The Project Labor Agreement and Troubled Union Multiemployer Pension Plan Nexus
Construction unions attempt to entice merit shop craft professionals and new construction industry workers and apprentices into joining a union with promises of generous retirement benefits via multiemployer pension plans. Construction unions lobby elected officials in charge of procuring taxpayer-funded construction projects with arguments on why union contractors and union workers deserve special treatment through various […]
Pennsylvania Court Strikes Down PLA Mandate
ABC members Allan Myers and J.D. Eckman Inc. recently won a court case challenging the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation’s project labor agreement mandate for the Markley Street reconstruction project in Montgomery County. Tried in the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania, the court ruled on Jan. 11 that PennDOT’s PLA mandate violated the state’s competitive bidding laws and discriminated against nonunion […]
House Lawmakers Ask President Trump to Eliminate Obama Policy Promoting Project Labor Agreements
Last week, U.S. House lawmakers urged President Trump to rescind a costly Obama administration policy encouraging the use of government-mandated project labor agreements (PLAs). The letter (pdf) signed by 44 House Republican lawmakers, urges President Trump to rescind Executive Order 13502, “which strongly encourages federal agencies, on a case-by-case basis, to consider requiring project labor agreements […]
ABC Touts Benefits of Fair and Open Competition on Varney from The White House
Topping out a successful Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) Legislative Week 2018, ABC President and CEO Michael Bellaman gave a June 29, 2018, interview with Fox Business’ Stuart Varney from the White House where he touted the benefits of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act to the construction industry and promoted the value of fair and open competition […]
Op-Ed Offers Solution to Government-Mandated Project Labor Agreement Problem
The Hill published an op-ed by ABC CEO and President Michael Bellaman laying out three key policy recommendations for Congress and the Trump administration to enact in order to continue the construction industry’s positive economic growth (“Time for Cogress to bolster Trump’s roadmap for rebuilding America,” 6/27/18). The op-ed is part of ABC’s one powerful […]
ABC Legislative Week 2018: Fighting for Fair and Open Competition
Members of the merit shop contracting community, welcome to Washington and ABC’s Legislative Conference 2018. More than 500 ABC members are traveling to Washington, D.C., for meetings with top Trump administration and congressional leaders to address the issues that impact the merit shop construction industry. Answering ABC’s powerful Get Into Politics or Get Out of Business! message, attendees will educate lawmakers […]
Washington Examiner: White House Mulls Rollback of Federal Project Labor Agreement Rule
The Washington Examiner published an article quoting TheTruthAboutPLAs.com contributor Ben Brubeck about the Trump administration considering the reversal of President Obama’s anti-competitive and costly policy encouraging the use of government-mandated project labor agreements (PLAs) on large-scale federal construction projects—those exceeding $25 million in total value—on a case-by-case basis, and permits states and localities to mandate PLAs […]
TheTruthAboutPLAs.com Pushes for Repeal of Obama’s Pro-Project Labor Agreement Policy on NewsMaxTV
NewsmaxTV invited TheTruthAboutPLAs.com contributor Ben Brubeck onto a program to discuss the Trump administration’s infrastructure plan (full administration outline) released today (“Ben Brubeck on Trump’s Infrastructure Plan,” 2/18/18) and the need to rollback regulations promoting anti-competitive and costly government-mandated project labor agreements (PLAs) on taxpayer-funded infrastructure projects: At about 5:38 of the interview, there is discussion about the […]
CNBC Op-Ed: Eliminating Federal Policy Promoting Government-Mandated Project Labor Agreements Should Be A Policy Cornerstone of Trump Infrastructure Plan
CNBC published commentary from TheTruthAboutPLAs.com contributor Ben Brubeck, which called for reforms to the federal policy encouraging the use of anti-competitive and costly government-mandated project labor agreements on large-scale federal construction projects (“Five policy cornerstones for Trump’s $1.5 trillion infrastructure plan,” 2/1/18). Check out this passage and the four other recommended policy cornerstones (permitting reform, increase the […]
TheTruthAboutPLAs.com Calls For Eliminating Pro-Government-Mandated Project Labor Agreement Policy on Fox Business
The FBN:am program on Fox Business interviewed TheTruthAboutPLAs.com contributor Ben Brubeck for construction industry insights in reaction to President Trump’s Jan. 30, 2018, State of the Union Address, which addressed the Trump administration’s forthcoming $1.5 trillion infrastructure plan. The interview finished with a discussion about the need to rescind President Obama’s Executive Order 13502, which […]