West Jefferson Hills School District Project Labor Agreement Exposed
On May 26, 2015, the West Jefferson Hills School District (WJHSD) Board voted 7-1 to require a project labor agreement (PLA) on construction contracts to build a $100 million high school south of Pittsburgh. After learning about this discriminatory PLA mandate, on August 18, 2015, the ABC Western Pennsylvania Chapter wrote this letter to WJHSD […]
Illinois Gov. Rauner Calls for Project Labor Agreement and Prevailing Wage Reform
Yesterday, Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner delivered a State of the State address to Illinois lawmakers, laying out bold reforms to make Illinois more competitive. Included in Gov. Rauner’s plan to reinvent Illinois is a call to eliminate anti-competitive and costly government-mandated project labor agreements (PLAs) and reform Illinois prevailing wage rules, which will help reduce taxpayer-funded construction costs […]
No Surprise: Big Labor Fails to Meet Meriden PLA Hiring Goals
Construction unions in Meriden, Conn. are failing to meet local, minority and veteran hiring goals on two high profile school projects – a key promise made by union leaders during their effort to secure wasteful and discriminatory project labor agreement (PLA) requirements on approximately $220 million worth of contracts to renovate two local high schools. […]
PLA Requirement Costs Southern California Taxpayers
In a story we can file under “no surprise here,” we learned earlier this week that the PLA mandate on the Rancho Campana High School caused the budget for the project to come in higher than expected. The Oxnard Union High School Board in Ventura, Calif., voted to approve approximately $58 million for the construction […]
Keystone Research Center Studies Promoting Pennsylvania Project Labor Agreements Can’t Be Trusted
Proponents of discriminatory and costly government-mandated project labor agreements (PLAs) have concocted some wild schemes to help misguided and corrupt lawmakers steer taxpayer-funded contracts to their union workers and unionized contractor political supporters with little competition and public scrutiny, but this latest caper from Bristol Township, Pa., is remarkable and deserves to be exposed. In August 2013, when […]
USACE Project Labor Agreement Survey for Ft. Campbell, Kentucky, School Due Dec. 23
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Louisville District is soliciting comments from the construction community about the potential use of a government-mandated project labor agreement (PLA) on a federal construction contract to build a high school at Fort Campbell, Ky. To review the survey and learn how to respond, click here. Please provide survey responses […]
Project Labor Agreement Schemes Debated in Charles County Maryland
A battle is brewing between the merit shop contracting community and construction labor unions in Charles County, Maryland, the latest locality in the Mid-Atlantic region to entertain legislation requiring anti-competitive and costly government-mandated project labor agreements (PLAs) on taxpayer-funded construction projects. On Oct.2, the Charles County commissioners invited representatives from construction trade unions and the local […]
Great Scott: Projects Bid With and Without PLA Mandates Show PLAs Increase Costs and Reduce Competition
While researching the use of government-mandated project labor agreements (PLAs) in West Virginia in advance of Wednesday’s deadline for a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) survey about a potential PLA mandate on a large-scale federal project in Harpers Ferry, W.Va., TheTruthAboutPLAs.com went back in time to revisit another real-world example of how discriminatory PLA […]
Told You So: Project Labor Agreement on Connecticut High School Increased Costs and Reduced Competition
In 2012, the merit shop contracting community and city employees predicted Meriden, Conn., would face increased costs and reduced competition if the city council mandated a union-favoring project labor agreement (PLA) on $220 million worth of contracts to renovate two local high schools. (TheTruthAboutPLAs.com covered the controversy here and here). Despite the warnings, testy public […]
Georgia Open Competition for Public Contracting Language Still Alive
Despite a setback last week, a bill in Georgia containing language to ban government-mandated project labor agreements (PLAs) and other requirements that force contractors to abide by Big Labor’s demands as a condition of being awarded taxpayer-funded construction projects could be on the move. If enacted, this language would prevent PLA mandates in Georgia – […]