The Politics Of PLAs | The Truth About PLAs

House Defends Principles of Fair and Open Competition with Passage of Amendment Restricting Government-Mandated PLAs on NDAA Authorized Projects

May 21, 2012 – 12:23 pm

It was a historic week for the merit shop contracting community in the U.S. House of Representatives. Thursday, by a bipartisan vote of 211 to 209, the House passed an amendment offered by Rep. Roscoe Bartlett (R-Md.) and cosponsored by Rep. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2013 [...]

By Ben Brubeck | Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged AGC, American Council of Engineering Companies, Business Coalition for Fair Competition (BCFC), Construction Industry Round Table, Executive Order 13502, Federal Construction, Federal Contracting, House PLA Votes, Independent Electrical Contractors, Merit Elevator Contractors Association of America, National Association of Women in Construction, National Black Chamber of Commerce, National Federation of Independent Business, National Right to Work, PLAs, PLAs are political payoffs to union leaders, PLAs Cut Competition, PLAs Discriminate, PLAs Increase Costs, President Obama, Project Labor Agreements, Rep. Flake, Rep. Gingrey, Rep. Guinta, Rep. Roscoe Bartlett, Rep. Tim Walberg, Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council, Sullivan, The Politics of PLAs, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Union-only PLAs harm local workers, Women Construction Owners and Executives | Comments (3)

California Lawmakers Pay Back Their Big Labor Allies, Take Steps to Deprive Charter Cities of Local Control

May 1, 2012 – 12:40 pm

Elected officials in California have again taken their focus away from solving the troubled state’s problems to give a handout to their Big Labor enablers. From 2000 to 2011, the merit shop construction community helped local leaders and voters across the state understand that government-mandated project labor agreements (PLAs) deprive taxpayers of the opportunity to [...]

By Andy Conlin | Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged 20 in 2010, ABC California, Ballot Initiative, California, Chula Vista, Fresno, Greenmail, local legislation, Open Competition, Orange County, Palmdale Water District, PLAs, PLAs are political payoffs to union leaders, PLAs Cut Competition, PLAs Increase Costs, Project Labor Agreements, Proposition A, San Diego, San Diego County, School Construction, State Legislation, The Politics of PLAs | Comments (0)

Virginia Passes Law Curtailing Government-Mandated Project Labor Agreement Schemes

April 24, 2012 – 9:54 am

In a win for taxpayers and Virginia’s merit shop construction industry, on April 9, Gov. Bob McDonnell (R) signed the Fair and Open Competition in Government Contracting Act (HB 33) into law. H.B. 33 prohibits the Commonwealth of Virginia and recipients of state assistance from mandating project labor agreements (PLAs) and enacting PLA preferences discriminating [...]

By Ben Brubeck | Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged ABC Virginia, Barbara Comstock, Dennis Martire, Dulles Transit Partners, Fair and Open Competition in Government Contracting Act (HB 33), Fairfax County, Gov. McDonnell, local hire, Loudoun County, Metro Washington Airport Authority, Michael Curto, MWAA, PLAs, PLAs are political payoffs to union leaders, PLAs Cut Competition, PLAs Discriminate, PLAs Increase Costs, Project Labor Agreements, Ray LaHood, Silver Line, State Legislation, The Politics of PLAs, Tim Hugo, Union-only PLAs harm local workers, Virginia, Virginia Chamber of Commerce | Comments (1)

The Dismal Future of Construction Industry Multiemployer Pension Plans

April 23, 2012 – 2:53 am

Construction unions attempt to entice merit shop craftspeople and new industry entrants into joining a union with promises of generous pension plans. They also convince elected officials in charge of procuring taxpayer-funded projects why union contractors and union workers deserve special treatment through various schemes like government-mandated project labor agreements (PLAs) because of the public [...]

By Ben Brubeck | Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Credit Suisse, featured, Pension Withdrawal Liability, pensions, PGBC, PLAs, PLAs Discriminate, PLAs Increase Costs, President Obama, Project Labor Agreements, The Politics of PLAs, Union-only PLAs harm local workers, Wall Street Journal | Comments (0)

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)

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)