Do Project Labor Agreements Stop Strikes on Construction Jobsites?

0 March 29, 2021  Featured, Federal Construction, State & Local Construction

Some construction union lobbyists and bosses market anti-competitive and costly project labor agreements to public and private construction owners as a tool to guarantee labor peace on construction jobsites by prohibiting union-led strikes that can delay a project and increase the cost of construction. PLA advocates know that strikes, work stoppages, slowdowns and other labor unrest authorized […]

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African American Chamber of Commerce of New Jersey Speaks Out Against Proposed PLA Act Expansion in Joint Statement with ABC New Jersey

1 March 24, 2021  State & Local Construction

In what should come as no surprise, New Jersey’s history of favoring costly and discriminatory government-mandated project labor agreements over sensible policies favoring fair and open competition has reared its ugly head once again. Pro-PLA lawmakers in the state legislature, including known PLA fanatic Senate President Stephen Sweeney, have shown they continue to value the granting […]

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USACE Baltimore District Issues Project Labor Agreement Surveys for Maryland & Virginia

0 March 21, 2021  Federal Construction

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has issued two surveys soliciting comments from the construction industry about the potential use of a government-mandated project labor agreement for multiple construction projects in Maryland and Virginia. The USACE Baltimore District is soliciting comments from the construction community addressing the potential use of a PLA for large-scale, general […]

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Taxpayer Bailout of Multiemployer Pension Plans and Government-mandated Project Labor Agreements

1 March 17, 2021  Featured, Federal Construction

On March 11, President Biden signed the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (H.R. 1319) into law, including a controversial provision providing a Congressional Budget Office-estimated $86 billion taxpayer bailout of struggling multiemployer pension plans. The COVID-19 relief bill’s sudden bailout of some MEPPs has been disheartening to some small businesses and firms not affiliated […]

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Op-Ed: Build Back Better U.S. Infrastructure with Fair and Open Competition, Free From Government-Mandated Project Labor Agreements

0 March 17, 2021  Featured, Federal Construction, Open Competition Works

The Washington Times published this March 16 op-ed expressing concerns about the expansion of government-mandated project labor agreement policy on taxpayer-funded federal and federally assisted construction projects. Build back better U.S. infrastructure with fair and open competition Taxpayers must hold lawmakers accountable for delivering cost-effective infrastructure projects that will last. Americans are in strong bipartisan […]

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Setting the Record Straight: Do Government-mandated Project Labor Agreements Really Improve Safety Performance?

0 March 16, 2021  Federal Construction, Open Competition Works, State & Local Construction

Supporters of government-mandated project labor agreements often claim these controversial schemes ensure the safe delivery of construction projects, and therefore, it’s in the public interest for lawmakers to mandate PLAs on construction projects funded by hardworking taxpayers, resulting in reduced competition from local firms, increased construction costs by 12% to 20%, and fewer local construction […]

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Coalition To President Biden: Government-Mandated Project Labor Agreements Reduce Competition, Raise Costs on Taxpayer-Funded Construction

1 March 12, 2021  Featured, Federal Construction, Open Competition Works

On March 5, ABC and a coalition of 14 industry and employer groups sent a letter to President Biden raising concerns about the expansion of policies encouraging or mandating project labor agreements on federal and federally assisted construction projects. ABC and the coalition are monitoring Biden administration executive actions, federal agency policies and legislation introduced in the 117th Congress that […]

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Government-Mandated Project Labor Agreement Failures on Federal and Federally Assisted Construction Projects

0 March 10, 2021  Featured, Federal Construction

ABC supports fair and open competition and opposes government-mandated project labor agreements on federal and federally assisted projects because hardworking taxpayers deserve more efficient and effective policies that will encourage all qualified contractors and their skilled workforce to compete to build long-lasting, quality projects at the best price. Just 12.7% of the U.S. construction workforce belongs […]

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Union Leaders and Contractors Oppose Government-mandated Project Labor Agreements Too

0 March 1, 2021  Featured, Federal Construction, Open Competition Works, State & Local Construction

The debate surrounding controversial government-mandated project labor agreements is often framed by the media, elected officials and policy wonks as a dispute pitting construction unions against nonunion contractors in a battle about whether the government should be enacting PLA preference and mandate policies that ultimately steer taxpayer-funded construction contracts to unionized contractors and create jobs […]

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USACE Omaha District Issues PLA Survey Due 3.9

0 February 26, 2021  Federal Construction

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Omaha District has issued a survey soliciting comments from the construction industry about the potential use of government-mandated project labor agreements (PLAs) for a project on Offutt Air Force Base in Sarpy County, Nebraska. ABC National encourages the merit shop contracting community to respond to this PLA survey. Tell USACE […]

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