December 7, 2011 – 3:24 pm
Regardless of political philosophy, one fundamental economic principle is rarely wrong: Reduced competition increases costs. It is a fairly intuitive premise. Unfortunately, some government officials fail to grasp this basic economic concept. They often unwittingly—or even worse, knowingly—implement policies that unfairly cater to special interests or address legitimate and erroneous public policy concerns at the [...]
Merit shop contractors and their skilled employees have a lot to worry about in today’s marketplace with the construction industry’s 20 percent unemployment rate, a slow economy, cut-throat competition, and reduced bank lending to businesses interested in purchasing construction services to grow their business and create jobs. Surviving these tough market conditions is even more difficult thanks to anti-competitive and [...]
With Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland’s appointed director of the Ohio School Facilities Commission (OSFC), former Big Labor boss Richard Murray, under investigation for pushing school districts to use union-favoring project labor agreements (PLAs) as a condition of receiving funding from the OSFC, the media stands ready scrutinize these corrupt and wasteful agreements. A recent Columbus Dispatch points to evidence that PLAs in Ohio [...]
By Ben Brubeck
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Posted in Uncategorized
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Tagged Beacon Hill Institute, Columbus Dispatch, Cornell, David G. Tuerck, Fred Kotler, Ohio, Ohio School Facilities Commission, PLA Study, PLAs, PLAs are political payoffs to union leaders, PLAs Cut Competition, PLAs Increase Costs, Project Labor Agreements, Sidney Daily News, Study
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April 12, 2010 – 11:00 am
George Nash, director of commercial construction and development for Facchina Construction Co. and 2010 chairman of the board for Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) Metro Washington chapter, calls out project labor agreements (PLAs) for what they are – corruption – in an editorial published by the Washington Business Journal on April 9. This editorial mentions [...]
By Andy Conlin
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Posted in Uncategorized
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Tagged ABC Metro Washington, D.C. Council, local legislation, Nationals Park PLA, PLA Study, PLAs are political payoffs to union leaders, PLAs Cut Competition, Study, The Politics of PLAs, Union-only PLAs harm local workers, Washington Business Journal, Washington DC
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A new report on government-mandated PLAs, “The Problem with PLAs in the District of Columbia,” was released today. Focusing specifically on the D.C. construction market, ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu’s report examines the existing data indicating whether government-mandated PLAs make sense in the District of Columbia. Here is a key finding from the report: “In [...]
In what should be no surprise to anyone, Gov. Chet Culver announced today that the Iowa Department of Administrative Services has been approved to move forward with wasteful and discriminatory project labor agreements (PLAs) on two upcoming projects for the Department of Corrections. Here is the text of Gov. Culver’s release announcing the PLAs: Gov. [...]
Our post about the San Diego Union-Tribune’s anti-PLA editorial reminded me of an anti-PLA editorial published by the Boston Herald (“Stimulus for some,” 4/8/09) a few weeks prior to the launch of TheTruthAboutPLAs.com. The Herald’s excellent editorial came on the heels of an AP story about Mass. considering PLAs on projects funded by the federal stimulus [...]
By Ben Brubeck
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Posted in Uncategorized
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Tagged Beacon Hill Institute, Big Dig, Boston Globe, Boston Herald, David G. Tuerck, Editorial, Gov. Patrick, Letter to the Editor, Massachusetts, Op-Ed, PLAs, PLAs Cut Competition, Project Labor Agreements, Study
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During the past 10 years, many of California’s daily newspapers (including the Sacramento Bee, Oakland Tribune, Contra Costa Times, Orange County Register and San Diego Union-Tribune) have published editorials denouncing Project Labor Agreements (PLAs) proposed at local governments for public works projects. This is no surprise: anyone who looks objectively at how PLAs are promoted [...]
By Kevin Dayton
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Posted in Uncategorized
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Tagged Beacon Hill Institute, California, Connecticut, Editorial, Massachusetts, PLAs, PLAs Increase Costs, Project Labor Agreements, San Diego, SDUSD, Study
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