Vigorous Debate Expected Between Top California Spokespeople For and Against Project Labor Agreements
Eric Christen, executive director for the Coalition for Fair Employment in Construction, will face off against Lorena Gonzalez, secretary-treasurer of the San Diego and Imperial Counties Labor Council, in a radio debate on San Diego County’s Proposition A on Thursday, October 14 at 9:00 a.m. Pacific Time.
Eric Christen will be speaking in support of Proposition A (the position in support of fair and open competition, job creation, and protecting taxpayers) and Lorena Gonzalez will be speaking against Proposition A (the position in support of costly and discriminatory construction union monopolies).
Christen and Gonzalez are intellectual brawlers known for their hard-hitting positions and aggressive debating styles. This debate promises to be quite entertaining as well as educational.
Proposition A, on the November 2 ballot, would prohibit San Diego County from entering into contracts that require construction companies to sign project labor agreements (PLAs) with unions.
The radio debate will be on KPBS: These Days with Maureen Cavanaugh. You can listen on the radio on 89.5 FM or online at http://www.kpbs.org/news/these-days/.
UPDATE:
Check out this video that breaks down Ms. Gonzalez’s misinformation:
UPDATE #2:
Listen to a recording of the debate and read the comments here:
2 Responses to Vigorous Debate Expected Between Top California Spokespeople For and Against Project Labor Agreements
No the unions should do the work. I want to know when I go over a bridge, that it was built right.
Sue, unions don’t have a monopoly on quality and safety. For example, the PLA and union craftsmen on Boston’s Big Dig didn’t prevent ceiling panels from falling down and killing a motorist. It didn’t stop thousands of leaks from springing in one of the tunnels either.
Learn more here:
http://www.thetruthaboutplas.com/2010/06/29/the-most-infamous-pla-job-lessons-from-bostons-big-dig/
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) fined three construction companies and 14 site contractors a total of $16.6 million following a gas explosion during the construction of the Kleen energy Plant in Middletown, CT, that killed 6 workers and injured 30 people Feb. 7, 2010. The project was built under a PLA and used union labor.
Learn more here: http://money.cnn.com/2010/09/09/news/companies/kleen_energy_explosion_full.fortune/index.htm
Construction is a dangerous industry. There is no government or private data that suggests union and/or PLA jobsites are safer than non-PLA and mixed or open shop jobsites.