September 1, 2010 – 4:24 pm
The Pittsburgh-area Penn Hills School Board this week approved a policy requiring contractors to sign a wasteful and discriminatory project labor agreement (PLA) as a condition of working on $150 million worth of upcoming school construction. Here is an excerpt from Associated Builders and Contractors Western Pennsylvania Chapter’s August 31 press release: PENN HILLS PLAYS [...]
August 16, 2010 – 3:50 pm
Allegheny County Executive and gubernatorial candidate Dan Onorato (D) criticized the Community College of Allegheny County’s (CCAC) requirement that all bidders for the upcoming construction of a $21 million science building agree to sign a wasteful and discriminatory project labor agreement (PLA) with Big Labor as a condition of performing work on this project. Here’s an [...]
August 12, 2010 – 1:50 pm
There has been a flurry of activity surrounding the fight for fair and open competition in the Pittsburgh area over the last 72 hours. The Community College of Allegheny County (CCAC) was scheduled to receive bids for the $21 million construction of a new 65,000 sq. ft. science center on August 10. Unfortunately, buried within [...]
By Andy Conlin
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Posted in Uncategorized
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Tagged ABC Western Pennsylvania, Editorial, Open Competition, Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, PLAs, Rep. John Bear, School Construction, State Legislation, Union-only PLAs harm local workers, University Construction
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August 5, 2010 – 10:42 am
Big Labor bosses and government-mandated project labor agreement (PLA) advocates frequently claim that PLAs are the only way to guarantee local hire on construction projects funded by tax dollars. Of course, this is another myth promoted by special interests to convince lawmakers and taxpayers that there is a public benefit to anti-competitive and costly PLA [...]
By Ben Brubeck
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Posted in Uncategorized
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Tagged ABC California, ABC Iowa, ABC Michigan, Baltimore, California, checkerboarding, Des Moines, Detroit, Detroit Free Press, featured, Iowa, Las Vegas, Las Vegas Review Journal, local hire, Michigan, Nationals Park PLA, New York, NY Daily News, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia Inquirer, PLAs, San Diego Union Tribune, San Francisco, San Francisco Examiner, The Politics of PLAs, Travelers/Boomers, Union-only PLAs harm local workers, Washington DC, Yankee Stadium
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The McKeesport Area School District Board of Directors has decided to say NO to a wasteful and discriminatory project labor agreement (PLA) mandate on the construction of an upcoming $62 million consolidated project. This is a huge win for taxpayers and the vast majority of western Pennsylvania construction workers that choose not to join a [...]
In a May 27 press release, the Western Pennsylvania chapter of Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) announced that they held a meeting on May 26 with the McKeesport Area School District Building and Grounds Committee to discuss the negative impact of wasteful and discriminatory project labor agreements (PLAs). The release also outlines some of the [...]
Yet another editorial board – the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review - has come out in opposition to President Obama’s scheme to funnel federal construction contracts to Big Labor through project labor agreements (PLAs) via Executive Order 13502 (“The Union Label: Paying Off Big Labor,” 5/21/10): Rewarding Big Labor for political support, the Obama administration is virtually shutting nonunion contractors out of [...]
The Philadelphia Inquirer published an Op-Ed by ABC member Richard Lombardo, president and CEO of Harkins Builders, a general contractor with offices in Pennsylvania and Maryland, about the the April 13 final rule implementing President Obama’s pro-project labor agreement (PLA) Executive Order 13502 that encourages federal agencies to steer lucrative federal construction contracts to union-signatory construction companies (“Ruling [...]
By Ben Brubeck
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Posted in Uncategorized
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Tagged Executive Order 13502, Federal Construction, Federal Contracting, Op-Ed, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia Inquirer, PLAs, PLAs Cut Competition, PLAs Increase Costs, President Obama, Project Labor Agreements, Richard Lombardo, Union-only PLAs harm local workers
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The Keystone Chapter of Associated Builders and Contractors is holding a forum to discuss wasteful and discriminatory project labor agreements (PLAs) as part of their May 11 Lt. Governors debate. This event is part of their Save the Endangered Species campaign to educate the public on the true impact of PLAs. TheTruthAboutPLAs.com’s Ben Brubeck is [...]
By Andy Conlin
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Posted in Uncategorized
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Tagged Commonwealth Foundation, Debate, Department of General Services, keystone, National Association of Minority Contractors, Pennsylvania, PLAs, PLAs Cut Competition, PLAs Discriminate, Prisons, Save the Endangered Species, The Politics of PLAs, TV Coverage
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An editorial in the Williamsport Sun Gazette questions the “source, timing and validity” of Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell’s remarks in his eighth and final budget address that chided “special interest groups for stymieing his legislative efforts to curb special interests” (“Timing suspicious on lobbyist crackdown,” 3/19). It also calls government-mandated project labor agreements (PLAs) a “rigged [...]
