The Truth About Project Labor Agreements

As our friends at thetruthaboutEFCA.com understand, Big Labor hates democracy (except when they can spend hundreds of millions of dollars to influence the outcome).  It turns out that when given the facts, the American people frequently oppose Big Labor and its agenda.  This is why Big Labor would rather decisions be made by politicians, and not ordinary people.  There is an excellent example of this brewing in Chula Vista, California.

In Chula Vista, Big Labor’s demands for a wasteful and discriminatory union-only project labor agreement derailed one of the largest ventures in the United States.  Gaylord Entertainment was set to invest almost $1 billion of its own money to construct a 2,000-room hotel and convention center along the Chula Vista Bayfront.  The project would have created approximately 8,500 construction and service-industry jobs.  Gaylord Entertainment refused to sign a PLA, so Big Labor tried to pressure them into a PLA through greenmail tactics.  Ultimately, after two years of Big Labor’s strong-arm tactics, Gaylord Entertainment withdrew the proposed Chula Vista Bayfront project altogether.

Determined to prevent Big Labor from driving off economic development like this again, Associated Builder and Contractors of San Diego is working to put a citywide PLA ban on the ballot.  The idea is to let the voters decide how construction is to be done in their community.  However, two initiative petitions and a federal lawsuit later, ABC of San Diego continues to be thwarted at every turn.

To solve this matter once and for all, Mayor Cheryl Cox proposed putting the issue on the ballot through direct city council action.  Despite Mayor Cox’s belief that this issue should be resolved through “the ultimate in democracy,” Big Labor’s majority defeated the initiative 3-2.

Clearly, Big Labor thinks it has a better chance with the politicians than the voters.  Considering PLAs increase construction costs by as much as 20 percent, limit opportunities for women and minorities and last year cost the community one of the largest economic development opportunities in decades, it’s obvious why Big Labor thinks PLAs wouldn’t be popular with the citizens of Chula Vista.

Here at thetruthaboutPLAs.com, we call on the local leaders of Chula Vista to give the voters the opportunity to make open competition for construction projects the law in their community.