GSA | The Truth About PLAs

ABC Members Testify in Support of Legislation Restoring Fairness in Federal Contracting

June 7, 2011 – 11:32 am

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 [...]

By Ben Brubeck | Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged AGC, Beacon Hill Institute, Daniel Gordon, David G. Tuerck, Executive Order 13502, Federal Construction, Federal Contracting, GSA, Hearing, House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Information Policy, Intergovernmental Relations and Procurement Reform Subcommittee, Kirby Wu, Massachusetts, Maury Baskin, Mike Kennedy, New Jersey, OMB, PLAs, President Obama, Project Labor Agreements, Rep. James Lankford, Rep. Mike Kelly, Rep. Tim Walberg, Sullivan, Susan Brita, Technology, The Government Neutrality in Contracting Act, U.S. House Hearing, Wall Street Journal, Washington DC | Comments (0)

Editorial: Tis the Season for White House Gifts to Big Labor

December 23, 2010 – 9:56 am

ObamaClause and his GSA elves are busy giving gifts to Big Labor this holiday season. Executive Order 13502: Obama’s Gift to Big Labor. Image by Elaine Natario courtesy of The Boston Globe, “Obama kowtows to labor unions,” 10/07/09. A Washington Examiner editorial is critical of White House gifts to Big Labor called project labor [...]

By Ben Brubeck | Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Editorial, Executive Order 13502, Federal Construction, Federal Contracting, GSA, Lafayette Building, PLAs, PLAs are political payoffs to union leaders, PLAs Increase Costs, President Obama, Project Labor Agreements, Washington DC, Washington Examiner | Comments (1)

GSA’s Policy of Big Labor Favoritism Draws Congressional Inquiry

December 18, 2010 – 9:55 am

After recent media reports exposed how the Obama Administration and the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) have conspired to steer lucrative federal construction contracts to businesses willing to build federal projects utilizing a union-favoring project labor agreement (PLA), members of Congress are starting to ask questions. This week, nineteen GOP members of Congress, including the incoming [...]

By Ben Brubeck | Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Executive Order 13502, Federal Construction, Federal Contracting, GSA, House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Lafayette Building, PLAs, PLAs Increase Costs, President Obama, Project Labor Agreements, Washington DC, Washington Examiner | Comments (2)

Millions of Stimulus Dollars Wasted on Lafayette Building’s Project Labor Agreement Gift to Big Labor

December 6, 2010 – 6:38 am

How much does a government-mandated project labor agreement (PLA) add to a $52.3 million construction project funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) in Washington, D.C.? At least $3.3 million. That’s the cost of a change order the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) paid to a federal contractor to ensure renovations to the [...]

By Ben Brubeck | Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Big Labor, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), Executive Order 13502, Federal Construction, Federal Contracting, GSA, Harry Alford, Lafayette Building, National Black Chamber of Commerce, PLAs, PLAs are political payoffs to union leaders, PLAs Increase Costs, President Obama, Project Labor Agreements, State Executive Order, The Politics of PLAs, Washington DC, Washington Examiner | Comments (8)

Project Labor Agreement on the GSA’s St. Elizabeth’s Site Possible

April 29, 2010 – 9:58 am

A Washington Post article about the U.S. General Services Administration’s (GSA) multi-billion dollar St. Elizabeth’s federal project in Washington, D.C. piqued the curiosity of a TruthAboutPLAs.com reader (“In St. Elizabeths project, opportunities for many,” 4/26). First, here is some information on the St. Elizabeth’s project: Backhoes scoop thousands of cubic yards of dark brown dirt [...]

By Ben Brubeck | Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged 1800 F Street, Executive Order 13502, FAR Final Rule, Federal Construction, Federal Contracting, GSA, Lafayette Building, PLAs, President Obama, Project Labor Agreements, St. Elizabeth's, Washington Post | Comments (0)

Review of District of Columbia Project Labor Agreements

April 6, 2010 – 5:53 am

As members of the D.C. Council review the misleadingly named District Resident Employment and Trade Stimulus Act of 2010 (Bill 18-650), which would require project labor agreements (PLAs) on D.C. construction projects that cost more than $200,000 and receive government assistance, it is important to review the limited, yet poor, history Washington, D.C., has had with PLAs. Research in [...]

By Ben Brubeck | Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged ABC Metro Washington, D.C. Council, DC Progress, District Economic Empowerment Coalition (DEEC), Executive Order 13502, Federal Construction, Federal Contracting, GSA, local legislation, PLA Study, PLAs, PLAs Cut Competition, PLAs Discriminate, PLAs Increase Costs, President Obama, Project Labor Agreements, Union-only PLAs harm local workers, Washington DC | Comments (1)

Op-Ed Critical of Fed Gift to Big Labor in California

February 12, 2010 – 10:27 am

The Napa Valley Register ran an Op-Ed by Carole Bionda, vice-president of ABC member Nova Group in Napa, CA, that is critical of president Obama’s pro-project labor agreement (PLA) Executive Order 13502 and other special interest giveaways to Big Labor that will kill jobs and increase wasteful federal spending (“Stopping the blows to construction industry,” 2/12/10). Of [...]

By Ben Brubeck | Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Carole Bionda, Executive Order 13502, Federal Construction, Federal Contracting, GSA, Napa Valley Register, Op-Ed, PLAs, PLAs Cut Competition, PLAs Increase Costs, President Obama, Project Labor Agreements, San Francisco, Section 7 | Comments (1)

Union Giveaways That Will Hit Your Wallet

January 26, 2010 – 10:14 am

The Washington Times ran an Op-Ed by Brett McMahon, vice-president of ABC member Miller & Long Concrete Construction, documenting a number of backroom deals that the White House and Congress cut with Big Labor that will harm private sector job creation and small businesses while giving Big Labor a big advantage (“Yet Another Reason to Oppose Obamacare: Union Giveaways That [...]

By Ben Brubeck | Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Brett McMahon, Employee Free Choice Act, Executive Order 13502, Federal Construction, Federal Contracting, GSA, Health Care, Lafayette Building, Op-Ed, PLAs, PLAs are political payoffs to union leaders, President Obama, Project Labor Agreements, Washington DC, Washington Times | Comments (0)

Editorial: Workers Should Be Angry About Union Preference

January 4, 2010 – 11:39 am

Ohio’s Tribune Chronicle today published an editorial critical of project labor agreements (PLAs) and Executive Order 13502 (“Workers Should Be Angry About Union Preference,” 1/4). Add it to the long list of newspapers across the country opposed to discriminatory and costly government-mandated PLAs. Most construction workers are not members of labor unions. They should be [...]

By Ben Brubeck | Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged A.J. Celebrezze, Cleveland, dck North America, Editorial, Executive Order 13502, Federal Construction, Federal Contracting, GSA, Lafayette Building, Ohio, PLAs, PLAs Cut Competition, PLAs Discriminate, President Obama, Project Labor Agreements, Tribune Chronicle | Comments (1)

GSA Admits Jumping the Gun with PLA Gift to Unions?

December 29, 2009 – 11:41 am

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 [...]

By Ben Brubeck | Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged DOL, Executive Order 13502, Federal Construction, Federal Contracting, GAO, GSA, Lafayette Building, Manchester, New Hampshire, PLAs, PLAs Cut Competition, Project Labor Agreements, Washington Examiner | Comments (0)