The Truth About Project Labor Agreements

Jeremy Price, owner of ABC Iowa member Price Industrial Electric, appeared on the Laura Ingraham radio show July 16 to discuss President Obama’s pro-project labor agreement (PLA) Executive Order 13502, which encourages federal agencies to steer lucrative federal construction contracts exceeding $25 million to unionized contractors and union members.

March 15, 2010, Iowa Gov. Chet Culver took a page out of President Obama’s “Big Labor favor” playbook and signed a state executive order similar to Executive Order 13502 that applies to state-funded construction projects exceeding $25 million in Iowa.

Culver’s Executive Order 22 is viewed by many as a sop to Big Labor in order to obtain Big Labor’s support during his re-election campaign this November. 

This controversial topic has also been grabbing headlines in recent months.

In June, the Iowa University Board of Regents voted 5-4, along party lines, in favor of requiring a PLAon the construction of the $73 million outpatient clinic for the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Coralville, IA after the Culver order pushed them towards using a PLA.

In July, Iowa gubernatorial candidate Terry Branstad spoke out against Culver’s anti-competitive and costly pro-PLA policy, which led to statements from both campaigns, labor and the business community about this divisive issue.

On the radio program, Laura Ingraham and Jeremy Price explain to listeners how Obama and Culver’s pro-PLA executive orders are harming small businesses, like Price Industrial Electric, and their skilled and qualified workforce, while taxpayers are likely to foot the bill for increased construction costs as a result of anti-competitive PLAs.

Listen to the radio interview.

At 3:40, Laura Ingraham summarizes this issue best:

“The project labor agreement executive order was signed into law on Feb. 6, 2009. The President, right after being sworn into office as President of the United States, set about to reward the cronies in the unions across this country, and labor bosses/union bosses have been sitting pretty and riding the Obama wave ever since.

That means you are spending more money. How? Your tax dollars are paying for these federal projects. So the taxpayers suffer. Small business owners like Jeremy Price of Price Industrial Electric…he suffers. He is being undercut despite the fact that he will charge less, he will get the job done faster, you will have less bureaucracy, less red tape.

But guess what? In land Obama, the unions are in control. The unions reign supreme. That means they are in control….

This is an absolute outrage. If you are listening to this show….these project labor agreements, you need to find out about them in your area. You need to start speaking about them to your friends. You need to continue to shine the light on these excesses of union enhancement by this Obama administration.”

We agree with Laura Ingraham. Go home tonight and spread the truth about PLAs in your community.  Taxpayers deserve the best possible construction product at the best possible price instead of crony contracting and corruption.