Millions of Stimulus Dollars Wasted on Lafayette Building’s Project Labor Agreement Gift to Big Labor
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 […]
Project Labor Agreement on the GSA’s St. Elizabeth’s Site Possible
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 […]
Review of District of Columbia Project Labor Agreements
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 […]
Op-Ed Critical of Fed Gift to Big Labor in California
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 […]
Union Giveaways That Will Hit Your Wallet
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 […]
Editorial: Workers Should Be Angry About Union Preference
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 […]
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 […]
Washington Times: Obama Union Push Stymies Contractors
Yesterday we raised concerns about dual bidding experiments utilized by the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) that will determine whether or not PLAs are appropriate on a pilot program of ten federal construction projects. Today the Washington Times wrote about one of the GSA pilot projects in Washington, D.C. – the Lafayette Building on 811 Vermont Avenue – […]
Federal GSA Project in Portland Raises Project Labor Agreement Concerns
Oregon’s Daily Journal of Commerce story about the U.S. General Services Administration’s (GSA) Edith Green-Wendell Wyatt Federal Building in Portland mentions how the GSA is evaluating project labor agreements (PLAs) on federal construction projects funded by federal stimulus money (“Green Wyatt Goes to Howard S. Wright,” 12/18). The project, paid for with federal stimulus money, has attracted attention for […]