PLAs | The Truth About PLAs - Part 2

Boston Globe: Patrick Shouldn’t Bar Non-Union Workers on Longfellow Bridge

March 30, 2012 – 12:01 pm

Two taxpayer-funded bridge projects in Mass. illustrates the stark contrast between the benefits of fair and open competition versus anti-competitive and costly government-mandated project labor agreements (PLAs) advanced by well-connected special interests. The Boston Globe published a scathing editorial opposed to a PLA mandate on the $260 million reconstruction of the Longfellow Bridge in Mass. (“Patrick shouldn’t bar [...]

By Ben Brubeck | Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Big Dig, Boston Globe, Editorial, Gov. Patrick, Longfellow Bridge, Massachusetts, PLAs, PLAs are political payoffs to union leaders, PLAs Cut Competition, PLAs Increase Costs, Project Labor Agreements, Strikes, UMASS | Comments (1)

PLA Activity in Connecticut: The Recap

March 21, 2012 – 12:39 pm

Connecticut has seen a buzz of activity and hearings relating to wasteful and discriminatory project labor agreements (PLA) within the last week or so. Here is the recap. On March 10, a public forum to discuss whether a PLA mandate is appropriate for two school projects that are expected to cost approximately $200 million was [...]

By Andy Conlin | Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Connecticut, Open Competition, PLAs, PLAs are political payoffs to union leaders, PLAs Cut Competition, PLAs Discriminate, PLAs Increase Costs, Project Labor Agreements, School Construction | Comments (0)

Victory for Taxpayers – Fair and Open Competition Saved in Ventura County: Disagreements Among County Supervisors Kills Project Labor Agreement Proposed for $250 Million Hospital

March 13, 2012 – 2:45 pm

At a special meeting this morning (Tuesday, March 13), the Ventura County Board of Supervisors rejected (on a 2-2-1 vote) a motion from the board chairman to require contractors to sign a project labor agreement (PLA) oriented toward the demands of the Tri-Counties Building and Construction Trades Council in order to work on a $250 [...]

By Kevin Dayton | Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged ABC California, California, Hospital Construction, Kevin Dayton, local legislation, Open Competition, PLAs, PLAs Cut Competition, PLAs Increase Costs, Project Labor Agreements, Union-only PLAs harm local workers, Ventura County | Comments (1)

County Hospitals Are Prime Targets for Project Labor Agreements: Ventura County is the Latest in California

March 6, 2012 – 11:02 am

The first government-mandated project labor agreement (PLA) in California (following the Boston Harbor decision at the U.S. Supreme Court) was imposed in the spring of 1994 by the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors for a county hospital construction project. Last year, unions managed to squeak out (on a 3-2 vote) their first PLA for [...]

By Kevin Dayton | Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged ABC California, California, Coalition for Fair Employment in Construction, Editorial, Hospital Construction, Kevin Dayton, local legislation, Op-Ed, Open Competition, PLAs, PLAs are political payoffs to union leaders, PLAs Cut Competition, PLAs Discriminate, PLAs Increase Costs, Project Labor Agreements, The Politics of PLAs, Ventura County | Comments (0)

Scandal-Tainted California Politician Voted for Project Labor Agreements in Two Different Lives!

March 1, 2012 – 8:19 am

This story is not unusual in California nowadays: an ambitious elected official is tangled up in a bizarre personal incident (see Supervisor Nadia Lockyer, Wife of California Treasurer, Acknowledges Substance Abuse, Affair – Contra Costa Times/Bay Area News Group – February 14, 2012). But this case is noteworthy from the perspective of TheTruthaboutPLAs.com because the elected [...]

By Kevin Dayton | Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged California, Kevin Dayton, local legislation, PLAs, PLAs are political payoffs to union leaders, PLAs Cut Competition, PLAs Increase Costs, School Construction | Comments (0)

Airport Authority Continues Big Labor Favors on Dulles Metro Silver Line

February 23, 2012 – 5:52 pm

Last week, the Metropolitan Washington Airport Authority (MWAA) gave Big Labor Bosses a generous Valentine’s Day gift. On Wednesday, MWAA passed a resolution adopting a new policy needlessly favoring contractors that submit proposals promising to use a union project labor agreement (PLA) to construct Phase 2 of the $2.8 billion Silver Line metro extension project [...]

By Ben Brubeck | Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged ABC Virginia, Metro Washington Airport Authority, MWAA, PLAs, PLAs are political payoffs to union leaders, PLAs Cut Competition, PLAs Increase Costs, Project Labor Agreements, Silver Line, State Legislation, Union-only PLAs harm local workers, Virginia | Comments (0)

Minnesota Vikings to Require PLA on Upcoming Stadium Project

February 16, 2012 – 2:58 pm

On Feb. 6, the Minnesota Vikings signed an agreement with the Minnesota Building and Construction Trade Division (BCTD), AFL-CIO to require contractors to sign a project labor agreement (PLA) on the upcoming construction of their new stadium. This will ensure that nearly all of the construction jobs on the project will go to union workers—leaving [...]

By Andy Conlin | Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Citi Field, Detroit, local legislation, Minnesota, Op-Ed, Open Competition, PLAs, PLAs are political payoffs to union leaders, PLAs Cut Competition, PLAs Discriminate, PLAs Increase Costs, Project Labor Agreements, Safety Problem on PLA Project, Stadium, State Legislation, Union-only PLAs harm local workers | Comments (0)

Union Favor on Federal Construction Project in New Hampshire Draws Criticism

February 9, 2012 – 12:54 pm

This week, U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) grabbed headlines with her public opposition to President Obama’s discriminatory policy, Executive Order 13502, favoring union contractors and union members competing for federal construction contracts. In a press release and letter to the White House issued Monday, Sen. Ayotte asked President Obama to repeal his pro-union Executive Order 13502 and [...]

By Ben Brubeck | Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Executive Order 13502, Federal Construction, Federal Contracting, Manchester, New Hampshire, New Hampshire Union Leader, PLAs, PLAs Cut Competition, President Obama, Project Labor Agreements, protest, Rep. Bass, Rep. Guinta, Sen. Ayotte, Union-only PLAs harm local workers | Comments (0)

Construction Union Membership Near Historic Low

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 [...]

By Ben Brubeck | Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Executive Order 13502, Federal Construction, Federal Contracting, PLAs, PLAs are political payoffs to union leaders, President Obama, Project Labor Agreements, Union Membership Report | Comments (0)

President’s SOTU Remarks About Construction Industry Raise Questions

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 [...]

By Ben Brubeck | Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Executive Order 13502, Federal Construction, Federal Contracting, PLAs, PLAs are political payoffs to union leaders, PLAs Cut Competition, PLAs Increase Costs, President Obama, Project Labor Agreements, Section 7 | Comments (0)