Merit Shop Contractors Deliver Award-Winning Large-Scale Federal Project For NAVFAC
A joint venture (JV) between two quality merit shop federal contractors, Straub Construction, Inc. and Martin Harris Construction, successfully designed and built a parking facility and Bachelor Enlisted Quarters (BEQ) for the Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) Southwest at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center in Twentynine Palms, California. This large-scale design/build federal project, [...]
Nine Ways Private Owners Are Coerced By Unions Into Requiring Project Labor Agreements
Sometimes, private owners of energy projects, banks, retail stores, manufacturing facilities, hotels, casinos and hospitals require contractors to agree to a project labor agreement (PLA) favoring trade unions as a condition of winning a construction contract funded by private money. This is known as a private PLA mandate or a private owner-mandated PLA. A private PLA [...]
Second Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, USACE Project Labor Agreement Survey Due May 9
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Baltimore District has issued a second survey requesting feedback from the construction industry about a government-mandated project labor agreement (PLA) on a large-scale federal project constructing dormitories and a conference center for the U.S. Customs and Border Protection in Harpers Ferry, W. Va. The USACE has confirmed this additional PLA [...]
Taxpayers Win Big Without Federal Project Labor Agreement on New Hampshire Job Corps Center
Taxpayers will save more than $6 million on the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Manchester, New Hampshire, Job Corps Center project thanks to the benefits of fair and open competition free from anti-competitive and costly government-mandated project labor agreements (PLAs). This important example of a federal project bid with and without a PLA requirement undermines [...]
USACE PLA Survey For Dredging Projects in SEC States Due April 26
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Mobile District has issued a survey requesting feedback from the construction industry about a government-mandated project labor agreement (PLA) on large-scale federal contracts for dredging coastal and inland waterways in Alabama, Mississippi and Florida. To review and respond to the survey, click here. All responses must be submitted [...]
How Much Construction Work is Subject to Project Labor Agreements?
Proponents of project labor agreements (PLAs) are in the habit of overstating their use in public and private construction markets. In an April 2012 letter in support of federal government-mandated PLAs to the U.S. Department of Labor, Building Construction Trades Department (BCTD), Council Victoria L. Bor stated: “These agreements are also commonly used by states [...]
USACE PLA Survey For Ohio’s Wright-Patterson Air Force Base Museum Hangar Due April 29
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Louisville District has issued a survey requesting feedback from the construction industry about a government-mandated project labor agreement (PLA) on a large-scale construction project building a new exhibition hangar for an aviation museum at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio. To review and respond to the survey, click [...]
Respond to USACE Alaska Project Labor Agreement Survey By April 30
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Alaska District issued a survey requesting feedback from the construction industry about a government-mandated project labor agreement (PLA) on a large-scale design-build contract for a warm storage hangar at Fort Wainwright, Alaska. To review and respond to the survey, click here. Responses should be sent via email to USACE [...]
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 [...]
WSJ Editorial Applauds Gov. Christie for Veto of Pro-Project Labor Agreement Bill
The Wall Street Journal published an editorial praising New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s (R) veto of legislation (S. 2425) expanding New Jersey’s ability to mandate union-favoring project labor agreements (PLAs) on taxpayer-funded projects like roads, bridges, water treatment facilities and other large-scale infrastructure projects (WSJ editorial, “Sandy’s Union Blowback: Christie keeps veto promise,” 4/16/13): New Jersey [...]