As the catalyst for economic recovery and job creation in this country, these over regulation is something Gus and others like him could do without.

Specifically, Mr. Perea addresses regulations to implement President Obama’s Executive Order 13502 (at 3:08 in the video), encouraging wasteful and discriminatory project labor agreements on federal construction projects costing more than $25 million.

Interested parties can now view some of the public comments here.  Additional comments will be uploaded by the government in the coming weeks.

TheTruthAboutPLAs.com will post some of our favorite comments and provide commentary in future blog posts.

To read ABC’s comments visit www.abc.org/plastudies

To read the FAR Councils’ proposed rule, click here.

This is the first time that the federal government has issued a rule with the force of law encouraging discriminatory and costly project labor agreement (PLA) requirements on federal construction projects. Serious questions have been raised about the legality of Executive Order 13502.

The same questions apply to the proposed rule which encourages the use of discriminatory and costly PLAs on construction projects costing more than $25 million, including those funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

www.TheTruthaboutPLAs.com previously wrote about the proposed rule and curious OMB memo which supported costly and discriminatory government mandated PLAs. We urged you to get involved in the regulatory process and express to the government why PLAs will harm taxpayers, employers, employees and construction users and owners.

We thank readers of the TruthAboutPLAs.com for submitting hundreds of comments to the FAR Council.

Let’s hope that your thoughtful, passionate and accurate comments do not fall on deaf ears.

There is still time. You can submit comments on the proposed rule here until 11:59 PM EST tonight.

Of course, I am talking about recent developments related to the federal government’s preference for discriminatory and costly union-only project labor agreements (PLAs).

Welcome new visitors, let’s bring you up to speed.  If you don’t know what a PLA is, I recommend learning more here.

On Feb. 6, President Obama issued Executive Order 13502, which repeals President Bush’s Executive Order 13202 and encourages federal agencies to require PLAs on federal construction projects in excess of $25 million (click here for ABC’s analysis of Executive Order 13502).

On July 14, the Federal Acquisition Regulatory (FAR) Council issued proposed regulations to implement Executive Order 13502.  ABC has serious concerns with the proposed regulation, particularly with its impact statement, the absence of any meaningful criteria for agencies to use in deciding whether to impose PLAs and the absence of any empirical justification for using PLAs on federal projects.

On July 10, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) released a troubling memo encouraging agency department leaders to consider requiring PLAs before the comment period even begins.

The proposed rule’s implementation would be a direct assault on free enterprise. These regulations are subject to the regulatory process, starting with a 30-day public comment period beginning Tuesday, July 14.

We need contractors, subcontractors, their employees and other interested parties in the construction industry to provide regulatory comments to the FAR Council. 

A robust regulatory response from ABC members and the construction industry opposed to PLAs could prevent federal agencies from implementing Executive Order 13502 regulations onto federal construction projects over $25 million and prohibit government mandated union-only PLAs requirements on projects receiving federal assistance at the state and local level (as directed by Section 7 of Executive Order 13502). 

In addition, the regulatory record will be helpful in challenging Executive Order 13502 in the courts under a variety of legal strategies, should that become necessary.

TAKE ACTION:
Tell the federal government how requiring union-only PLAs on federal and federally funded projects will hurt your business. 

Contact regulatory@abc.org to receive information from ABC National that will help you draft and submit effective regulatory comments.  Remember that personalized comments make the biggest impact and only you can make a difference.

STAY INFORMED:
Visit www.TheTruthAboutPLAs.com for the most updated news and information on this issue in the coming weeks.

Legal Questions Surround President Obama’s Executive Order on Project Labor Agreements

Washington, D.C. – Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) today questioned the legality of a July 10 Office of Management and Budget (OMB) policy memorandum encouraging federal department and agency heads to immediately consider the use of publicly funded project labor agreements (PLAs) on upcoming federal construction projects. The memo came in advance of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Council’s July 14 release of a proposed rule implementing President Obama’s Executive Order 13502, which encourages the use of PLAs on construction projects costing more than $25 million, including those funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

“We believe that Executive Order 13502, and the FAR Council’s proposed rule, exceeds the president’s statutory authority and violates the Competition in Contracting Act and other procurement laws and regulations,” said 2009 ABC National Chairman Jerry Gorski, president of Gorski Engineering, Inc., Collegeville, Pa. “We are also troubled that the Office of Management and Budget has directed federal agencies to start considering union-only mandates without even waiting for the proposed rule to become final. Any agency that issues an unlawful union-only PLA should expect to face a legal challenge.

“Executive Order 13502 and the FAR Council proposed rule will lead to an increase in costly and discriminatory publicly funded project labor agreements on federal construction projects procured by federal agencies,” said Gorski. “More than 84 percent of the construction workforce are hardworking taxpayers that choose not to be represented by a union. However, government mandated project labor agreements will create a monopoly for unionized contractors on federal construction projects at taxpayers’ expense. Forcing PLAs onto federal projects violates longstanding federal procurement laws that require free and open competition, without favoritism.

“America’s construction workforce stands to lose the most from these politically motivated actions. Thousands of workers will have part of their wages taken by union pension plans, from which the workers will receive no benefits,” said Gorski. “U.S. taxpayers lose, too, as academic studies have found that PLAs increase the cost of construction between 14 percent and 20 percent. Now is the worst possible time to inflate the cost of federal construction projects – the federal government should instead be making every effort to stretch federal investment in our community’s infrastructure.

“ABC and a coalition of construction, trade and taxpayer associations are determined to exhaust every avenue to challenge this illegal policy that is tantamount to a federal government endorsement of union set-asides,” said Gorski.

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Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) is a national association with 79 chapters representing 25,000 merit shop construction and construction-related firms with two million employees. Visit us at www.abc.org. For more information about government mandated PLAs, visit www.TheTruthAboutPLAs.com or www.abc.org/pla.                          

This memorandum comes in advance of the Federal Acquisition Regulation Council’s (FAR) proposed rule on President Obama’s Executive Order 13502, which encourages the use of PLAs on construction projects costing more than $25 million.  The proposed rule is expected to be released July 14.

“The proposed rule itself contains many serious flaws, particularly with regard to the impact statement, the absence of any meaningful criteria for agencies to use in deciding whether to impose PLAs, and the absence of any empirical justification for PLAs on federal projects,” said Geoff Burr, ABC vice president of government affairs.

“What is even more troubling is the OMB memo to all executive and agency department heads encouraging them to consider PLAs before the comment period has expired.  Union-only favoritism on federal construction projects violates longstanding procurement laws and will be challenged.”

ABC strongly opposes union-only PLAs on construction projects. These agreements not only exclude open shop contractors from bidding on projects paid for by their own tax dollars, but also drive up the cost of construction.

To read the OMB policy memorandum, click here.
To read more about Executive Order 13502, click here.
To read the FAR Council proposed rule, click here.
To participate in the regulatory process, click here.

Visit www.TheTruthAboutPLAs.com mid Monday morning for an update and additional analysis and information.