Great Scott: Projects Bid With and Without PLA Mandates Show PLAs Increase Costs and Reduce Competition
While researching the use of government-mandated project labor agreements (PLAs) in West Virginia in advance of Wednesday’s deadline for a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) survey about a potential PLA mandate on a large-scale federal project in Harpers Ferry, W.Va., TheTruthAboutPLAs.com went back in time to revisit another real-world example of how discriminatory PLA [...]
Construction Union Booze Crews Targeted for Drinking on PLA-Covered Ground Zero Projects
Its last call for the union hard hats getting hammered before returning to work on Ground Zero construction jobsites covered by project labor agreements (PLAs). Last month, the New York Post reported the Port Authority is cracking down on drinking by construction union members following a series of accidents and reports of excessive workday boozing [...]
Op-Ed: The Best Bidder Should be Awarded the Job
Despite a major legal defeat earlier this year, the New York State Department of Transportation (NYS DOT) is continuing their effort to impose a wasteful and discriminatory project labor agreement (PLA) mandate on a highway reconstruction and bridge replacement project near Exit 122 on Route 17 in Orange County, NY. In March 2012, an Albany, [...]
Who Is Hill International and Why Does It Promote Government-Mandated PLAs?
Who is Hill International and why does it consistently support and promote anti-competitive and costly government-mandated project labor agreements (PLAs)? In short, Hill International is a corporate PLA pimp. Read on to learn why this isn’t hyperbole. Many local, state and federal entities in charge of taxpayer-funded construction contracts are required by law or directed [...]
Democrat House Appropriator Hinchey Pushes USACE To Mandate Project Labor Agreement on West Point Construction
Politicians receiving campaign cash and favors from Big Labor continue to pressure federal agencies to mandate anti-competitive and costly project labor agreements (PLAs) on large-scale construction federal construction projects even though they are not in the public interest and have a public record of poor performance. U.S. Representative Maurice Hinchey, a retiring ten term Democrat from upstate [...]
Oppose USACE PLA Mandate for West Point Construction By Responding to Project Labor Agreement Survey
The United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) issued a survey requesting information from the construction industry on the potential use of a project labor agreement (PLA) for the construction of the $100 million to $250 million cadet barracks at the United States Military Academy, West Point, N.Y. TheTruthAboutPLAs.com encourages the merit shop contracting community to [...]
New York Firm Wins Lawsuit Against NYS DOT’s Government-Mandated PLA
There was a significant legal victory for taxpayers and merit shop construction firms in New York recently. As we reported in 2011, the New York State Department of Transportation (NYS DOT) implemented a project labor agreement (PLA) requirement on a highway reconstruction and bridge replacement project near Exit 122 on Route 17 in Orange County, [...]
ABC Empire State Chapter President Testifies in Opposition to PLA Mandates
ABC Empire State Chapter president Steve Lefebvre testified January 31 to New York State Legislature Joint Budget Hearing on Economic Development to discuss the negative impact of wasteful and discriminatory project labor agreements (PLAs) on taxpayer funded construction. (Mr. Lefebvre’s testimony starts at the 2:09 mark) In his testimony, Lefebvre tells committee members a story we followed [...]
ABC Empire State Chapter Urges Gov. Cuomo to Unshackle the Economic Power of Public Construction
Stephen Lefebvre, president of the Empire State Chapter of Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) had some thoughts on New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s state of the state address last week. The ABC Empire State Chapter issued the press release below on January 5, where he wished Gov. Cuomo the best in 2012 and asked him [...]
Government-Mandated Project Labor Agreements Harm Union Contractors and Tradespeople
The debate surrounding government-mandated project labor agreements (PLAs) is often framed by the media and elected officials as a dispute pitting union signatory contractors and their union employees against nonunion contractors and their nonunion employees. However, a recent lawsuit attacking government-mandated PLAs on $6 billion worth of taxpayer-funded infrastructure projects through 2014 in New York City sheds light on unsung victims of these controversial, anti-competitive and costly special interest handouts that deny hardworking taxpayers the accountability they deserve from government contracts: Union contractors and some construction trade union members.