It’s Out in the Open: Project Labor Agreement a Costly Possibility for San Diego Convention Center Expansion

10 March 11, 2011  State & Local Construction, Uncategorized

The Coalition for Fair Employment in Construction (CFEC) held a press conference on February 22 to oppose the rumored plan to require contractors to sign a project labor agreement (PLA) to work on construction of the proposed $700 million San Diego Convention Center Expansion.

Accompanied by more than 50 construction workers, the organization unveiled its “Statement of Principles” outlining six expectations for the project, including having county residents comprise 90% of the workforce, not forcing Merit Shop companies to pay employee benefits into union trust funds instead of their own employee benefit programs, and allowing apprentices from any state-approved training program to get on-the-job training on the convention center expansion project.

Allegedly, there are appointees on the Board of Directors for the San Diego Convention Center Corporation who are intent on negotiating a project labor agreement with construction union officials in order to avoid union “greenmail” and exploitation of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) that would hold up permits for the project. Environmental permit extortion by construction unions helped to derail a proposed $1.2 billion hotel and convention center proposed by Gaylord Entertainment at the Chula Vista Bayfront in 2007 and 2008.

The San Diego Union-Tribune reported on the press conference (“Contractors Opposed to Union Labor Mandate on Convention Center Expansion“). Union officials and a convention center corporation board member were coy about their plans to negotiate a project labor agreement. Clearly a PLA is a distinct possibility, and business and community leaders who support free enterprise will need to be diligent about exposing secret negotiations at every turn.

Nationwide, construction unions have long targeted lucrative and high-profile convention centers for costly PLAs. A project labor agreement was imposed on the last expansion of the San Diego Convention Center in 1999.

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10 Responses to It’s Out in the Open: Project Labor Agreement a Costly Possibility for San Diego Convention Center Expansion

PHONY UNION TREE HUGGERS » San Diego Convention Center Expansion: Construction Unions and Hotel Unions Find 63 Pages Worth of CEQA Complaints August 16, 2012 at 10:20 pm

[…] “It’s Out in the Open: Project Labor Agreement a Costly Possibility for San Diego Convention Center…” – www.thetruthaboutPLAs.com – March 11, 2011 […]

Dayton Public Policy Institute, a project of Labor Issues Solutions, LLC » Brazen! Union Officials and Their Environmental Lawyers at Port Commissioners’ Meeting Threaten to Stop San Diego Convention Center Expansion Using California Environme September 20, 2012 at 3:33 am

[…] objections? As I documented in my March 11, 2011 http://www.thetruthaboutPLAs.com article entitled It’s Out in the Open: Project Labor Agreement a Costly Possibility for San Diego Convention Center…, construction union officials want a requirement for construction contractors to sign a Project […]

Dayton Public Policy Institute, a project of Labor Issues Solutions, LLC » Brazen! Union Officials and Their Environmental Lawyers at Port Commissioners’ Meeting Threaten to Stop San Diego Convention Center Expansion Using California Environme September 20, 2012 at 3:36 am

[…] objections? As I documented in my March 11, 2011 http://www.thetruthaboutPLAs.com article entitled It’s Out in the Open: Project Labor Agreement a Costly Possibility for San Diego Convention Center…, construction union officials want a requirement for construction contractors to sign a Project […]

Dayton Public Policy Institute, a project of Labor Issues Solutions, LLC » Brazen! Union Officials and Their Environmental Lawyers at Port Commissioners’ Meeting Threaten to Stop San Diego Convention Center Expansion Using California Environme September 20, 2012 at 3:37 am

[…] objections? As I documented in my March 11, 2011 http://www.thetruthaboutPLAs.com article entitled It’s Out in the Open: Project Labor Agreement a Costly Possibility for San Diego Convention Center…, construction union officials want a requirement for construction contractors to sign a Project […]

Dayton Public Policy Institute, a project of Labor Issues Solutions, LLC » www.UnionWatch.org Publishes My Comprehensive Analysis of the Union CEQA Greenmail Against the San Diego Convention Center Expansion September 21, 2012 at 1:48 pm

[…] Eighteen months ago, I wrote about how unions were angling for a Project Labor Agreement on the San Diego convention center expansion in http://www.theTruthaboutPLAs.com. See It’s Out in the Open: Project Labor Agreement a Costly Possibility for San Diego Convention Center…. […]

Outlining the San Diego Convention Center Scam on One Centralized Web Site | San Diego Convention Center Scam January 15, 2013 at 12:17 am

[…] It was known for years that the San Diego County Building and Construction Trades Council planned to use CEQA to delay construction of the convention center expansion until it obtained a union monopoly on construction with a Project Labor Agreement. The plans were documented in a March 2011 article It’s Out in the Open: Project Labor Agreement a Costly Possibility for San Diego Convention Center…. […]

Highlighting the Top Union Abuses of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) | FlashReport February 19, 2013 at 9:59 am

[…] It was known for years that the San Diego County Building and Construction Trades Council planned to use CEQA to delay construction of the convention center expansion until it obtained a union monopoly on construction with a Project Labor Agreement. The plans were documented in a March 2011 article It’s Out in the Open: Project Labor Agreement a Costly Possibility for San Diego Convention Center…. […]

Finally Got It! Secret Union Deal for San Diego Convention Center | Union Watch December 30, 2015 at 7:14 pm

[…] It’s Out in the Open: Project Labor Agreement a Costly Possibility for San Diego Convention Center… – www.TheTruthaboutPLAs.com – March 11, 2011 […]

Unions Threaten Environmental Litigation to Block San Diego Convention Center - Union Watch January 19, 2017 at 12:57 pm

[…] objections? As I documented in my March 11, 2011 http://www.TheTruthaboutPLAs.com article entitled It’s Out in the Open: Project Labor Agreement a Costly Possibility for San Diego Convention Center…, union officials want a requirement for construction contractors to sign a Project Labor Agreement […]

Finally Got It! Secret Union Deal for San Diego Convention Center | NEW CAL POLICY February 3, 2017 at 2:20 pm

[…] It’s Out in the Open: Project Labor Agreement a Costly Possibility for San Diego Convention Center… – www.TheTruthaboutPLAs.com – March 11, 2011 […]

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