California: Brentwood City Council Approves PLA on Civic Center
…d City Council voted 3-2 to send the civic center project out to bid (“Two big steps for civic center,” 6/26). In memory of the benefits of free and open competition on the Brentwood Civic Center, it is worth revisiting this excellent guest commentary in the local paper from TheTruthAboutPLAs.com contributor Kevin Dayton (“Union only agreement will cost taxpayers,” 5/19). Your Brentwood City Council plans to build a $75 million local government co…
Brentwood Residents Speaking Out Against PLAs
…A July 6 letter to the editor to the Contra Costa Times hits the proverbial nail right on the head. Here’s an excerpt: This [PLA] not only violates the tenets of fairness but places the government in a position of essentially favoring one set of bidders over another. The scale of justice is weighted in favor of union-shop bidders over nonunion-shop bidders. This cannot be rationally denied. We completely agree. Read the full letter to the editor…
Rochester City Council Approves PLA for Mayo Civic Center Renovation
…onday to approve a project labor agreement mandate on the $85 million Mayo Civic Center expansion. This requirement will increase construction costs and make it nearly impossible for the vast majority of the construction industry workforce to compete fairly for work on this project. On construction projects where taxpayers are paying the tab, they deserve the best project at the best price. Unfortunately, PLA mandates have a history of increasing…
California Lawmakers Pay Back Their Big Labor Allies, Take Steps to Deprive Charter Cities of Local Control
…party-line votes. It turns out that Democrats in the legislature and their Big Labor allies moved the 2011 bill so quickly that the statute was not as air-tight as they wanted. Luckily for them, that is an easy fix for a state in which Big Labor calls the shots. On April 25, Gov. Jerry Brown (D) signed S.B. 829, which is designed to strip charter cities of state construction funds if the city cannot institute a government-mandated PLA. Here are mo…
Taxpayers Win Big Without Federal Project Labor Agreement on New Hampshire Job Corps Center
…ernational recommending a PLA mandate on the Manchester, NH, DOL Job Corps Center project (submitted Oct. 28, 2010). Evidence documenting cost to taxpayers for Hill International’s pro-PLA mandate report on the Manchester, NH, DOL Job Corps Center ($128,000, solicitation number DOLJ109630678 paid in two installments). Evidence documenting cost to taxpayers for Feb. 25, 2011, Hill International report for promoting PLA mandates for all federal agen…
Bids for Maryland’s Cheltenham Juvenile Detention Center Tainted by Big Labor Favoritism
…ndustry deserve better. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: PROPOSED JUVENILE DETENTION CENTER PROJECT TO FAVOR UNION LABOR RFP discriminates against 90% of the construction workforce which has chosen not to join a union November 11, 2011 – The O’Malley Administration’s decision to favor union labor on the construction of a new juvenile detention center in Prince George’s County will “have a negative impact on local hiring and inflates the cost of the project,…
Gov. Branstad Determined to Enforce Open Competition Executive Order on Cedar Rapids Convention Center Project
…o the sections of President Obama’s Executive Order 13502 that encourage PLAs on federal projects costing more than $25 million, it is also important to remember that President Obama’s order also allows Big Labor to push for PLAs on federally-assisted projects at the state and local level, like the Cedar Rapids Convention Center. Note: The Chicago Tribune also covered this story….
U.S. Department of Labor’s New Hampshire Job Corps Center to Break Ground Today without a Project Labor Agreement Scheme
…vent. Taxpayers are expected to save more than $6 million on the Job Corps Center thanks to the benefits of fair and open competition free from anti-competitive and costly government-mandated project labor agreements (PLAs). Here’s more on the Manchester Job Corps Center saga from a 4/24/13 blog post and press release from TheTruthAboutPLAs.com: “The award of this contract to a local contractor demonstrates the benefits of fair and open competitio…
Union’s Criticism Misses Mark on U.S. Department of Labor’s New Hampshire Job Corps Center Project Labor Agreement Scheme
…l contractors and union and nonunion tradespeople will build the Job Corps Center with a commitment to quality and safety in accordance with federal rules and regulations. It is time to put this controversy behind us and let the new Job Corps Center serve as a reminder that project-labor-agreement-free competition is the best way to serve all taxpayers instead of only well-connected special interests. Ayotte deserves praise, not criticism, for adv…
Manchester’s Stalled Federal Job Corps Center Raised in New Hampshire Gubernatorial Campaign
…on the project and deny local residents services offered by the Job Corps Center and badly needed construction jobs. Yesterday the stalled project made headlines as it was raised as n issue in the New Hampshire gubernatorial race (“Stephen hits Lynch on stalled Job Corps Center, 6/24″): Republican gubernatorial candidate John Stephen blasted Gov. John Lynch for failing to move the project forward. The U.S. Department of Labor had halted the bid p…