Transportation & Infrastructure

The Fresno Bee Calls on California Gov. Jerry Brown to Lead in Reforming Environmental Law used to Exploit Construction Owners

1 August 6, 2012  State & Local Construction, Transportation & Infrastructure

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 […]

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Op-Ed: Gov’s Insistence on PLAs Excludes Majority of State’s Skilled Labor

0 August 2, 2012  State & Local Construction, Transportation & Infrastructure, Uncategorized

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 […]

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Boston Globe Editorial Blasts Government-Mandated Project Labor Agreements and Patrick Administration

0 July 24, 2012  State & Local Construction, Transportation & Infrastructure

An editorial in today’s Boston Globe decimates flimsy arguments in favor of government-mandated project labor agreements (PLAs) and skewers Mass. Gov. Deval Patrick (D) for requiring PLAs on major state projects, including the Whittier Memorial Bridge, which TheTruthAboutPLAs.com covered last week (“Project labor agreements: Mass. taxpayers lose again,” 7/24/12): Although it lacks any compelling reasons for doing so, […]

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Merit Shop Contractors Recognized for Safety Achievement and Performance on Federal NAVFAC Project

0 July 17, 2012  Federal Construction, Open Competition Works, Transportation & Infrastructure

The Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) Southwest has again recognized a joint venture between two merit shop contractors for their outstanding safety record and performance on a $175 million federal construction project at Naval Base Point Loma near San Diego, Calif. In February 2011, NAVFAC lauded the P-401 Replacement Fuel Facilities project, being built by […]

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Gov. Patrick Pushes PLA on Whittier Memorial Bridge as Big Dig Costs Balloon to $24.3 Billion

0 July 16, 2012  State & Local Construction, Transportation & Infrastructure

Insanity is often described as doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Mass. Gov. Deval Patrick (D) should revisit his position on a costly and unfortunate policy favoring construction trade unions or expect more waste, discrimination and insanity in the Bay State.

Last week, the ballooning costs of the Big Dig grabbed headlines while Gov. Patrick was criticized for restricting competition for construction contracts to build the $285 million Whittier Memorial Bridge across the Merrimack River to firms willing to sign a union-only government-mandated project labor agreement (PLA).

Meanwhile, last week state lawmakers learned Big Dig costs have mushroomed to more than $24.3 billion, harming the state’s ability to fund other critical transportation projects and create additional construction jobs. Funded by federal and Massachusetts taxpayers, the Big Dig is the most expensive and infamous government-mandated PLA job of all time.

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Another Successful Project Built By Merit Shop Contractor Without a PLA

0 July 11, 2012  Open Competition Works, State & Local Construction, Transportation & Infrastructure

Kudos to Western Water Constructors, Inc. for successfullly completing a $54.5 million wasterwater treatment plant for the Ironhouse Sanitary District (ISD) in Oakley, Calif., on-time, on-budget and with an exemplary safety record. This large infrastructure project was completed without an anti-competitive and costly government-mandated project labor agreement (PLA) and provided value to ISD users and […]

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Project Labor Agreements: Not What We Need, Not What We Deserve

0 June 7, 2012  Federal Construction, Open Competition Works, School Construction, State & Local Construction, Transportation & Infrastructure

Today, Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) released a new video explaining the negative impact of union-favoring government-mandated project labor agreements (PLAs) on taxpayers and the vast majority of the construction workforce that chooses not to join a labor organization. This video is just one more resource in the fight against wasteful government-mandated PLAs. Supporting facts […]

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MWAA Drops Discriminatory PLA Preference Policy on Phase 2 of Silver Line Metrorail Project

1 June 6, 2012  State & Local Construction, Transportation & Infrastructure

Today the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) voted 11-1 to remove the union-favoring project labor agreement (PLA) preference policy on Phase 2 of the Silver Line expansion to Dulles International Airport. Dropping the PLA preference policy will ensure fair and open competition for construction contracts on this important $2.7 billion project. Now that the PLA […]

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Data Shows Project Labor Agreement on Phase 2 of Silver Line Could Hurt Virginia’s Construction Industry

0 May 18, 2012  Federal Construction, State & Local Construction, Transportation & Infrastructure

New evidence suggests a union-favoring project labor agreement (PLA) on Phase 1 of the Silver Line Metrorail project may be responsible for the creation of fewer jobs for Virginia’s construction workforce. Dulles Transit Partners (DTP), the prime contractor building Phase 1 of the Silver Line, recently shared data with the Metropolitan Washington Airport Authority (MWAA), the […]

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