FEATURED
Another PLA Myth Busted: PLAs Fail to Prevent Strikes on NYC Projects
Construction unions market project labor agreements (PLAs) to public and private construction owners as a tool to guarantee labor peace on construction projects. But recent examples of strikes on PLA projects in NYC and other areas across the U.S. call into question the value of these anti-competitive schemes designed steer contracts to union contractors and union members. MYTH: [...]
Construction Union Booze Crews Targeted for Drinking on PLA-Covered Ground Zero Projects
Its last call for the union hard hats getting hammered before returning to work on Ground Zero construction jobsites covered by project labor agreements (PLAs). Last month, the New York Post reported the Port Authority is cracking down on drinking by construction union members following a series of accidents and reports of excessive workday boozing [...]
Investor’s Business Daily Editorial: Peace for PLA is Big Labor’s Implicit Threat Behind Promotion of Government-Mandated Project Labor Agreements
An Investor’s Business Daily (IBD) editorial exposes the truth about government-mandated project labor agreements (PLAs) and chronicles political efforts to restrict and impose PLA mandates in California, Virginia, New Hampshire and San Diego on local, state and federal construction projects (“Public Wakes Up To Unions’ PLA Power Play,” 6/14/12). Enjoy this excelent editorial (my emphasis in bold): Unions: [...]
Boston Globe: Patrick Shouldn’t Bar Non-Union Workers on Longfellow Bridge
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.
PLA Projects Delayed By Chicago Construction Union Strike: Another PLA Myth Busted
Government officials often argue that the increased costs and discriminatory and anti-competitive nature of union-favoring government-mandated project labor agreements (PLAs) are “bitter pills worth swallowing” for Big Labor’s promise not to strike, picket and engage in other forms of labor unrest on jobsites that could impact the on-time, on-budget delivery of a construction project. That flawed logic makes [...]
PLAs Help Increase Construction Union Membership
The Daily Caller published an opinion piece today by Brett McMahon, vice president of Miller & Long, a concrete construction subcontractor, based in Bethesda, Md., and a member of the Associated Builders and Contractors (“State of the unions: Not good,” 2/26/10) that discusses how Big Labor is turning to their political chums to implement policies that [...]
Utica School Board Gives Sweetheart Deal To Big Labor
A quick note from Utica, NY, where the Utica Board of Education approved a requirement that PLAs be implemented on $187.6 million of upcoming capital construction in the district. Utica’s Observe-Dispatch noted the following as a footnote to an unrelated story: The board approved a project labor agreement setting construction workers’ wages for the $187.6 [...]
Domestic Dispute in Big Labor’s House
Despite the special interest handouts to Big Labor by politicians supported by construction trades unions at the local, state and federal level, trouble’s brewing in the fragile house of Big Labor. A TruthAboutPLAs.com reader sent me this sensational letter from Terry Nelson, executive secretary treasurer of the Carpenters’ Disctrict Council of Greater St. Louis and Vicinity. Nelson is outraged that [...]
Big Labor Aboard! Honolulu Mayor Signs Rail PLA
Last Tuesday (11/17) Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann signed a project labor agreement (PLA) for a $5.5 billion rail transit project. (Click here to read the Mayor’s “State of Rail Transit” statement from 10/29 for background on this project, which has been in the planning stages for years.) In an effort to avoid the stigma attached [...]
Update: Labor Dispute Saves More Proposition S Construction from PLAs
VoiceofSanDiego.org is reporting that union disputes will allow more Proposition S funded construction to move forward without a project labor agreement. This is great news for the citizens funding the San Diego Unified School District (SDUSD). Apparently, “Jurisdictional problems” between the carpenters union and other construction unions have delayed the signing of the PLA between [...]