Prince George’s County Abandons Anti-Competitive, Budget-Busting Project Labor Agreement on Laurel Library
Another taxpayer-funded project subject to a government-mandated project labor agreement (PLA) in the Washington, D.C., region has run into trouble. The Baltimore Sun reported that a union-favoring PLA required by Prince George’s County on the construction of the new library in Laurel, Md., has been scrapped because it caused delays, increased costs, and reduced competition from local contractors and […]
Money For Nothin’
Bret Jacobson, a blogger on BigGovernment.com, reminds readers (Our Dire Straits: Money For Nothin’, 12/9/10) of a story reported earlier this week about taxpayer waste on the renovation of the Lafayette Federal Building in downtown Washington D.C. As regular readers remember, the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) paid a federal contractor at least $3.3 million as […]
Baltimore Community Partnership Agreement (PLA) Bill Gets a Hearing
The Baltimore City Council held a hearing Thursday, July 29 to examine local legislation (Bill 10-0455) that would require community partnership agreements – also known as wasteful and discriminatory project labor agreements (PLAs) – on all construction projects costing more than $5 million and that have some form of city financial support. Here is an […]
Baltimore City Solicitor Opposes Baltimore Project Labor Agreement Ordinance
“For the reasons listed above, the Law Department does not approve the bill for form and legal sufficiency.” That is the legal opinion of Ashley H. Brown, Baltimore’s Assistant Attorney Solicitor, on controversial legislation (Bill No. 10-0455) before the Baltimore City Council that would require the city to include government-mandated project labor agreements (PLAs) in all contracts for construction projects with a total […]
The Truth About PLAs Exposed During DC Council Hearing
The D.C. Council committees on Housing and Workforce Development and Government Operations held a joint hearing on June 30 to consider the District Resident Employment and Trade Stimulus Amendment Act of 2010 (Bill 18-650). This bill would require the use of wasteful and discriminatory project labor agreements (PLAs) on all projects costing more than $200,000 […]
DC Council Holds Hearing Tomorrow on Legislation Mandating PLA Schemes
The D.C. Council’s Committee on Housing and Workforce Development and Government Operations is holding a hearing at 10:00 AM tomorrow morning in Room 500 of the John A. Wilson Building on the District Resident Employment and Trade Stimulus Amendment Act of 2010 (Bill 18-650). This legislation would require contractors building District construction projects costing more than […]
New Report Says Anti-Competitive PLAs Won’t Help District of Columbia Economy
A new report on government-mandated PLAs, “The Problem with PLAs in the District of Columbia,” was released today. Focusing specifically on the D.C. construction market, ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu’s report examines the existing data indicating whether government-mandated PLAs make sense in the District of Columbia. Here is a key finding from the report: “In […]
District of Columbia Big Labor Bosses Busted for Pay-to-Play Politics
A TruthAboutPLAs.com reader has sent us evidence we are sharing with the public that demonstrates that the AFL-CIO Metropolitan Washington Council is engaged in shameless pay-to-play politics with Prince George’s County (Maryland) officials. TheTruthAboutPLAs.com has covered how a lobbyist for the AFL-CIO Metropolitan Washington Council perpetuated misleading/intentionally false statements in support of District Resident Employment and Trade Stimulus Act of 2010 […]
Metro Washington Council AFL-CIO President Argues McDonalds Employees Only Earn $50 an Hour
A quote in a recent Washington Business Journal article indicates that Joslyn Williams, president of the AFL-CIO Metropolitan Washington Council, believes McDonald’s employees earn $50 an hour (“Bill heats up battle over required use of union labor,” 2/28/10). “The city has to decide whether it wants people working on its construction projects to earn only ‘McDonald’s wages,’” said Joslyn Williams, […]
Replicating Failure In D.C.
It looks like Big Labor’s grip on the federal government isn’t enough to satisfy the construction union bosses. They also want to control all locally funded construction in D.C. as well. Clearly on behalf of Big Labor, District Council member Michael Brown recently introduced legislation that would require wasteful and discriminatory project labor agreements (PLAs) […]