The Truth About Project Labor Agreements

Readers of TheTruthAboutPLAs.com know that we have closely followed a proposal being consider by the Lucas County, OH Board of Supervisors that would require PLAs on all county projects and those that receive county funds.

As the Lucas County PLA fight heats up, it’s like deja vu all over again for Lucas County residents.

Great Scott Marty! It turns out that Lucas County went down the PLA road in 1996. 

So why is Big Labor pushing for a PLA requirement if the county passed one in 1996?  It turns out the PLA mandate was such a failure and so burdensome that officials repealed it one year later.  That’s right!  The 1996 PLA requirement was repealed in 1997.

Here’s the background thanks to Maggie Thurbur via her blog Thurbur’s Thoughts.  The Lucas County Board of Supervisors adopted a resolution requiring PLAs on all county funded projects in excess of $50,000 in September 1996.  According to Ms. Thurbur, after problems with PLA policy precluding nonunion contractors’ low bid from being accepted and increasing county construction costs, the PLA requirement was overturned by the Supervisors in April 1997.

Clearly, Lucas County supervisors determined that government-mandated PLAs don’t work in the 1990s. Nevertheless, in a stunning example of bad government, a proposed PLA requirement is back in Lucas County.   Interestingly enough (although not surprising), the proposed PLA requirement before the Board of Supervisors in 2009 is nearly identical to the repealed 1996 county law. The most significant difference is the 2009 proposal is broader and would apply to almost all projects receiving county funds.

In other words, the Lucas County Board of Supervisiors found a construction procurement policy that doesn’t work, so now they want to expand it.

There is still more time to let Lucas County Commissioners know that special interest politics have no place in Lucas County, Ohio.  The vote is scheduled for December 15.

In the spirit of Biff Tannen, tell the Lucas County Commissioners to take their PLA proposal and “make like a tree and get out of here.”

Pete Gerken: [email protected]
Tina Skeldon Wozniak: [email protected]
Ben Konop: [email protected]
Phone number: 419-213-4500