Federal PLA on Navy Project in Washington Will Harm Local Construction Workforce and Procurement Efficiency
Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) Northwest has mandated a project labor agreement (PLA) on the construction of a $450 million to $550 million explosives handling wharf #2 (Solicitation No. N4425511R9004) at Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor in Washington. The PLA mandate harms Washington’s experienced and skilled nonunion construction workforce and will discourage competition from qualified contractors that have […]
Why Are Project Labor Agreements Popular with Corrupt, Mismanaged, Fiscally Irresponsible Governments?
In California, project labor agreements (PLAs) go hand-in-hand with incompetent, unaccountable governments. Find a school district with low test scores that is close to bankruptcy. Or find a local government with a massive budget deficit and huge unfunded pension liability for its public employees. Or find a local government that holds its elections on oddball […]
Solving Euclid’s Project Labor Agreement Problem
Corruption, Big Labor’s powerful special interest lobby, a change in Ohio’s political leadership, and poorly researched and half-baked public policy are all variables in a complicated equation the people of Euclid, Ohio, are desperate to solve. In November 2009, Euclid City School District voters barely passed Issue #105 – a $40.3 million bond measure (see election results […]
Union Fund Gets $90,000 through Project Labor Agreement with Northern California Utility and Then Gives $50,000 to Campaign Against Chula Vista Ballot Measure
How are California construction unions able to make $50,000 political contributions to local campaigns? In one case, a union trust fund that made such a contribution in California received funding from ratepayers of a publicly-owned utility through a mandated payoff included in a Project Labor Agreement. A year ago (November 2, 2009), the 20 commissioners […]
More Evidence That Project Labor Agreements Reduce Competition and Increase Costs
Big Labor Bosses and their hand-picked political puppets claim that anti-competitive and costly government-mandated project labor agreements (PLAs) are in the public’s best interest. In reality, PLAs are crony contracting schemes implemented by corrupt elected officials that funnel lucrative public works contracts to union contractors and their union employees in exchange for political support. Numerous […]
ABC Chapter Takes to the Airwaves to Call for OSFC Chief’s Ouster
The Northern Ohio Chapter of Associated Builders and Contractors has launched a new radio ad campaign calling on Gov. Ted Strickland (D) to fire embattled Ohio School Facilities Commission (OSFC) Executive Director Richard Murray. As TheTruthAboutPLAs.com readers know, Murray was the subject of a scathing Aug. 5 report by the Ohio Inspector General’s (IG) office […]
Columbus Dispatch: OSFC Director’s Union Bias is Inexcusable
Today The Columbus Dispatch published another editorial blasting Ohio School Facilities Commission (OSFC) director Richard Murray for engaging in numerous acts of “union bias” and steering lucrative school construction contracts to union contractors and union members via project labor agreements (PLAs). Murray has been the subject of an investigation by the Ohio Inspector General’s office TheTruthAboutPLAs.com covered here and here. […]
Misfeasance: Ohio IG Report on OSFC PLA Scheme Continues to Gain Traction; Calls for Murray to Resign Grow
The media attention over the August 5 release of the Ohio Inspector General’s review of Richard Murray’s tenure as head of the Ohio School Facilities Commission (OSFC) and his efforts to strong-arm local communities into wasteful and discriminatory project labor agreements (PLAs) continued to gain traction over the weekend. Readers of TheTruthAboutPLAs.com know that Murray […]
Ohio Inspector General Report Exposes Gov. Strickland Appointee in Crony Contracting PLA Scheme
Today’s report from the Ohio Inspector General and article in the Columbus Dispatch provides a glimpse into the corrupt underbelly of public construction contracting (“Inspector general: School facilities chief too close to unions,” 8/5/10). Here, Big Labor bosses all-too-frequently shakedown public officials and school boards for lucrative construction contracts. In this instance, TheTruthAboutPLAs.com has covered how former Big Labor boss Richard Murray, Ohio […]
Gov. Strickland Official Investigated for Pay-to-PLA Contracting
The Columbus Dispatch reports that Ohio Inspector General Thomas P. Charles is investigating whether Ohio School Facilities Commission (OSFC) Director Richard Murray behaved inappropriately by “pushing districts to use union labor through project labor agreements” (PLAs) (“School Facilities Commission director probed for pushing union use,” 6/20/10): Murray formerly was the head of Ohio LECET, a group that assists […]