Vigorous Debate Expected Between Top California Spokespeople For and Against Project Labor Agreements
Eric Christen, executive director for the Coalition for Fair Employment in Construction, will face off against Lorena Gonzalez, secretary-treasurer of the San Diego and Imperial Counties Labor Council, in a radio debate on San Diego County’s Proposition A on Thursday, October 14 at 9:00 a.m. Pacific Time. Eric Christen will be speaking in support of Proposition A (the position in support of fair and open competition, job creation, and protecting…
San Diego-Union Tribune Publishes “The PLA Plague” Editorial
During the past 10 years, many of California’s daily newspapers (including the Sacramento Bee, Oakland Tribune, Contra Costa Times, Orange County Register and San Diego Union-Tribune) have published editorials denouncing Project Labor Agreements (PLAs) proposed at local governments for public works projects. This is no surprise: anyone who looks objectively at how PLAs are promoted and approved quickly sees that PLAs are not about logic, but abou…
Merit Shop Victory: Open Competition Saved on San Diego Airport Expansion
Today the Board of Directors of the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority decided to move forward on a $500 million expansion of Terminal B and other work at San Diego International Airport without requiring contractors to sign a Project Labor Agreement (PLA) with construction unions. At its previous meeting on May 20, the board heard a relatively neutral presentation on PLAs from Tony Wigglesworth, a Philadelphia-based labor relations cons…
Fair and Open Competition Measure Easily Qualifies for Ballot in City of San Diego
The San Diego City Clerk announced late this afternoon that a proposed ballot measure for a Fair and Open Competition ordinance easily qualified for the next city election ballot. The well-organized, experienced campaign executive committee of local business owners and association representatives submitted their petitions on September 2, well ahead of the deadline, with far more signatures than necessary, and yielding a very high rate for signatu…
The Truth About Taxpayer Funded State University “Labor Institutes”
Most of the academic “studies” published in support of Project Labor Agreements (PLAs) are produced by state university “labor institutes” with close connections to labor unions and convenient funding from taxpayers. One of the most notorious is the University of California Labor Institute, established in 2000 at the behest of the California Labor Federation. This taxpayer-funded propaganda mill has produced two phony studies in support of PLAs….
California State Legislature Considers Repeal of Provision in California’s Design-Build Authorization Laws that Encourages Project Labor Agreements
Merit shop contractors in California continue to go on the offense whenever possible with state and local policy initiatives that prohibit project labor agreements and guarantee or restore fair and open bid competition. We were pleased on Tuesday, January 12, 2010 to see a committee of the California Assembly consider thoughtful state legislation that repeals bad public policy that costs money for taxpayers. The Assembly Business and Professions…
San Diego County Voters Will Have Chance to Ban PLAs on County Construction Projects
The San Diego County Board of Supervisors voted on July 13 to “put the people in charge” and “give voters a voice” by placing a measure (now designated as Proposition A) on the November 2 ballot that would amend the county’s charter to prohibit the county from entering into contracts that require contractors to sign project labor agreements with construction unions. This measure will ensure that San Diego County taxpayers get the best quality con…
Yet Another California County Bans Project Labor Agreements
A third county in California has now prohibited project labor agreements (PLAs) on taxpayer-funded construction projects. On a 3-2 vote on August 24, the Placer County Board of Supervisors approved a resolution adding a provision to its contracting policies that states “the County shall not require a contractor on a County public project to execute or otherwise become a party to a project labor agreement as a condition of bidding, negotiating, aw…
California Governor Jerry Brown Will Decide Fate of Local Voter Rebellions Against Project Labor Agreements
The California legislature has approved and sent to Governor Jerry Brown three bills that construction union lobbyists are demanding in their quest to use the power of government to gain greater control over taxpayer-funded construction projects. These are Senate Bill 922, Assembly Bill 436, and Senate Bill 790. Receiving the most attention is Senate Bill 922, a bill created on September 2 as a “gut and amend” bill and authored by the Assembly Sp…
Unions Unveil Last-Minute Legislative Schemes in California to End Local Fair and Open Competition Policies and Promote Project Labor Agreements
On the afternoon of September 2 – the Friday before Labor Day weekend – the California State Building and Construction Trades Council finally revealed its plot to terminate local efforts throughout the state to guarantee the best quality construction at the best price for taxpayers. Bills in the California State Legislature were “gutted and amended” at the last minute to become new bills that promote Project Labor Agreements and nullify local Fai…