The Politics Of PLAs | The Truth About PLAs

California Union Boss/Community College District Trustee Not Big on Disclosure

January 12, 2012 – 3:03 pm

It isn’t hard to see that Big Labor is engaged in an organized effort to get union bosses elected and appointed to local governing entities, i.e. school boards, community college commissions, county councils, etc. This strategy has paid dividends in a number of communities, where labor leaders have pushed these governing bodies into requiring wasteful [...]

By Andy Conlin | Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged ABC California, California, Contra Costa Times, local legislation, PLAs are political payoffs to union leaders, PLAs Increase Costs, School Construction, The Politics of PLAs | Comments (0)

ABC Empire State Chapter Urges Gov. Cuomo to Unshackle the Economic Power of Public Construction

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 | Posted in Uncategorized | 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 | Comments (0)

Project Labor Agreements Are Evidence of Moral Breakdown

December 5, 2011 – 9:49 am

Rarely mentioned in public policy discussions about Project Labor Agreements are the moral implications of using the government as an agent to prod contractors and their employees into union agreements. Is it right for a government to require contractors to make employee fringe benefit payments to union-managed trust funds and obtain their workers from a [...]

By Kevin Dayton | Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged ABC California, California, Kevin Dayton, local legislation, Los Angeles, Los Angeles Unified School District, PLAs, PLAs are political payoffs to union leaders, PLAs Cut Competition, PLAs Discriminate, PLAs Increase Costs, Project Labor Agreements, Recall Elections, San Fernando, The Politics of PLAs, Union-only PLAs harm local workers, University Construction | Comments (0)

Philly Mayor Opens Door to Waste and Discrimination with Pro-PLA Executive Order

December 1, 2011 – 11:04 am

Philadelphia Mayor Michael A. Nutter issued Executive Order 15-11 on Nov. 29, 2011, re-establishing the use of anti-competitive and costly union-favoring government-mandated project labor agreements (PLAs) on city projects costing more than $5 million. According to Philly’s press release, the order does not mandate PLAs on all projects, but it creates a PLA evaluation procedure that opens the door [...]

By Ben Brubeck | Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Executive Order, local legislation, Mayor Nutter, Philadelphia, Philadelphia Convention Center, Philadelphia Inquirer, PLAs, PLAs are political payoffs to union leaders, PLAs Discriminate, Project Labor Agreements, The Politics of PLAs, Union-only PLAs harm local workers | Comments (1)

California’s Environmental Laws: A Weapon to Crush Potential Competition and Extort Developers

November 16, 2011 – 10:01 am

Legal exploitation of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) for purposes unrelated to environmental protection continues unabated throughout California, according to an article in the November 14 Los Angeles Times (“Firms Turning to Environmental Law to Combat Rivals”). This news is 25 years old, but it’s always good to see the news media remind people [...]

By Kevin Dayton | Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged ABC California, California, California Environmental Quality Act, California Unions for Reliable Energy (CURE), Greenmail, Kevin Dayton, Los Angeles, PLAs Cut Competition, Project Labor Agreements, State Legislation, The Politics of PLAs | Comments (0)

Democratic National Convention Committee Demands Project Labor Agreements; Host City Mayoral Candidate Scott Stone Wants to See the Agreements

October 27, 2011 – 5:22 pm

Regardless of one’s political leanings, it is impossible to deny the economic development opportunities that come to a city when it hosts one of the two major political party conventions every four years. Unfortunately, the Democratic National Convention Committee (DNCC) has decided to make union favoritism a key criteria for selecting vendors for their 2012 [...]

By Andy Conlin | Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Democratic National Convention, Local Election, North Carolina, Project Labor Agreements, Scott Stone, The Politics of PLAs, Union-only PLAs harm local workers | Comments (0)

WSJ Editorial Blasts California SB 922

October 5, 2011 – 10:48 am

TheTruthAboutPLAs.com has been reporting for weeks about the perils of SB 922 and other California legislation catering to Big Labor’s special interests by promoting anti-competitive and costly government-mandated project labor agreements (PLAs). After sailing through the California legislature via a deceptive gut and amend legislative vehicle originally about tuberculosis screening, Governor Jerry Brown (D) signed SB 922 [...]

By Ben Brubeck | Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged ABC California, Ballot Initiative, California, Chula Vista, Editorial, Fox News, Fresno, Gov. Brown, local legislation, Oceanside, Orange County, Palmdale Water District, PLA Video, Placer County, PLAs, PLAs are political payoffs to union leaders, PLAs Cut Competition, PLAs Discriminate, PLAs Increase Costs, Project Labor Agreements, Proposition A, Sacramento, San Diego, San Diego County, SB 922, Stanislaus County, State Legislation, The Politics of PLAs, Wall Street Journal | Comments (0)

California Governor Signs Union-Backed Senate Bill 922, Intended to End Local Project Labor Agreement Bans

October 3, 2011 – 10:19 am

California Governor Jerry Brown announced on Sunday, October 2 that he has signed Senate Bill 922. He even included a signing message that declared SB 922 to be “fair” and “democratic.” This is the most dramatic attempt to date by unions and their political cronies to suppress the Fair and Open Competition movement that started [...]

By Kevin Dayton | Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged ABC California, Ballot Initiative, California, Gov. Brown, PLAs, PLAs are political payoffs to union leaders, Project Labor Agreements, SB 922, State Legislation, The Politics of PLAs | Comments (1)

Taxpayers Lose Twice: 54-46 and 52-48

October 3, 2011 – 9:11 am

It’s rare to see elected officials repeal a bad decision. It’s usually easier to let taxpayers pay for the mistake. But taxpayers had a second chance on September 12 when the Sacramento Regional Transit (RT) District Board of Directors debated the repeal or amendment of a 2009 resolution requiring construction contractors to sign a Project [...]

By Kevin Dayton | Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged ABC California, California, local legislation, PLAs, PLAs are political payoffs to union leaders, PLAs Discriminate, PLAs Increase Costs, Project Labor Agreements, Sacramento, Sacramento Regional Transit (RT) District Board of Directors, The Politics of PLAs, Union-only PLAs harm local workers | Comments (0)

A Genuine California Union Conspiracy: Senate Bill 790 and the California Building Trades Council’s Ratepayer-Funded Political Slush Fund

September 23, 2011 – 12:30 pm

In California, a mini-public relations campaign is underway to defend Senate Bill 790, a bill now at Governor Jerry Brown’s desk dealing with “community choice aggregation” for electric consumers. Defenders of the bill are trying to downplay an obscure but controversial unrelated provision attached to the end of the bill that allows public utilities to [...]

By Kevin Dayton | Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged 20 in 2010, ABC California, Ballot Initiative, California, California Environmental Quality Act, Chula Vista, Greenmail, Kevin Dayton, local legislation, PLAs are political payoffs to union leaders, PLAs Increase Costs, Project Labor Agreements, SB 922, State Legislation, The Politics of PLAs | Comments (1)