Union-only PLAs harm local workers

Virginia Delays Enactment of Prevailing Wage and PLA Mandate Laws Until May 2021

0 April 23, 2020  Featured, State & Local Construction

During its annual reconvene/veto session April 22, the Virginia General Assembly agreed with Gov. Ralph Northam (D) and delayed the effective date of two laws permitting prevailing wage and project labor agreement requirements on taxpayer-funded public works projects. The General Assembly originally sent these bills, passed via party line votes, to the desk of Gov. […]

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Why ABC New Jersey Chapter is Suing Jersey City

0 September 18, 2014  Featured, State & Local Construction

Earlier this month, the New Jersey Chapter of Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) filed a complaint in federal court against Jersey City, N.J., in response to its 2012 ordinance requiring developers and contractors to execute union-favoring project labor agreements (PLAs) on certain tax-abated projects in Jersey City. This ordinance amended existing pro-PLA city code that […]

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Project Labor Agreement Fails On Tappan Zee Bridge Construction; Jobs Outsourced to Robots

1 June 9, 2014  Featured, State & Local Construction, Transportation & Infrastructure

The $3.9 billion project to replace New York’s Tappan Zee Bridge is being built by union labor and robots. The $3.1 billion construction contract is subject to a government-mandated project labor agreement (PLA) pushed by Albany’s pro-union lawmakers and New York Gov. Cuomo (D) because it will result in a huge windfall of political contributions to the Empire […]

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No Surprise: Big Labor Fails to Meet Meriden PLA Hiring Goals

0 May 19, 2014  School Construction, State & Local Construction

Construction unions in Meriden, Conn. are failing to meet local, minority and veteran hiring goals on two high profile school projects – a key promise made by union leaders during their effort to secure wasteful and discriminatory project labor agreement (PLA) requirements on approximately $220 million worth of contracts to renovate two local high schools. […]

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Jersey City Project Labor Agreement Policies Fail to Deliver Local Jobs

1 January 28, 2014  Featured, State & Local Construction

Jersey City residents are upset jobs on construction projects subject to government-mandated project labor agreements (PLAs) are not going to local minority residents, despite promises made by unions and lawmakers promoting PLAs. A video, Jersey City Need Not Apply, released last week by the Jersey City Political Action Committee (JCPAC), documents how Jersey City policies […]

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Project Labor Agreement Schemes Debated in Charles County Maryland

0 November 1, 2013  School Construction, State & Local Construction

A battle is brewing between the merit shop contracting community and construction labor unions in Charles County, Maryland, the latest locality in the Mid-Atlantic region to entertain legislation requiring anti-competitive and costly government-mandated project labor agreements (PLAs) on taxpayer-funded construction projects. On Oct.2, the Charles County commissioners invited representatives from construction trade unions and the local […]

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Project Labor Agreement on Iowa State Penitentiary Fails to Fulfill Local Hiring Promises

0 October 16, 2013  Featured, State & Local Construction, Transportation & Infrastructure

The Des Moines Register reported the $132 million Iowa State Penitentiary project in Fort Madison, Iowa, has created jobs for a large number of out-of-state union workers, despite promises by advocates of project labor agreements (PLAs) that these union-favoring pacts create jobs primarily for Iowa’s taxpayers and construction workforce (“Many prison project jobs went to non-Iowans,” 10/12/13): “When […]

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Project Labor Agreement Fails at Local Hire on New Bedford Dredging Project

0 October 2, 2013  State & Local Construction

Big Labor bosses and government-mandated project labor agreement (PLA) advocates frequently claim that PLAs are the only way to guarantee local hire on construction projects. Of course, this is another myth promoted by special interests to convince lawmakers and taxpayers that there is a public benefit to anti-competitive and costly PLA schemes, which funnel lucrative […]

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National Black Chamber of Commerce Blasts Lack of Diversity in Construction Trade Unions

2 July 29, 2013  Featured, Federal Construction, State & Local Construction

Earlier this month, the National Black Chamber of Commerce penned an open letter to U.S. Representative Marica Fudge, chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, claiming construction unions have “consistently discriminated against Black workers and contractors” and are “a prime contributor to Black unemployment”  (“Strange Bedfellows – Unions and Black Politicians“): “We are very disturbed that elected officials […]

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