PLAs Are “Morally Offensive”
More and more people are starting to notice President Obama’s handout (Executive Order 13502) to the construction unions. This time, it is Glen Meakem. Mr. Meakem is an economic innovator, Gulf War veteran, Harvard graduate and a radio host on several stations in Pennsylvania – and he thinks PLAs are “morally offensive.”
Here is an excerpt from his website (www.glenmeakem.com):
Obama’s Executive Order 13502
Gus Perea, President and CEO of Adams-Bickel Associates (an award winning non-union contractor) and a Representative of Associated Builders & Contractors, was a guest on my program this weekend and discussed President Obama’s Executive Order 13502. Few people have even heard of this Executive Order, but it is in the process of being enacted. It encourages federal agencies to require Project Labor Agreements (PLA’s) on federally funded construction projects worth over $25 million. PLA’s are bad for the economy and for small businesses because they require that non union contractors abide by inefficient union work rules and contribute to union pension plans-which amounts to at least an 18% cost premium. In addition to driving up the cost of taxpayer funded projects, PLA’s are morally offensive because they give a small minority of the workforce special privileges (only 16% of construction workers are unionized in the U.S.) and cost everyone else jobs. In short, PLA’s take away freedom from non union contractors. But as I said above, the political left does not care about freedom. They just care about power.
You can listen to the entire interview here.
The American people are starting to understand that PLAs are a bad deal. They are a handout to one special interest group at the expense of hardworking taxpayers all over the country. If the federal government begins utilizing PLAs, it will be on the backs of ALL taxpayers, regardless of where they live.
Thank you for spreading the word, Mr. Meakem.