January 27, 2012 – 11:38 am
A new report released today by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) indicates that from 2010 to 2011, 874,000 workers in the private construction industry belonged to a union, the second lowest number of construction union members since BLS started tracking this information in 1973. According to BLS data, the construction industry [...]
January 25, 2012 – 11:17 am
In last night’s State of the Union address, President Obama made some remarks about the construction industry: “Building this new energy future should be just one part of a broader agenda to repair America’s infrastructure. So much of America needs to be rebuilt. We’ve got crumbling roads and bridges. A power grid that wastes too [...]
January 20, 2012 – 12:26 pm
This week the Obama administration killed Phase 3 and Phase 4 of TransCanada’s Keystone XL pipeline project (for now), which would have connected Phase 1 and Phase 2 of the existing pipeline to new pipeline that would carry crude oil 1,600 miles from Alberta, Canada, to Gulf Coast refineries. The State Department’s denial of the [...]
January 18, 2012 – 3:43 pm
State and local leaders continue to say NO to wasteful and discriminatory project labor agreement (PLA) mandates. The latest to do so is Anne Arundel County, MD, where local leaders adopted a ban on government-mandated PLAs on January 17. Maryland joins California, Texas and Pennsylvania as states in which local government entities have approved [...]
January 12, 2012 – 4:04 pm
Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) Northwest has mandated a project labor agreement (PLA) on the construction of a $450 million to $550 million explosives handling wharf #2 (Solicitation No. N4425511R9004) at Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor in Washington. The PLA mandate harms Washington’s experienced and skilled nonunion construction workforce and will discourage competition from qualified contractors that have [...]
By Ben Brubeck
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Posted in Uncategorized
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Tagged Corruption, Executive Order 13502, Federal Construction, Federal Contracting, Kitsap Sun, Kitsap-Bangor, NAVFAC, Navy, PLA survey, PLAs, PLAs are political payoffs to union leaders, PLAs Cut Competition, PLAs Discriminate, PLAs Increase Costs, President Obama, Project Labor Agreements, Washington State
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January 11, 2012 – 5:13 pm
On January 9, 2012, the California State Assembly’s Natural Resources Committee considered Assembly Bill 598, a bill sponsored by ABC of California and introduced by Assemblywoman Shannon Grove (R-Bakersfield) that would give authority to file lawsuits under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) solely to the California Attorney General. The hearing was an opportunity for [...]
By Andy Conlin
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Posted in Uncategorized
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Tagged ABC California, California, Greenmail, Kevin Dayton, local legislation, PLAs, PLAs are political payoffs to union leaders, PLAs Cut Competition, PLAs Discriminate, PLAs Increase Costs, Project Labor Agreements, State Legislation, Union-only PLAs harm local workers
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January 11, 2012 – 8:46 am
Leaders in yet another county have decided to stand up against wasteful and discriminatory project labor agreement (PLA) mandates. This time, it is Westmoreland County, PA, where the county board of commissioners resolved on January 9 not to require PLAs on county funded construction. This is an important step toward ensuring that taxpayers get the [...]
January 8, 2012 – 4:12 pm
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 [...]
By Andy Conlin
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Posted in Uncategorized
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Tagged ABC Empire State, New York, PLAs, PLAs are political payoffs to union leaders, PLAs Cut Competition, PLAs Discriminate, PLAs Increase Costs, Press Release, Project Labor Agreements, State Legislation, The Politics of PLAs
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December 29, 2011 – 4:56 am
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued a pre-solicitation on Dec. 22, 2011, for a $20 million to $50 million DOL Job Corps Center in Manchester, New Hampshire, subject to an anti-competitive and costly project labor agreement (PLA) mandated by the DOL. Bidding is open only to certified small business contractors willing to agree to [...]
By Ben Brubeck
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Posted in Uncategorized
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Tagged Executive Order 13502, Federal Construction, Federal Contracting, GAO, H.R. 735, Legal Challenge, local, local hire, Manchester, New Hampshire, New Hampshire Union Leader, PLAs, President Obama, Project Labor Agreements, Rep. Bass, Rep. Guinta, S. 119, Sen. Ayotte, Take Action, Union-only PLAs harm local workers
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December 16, 2011 – 12:16 pm
The Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) issued three surveys requesting information from the construction industry on the potential use of project labor agreements (PLAs) on projects in the San Diego region, where just last week San Diego Unified School District (SDUSD) internal documents revealed how a new SDUSD PLA mandate policy is reducing competition and [...]
By Ben Brubeck
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Posted in Uncategorized
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Tagged ABC California, California, Camp Pendleton, Cannon AFB, Clovis, Executive Order 13502, Federal Construction, Federal Contracting, NAVFAC, Navy, New Mexico, PLA survey, PLAs, PLAs Cut Competition, PLAs Increase Costs, Project Labor Agreements, San Diego, US Army Corps of Engineers
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