction projects with arguments on why union contractors and union workers deserve special treatment through various […]
Many Construction Industry Multiemployer Pension Plans Remain Severely Underfunded
Construction unions attempt to entice merit shop craft professionals and young workers into joining a union with promises of generous retirement benefits through multi-employer pension plans (MEPPs). They also convince elected officials in charge of procuring taxpayer-funded construction projects why union contractors and union workers deserve special treatment through various schemes like government-mandated project labor […]
The Merit Shop Goes to Washington
Members of the merit shop contracting community, welcome to Washington, DC, and ABC’s 2012 Legislative Conference. If you are here, you already understand the importance’s of ABC’s motto, “Get Into Politics or Get Out of Business!” As construction industry leaders, you will be talking with your peers and lawmakers on Capitol Hill about the negative […]
Labor Department to Mandate Controversial Project Labor Agreement on Manchester Job Corps Center
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 […]
Phase 2 Silver Line Dispute Grabs Headlines; Opposition to Project Labor Agreement Grows
Opposition continues to mount against the Metropolitan Washington Airport Authority’s (MWAA) April 6 resolution mandating a union-favoring project labor agreement (PLA) that contractors are required to agree to in order to win construction contracts on the $3.5 billion Phase 2 Dulles Metro Rail Silver Line project in Northern Virginia. (See previous blog posts from TheTruthAboutPLAs.com […]
Editorial: Removing PLA on VA Facility Good For Taxpayers
An editorial in The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review praised the removal of government-mandated project labor agreement (PLA) on the construction of a $50 million U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) Research Office Building in Pittsburgh and heavily criticized politicians and special interests participating in these anti-competitive and costly schemes (“The VA & PLAs: A welcome reversal,” 1/13/11): Dropping inclusion of […]
ABC Wins Another Challenge Against Government-Mandated Project Labor Agreements on Federal Construction Projects
TheTruthAboutPLAs.com is pleased to share a news release about ABC’s latest win against anti-competitive and costly federal government-mandated project labor agreements (PLAs). ABC, ABC members and TheTruthAboutPLAs.com continue to lead the fight against special interest PLA schemes on behalf of the construction industry, concerned taxpayers and supporters of the principles of fair and open competition […]
ABC Wins Challenge Against Mandatory Federal PLA in New Jersey
Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) and its members have stopped another government-mandated project labor agreement (PLA) on a proposed federal construction project. This is yet another blow to the Obama administration’s effort to implement Executive Order 13502, which encourages the use of PLAs on federal construction costing more than $25 million. In this most recent […]
GSA Admits Jumping the Gun with PLA Gift to Unions?
Washington Examiner Beltway Confidential columnist Barbara Hollingsworth covered the controversial project labor agreement (PLA) on a federal construction project in Washington, D.C. that has been in the news (GSA Admits Jumping the Gun with PLA Gift to Unions, 12/28). The General Services Administration admitted it made a mistake when it placed a non-competitive, cost-raising, union-pleasing Project Labor Agreement […]
First Project Labor Agreement Under Obama Administration Cancelled
We have breaking news about the controversial U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) Job Corps Center that has been covered numerous times here at TheTruthAboutPLAs.com. Below is a news release from ABC National. New Release ABC Defeats Unlawful and Discriminatory New Hampshire Construction Contract Move Comes in Response to ABC Member Protest Washington, D.C. – Associated Builders and Contractors […]