The editorial staff of the San Diego Union-Tribune Saturday announced their support for Proposition A, which would ban government-mandated project labor agreements (PLAs) on city funded construction projects in San Diego.
This support comes despite union claims that if Proposition A is adopted, the city risks losing future state construction funding due to a new state law signed by Gov. Jerry Brown last week.
Here are the highlights from the Union-Tribune‘s editorial announcing the paper’s support for Proposition A:
We acknowledge that Proposition A puts state construction funding at risk. Former Councilwoman Donna Frye points out that Mayor Jerry Sanders’ administration considered the funding threat significant enough that it was mentioned in a disclosure document for an upcoming bond offering.
But this bullying of local governments and taxpayers should not be accepted as a legitimate tactic, especially when the law used to execute the bullying is so susceptible to a court challenge.
Beyond that, the concern that Proposition A addresses – that union-allied elected city officials could began mandating PLAs – is real. Such a local union power play would be nothing new.
For four years, union-allied City Council members helped stall the implementation of a 2006 voter initiative meant to downsize city government by creating “managed competition” between private companies and government workers to provide city services. Union-allied members of the San Diego school board pushed through a version of a PLA for projects built with the $2.1 billion Proposition S bond approved in 2008 – after never mentioning their intentions during the campaign for the measure.
If we can pre-emptively block such power plays, let’s do so. The U-T San Diego Editorial Board urges a yes vote on Proposition A. Don’t let the bullies win.
Proposition A will help guarantee San Diego taxpayers the best construction at the best price.
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