Construction Industry Calls on Santa Fe City Council to Repeal Wasteful and Discriminatory Policy; Urges Community to Contact their City Council Members to say “NO” to this Mandate
In February 2012, the Santa Fe City Council adopted an ordinance that requires the use of community workforce agreements on all city projects costing more than $500,000. While this requirement may sound benign, a community workforce agreement is nothing more than a wasteful and discriminatory project labor agreement (PLA) rebranded to sound more appealing to the average […]
Construction Union Booze Crews Targeted for Drinking on PLA-Covered Ground Zero Projects
Its last call for the union hard hats getting hammered before returning to work on Ground Zero construction jobsites covered by project labor agreements (PLAs). Last month, the New York Post reported the Port Authority is cracking down on drinking by construction union members following a series of accidents and reports of excessive workday boozing […]
Democrats Give Cold Shoulder to Construction Labor Bosses at DNC
It is no secret the Democratic National Convention Committee’s (DNCC) decision to hold its convention in Charlotte, N.C.—a Right-to-Work state with the lowest union density of any in the country (2.9 percent) and an even smaller unionized construction industry workforce (1.2 percent)—has strained the cozy relationship between Big Labor and the Democrat Party. In the […]
GOP Platform Stands up for Workers’ Rights
The Republican National Convention this week adopted into the party’s platform strong language in support of worker freedoms in America. Here are the highlights with our emphasis added: Freedom in the Workplace The current Administration has chosen a different path with regard to labor, clinging to antiquated notions of confrontation and concentrating power in the […]
A Summary of PLA Reform in the States
Like the U.S. Congress, most state legislatures conduct two-year legislative sessions. Now that most of these sessions are complete and lawmakers are focusing on election season, we are taking a look back at the successes and setbacks American taxpayers have experienced in the fight against wasteful and discriminatory government-mandated project labor agreements (PLAs). Although the […]
Op-Ed: The Best Bidder Should be Awarded the Job
Despite a major legal defeat earlier this year, the New York State Department of Transportation (NYS DOT) is continuing their effort to impose a wasteful and discriminatory project labor agreement (PLA) mandate on a highway reconstruction and bridge replacement project near Exit 122 on Route 17 in Orange County, NY. In March 2012, an Albany, […]
USACE Issues PLA Survey for McGuire DIx Lahurst Base Project in New Jersey
The United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) issued a survey requesting information from the construction industry on the potential use of a project labor agreement (PLA) for the construction of the U.S. Army Flight Equipment Complex at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in N.J. TheTruthAboutPLAs.com encourages the merit shop contracting community to respond to the request […]
The Fresno Bee Calls on California Gov. Jerry Brown to Lead in Reforming Environmental Law used to Exploit Construction Owners
The Fresno Bee published an editoral on Sunday, August 5, 2012 calling for Governor Jerry Brown to take a leadership role in reforming the California Environmental Quality Act, or CEQA (California Public Resources Code Section 21000 et seq.) so that unions can’t exploit it to block proposed projects until the owner signs a project labor […]
Op-Ed: Gov’s Insistence on PLAs Excludes Majority of State’s Skilled Labor
The controversy over Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick’s (D) decision to require contractors to sign a wasteful and discriminatory project labor agreement (PLA) as a condition of performing work on the $285 million reconstruction of I-95’s Whittier Bridge continued to attract attention and remind Bostonians of past PLA failures in their community this week. Greg Beeman, president of […]
Tell NAVFAC NO to Project Labor Agreement at Quantico
Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) Washington has issued a survey requesting information from the construction industry on the potential use of a project labor agreement (PLA) for the construction of a four-story secure high-rise facility addition in Quantico, Va. TheTruthAboutPLAs.com encourages the merit shop contracting community to respond to the request for information and tell […]