Victory: Manchester’s U.S. DOL Job Corps Center To Proceed Free From Project Labor Agreement Scheme
Last week the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) confirmed the elimination of a controversial project labor agreement (PLA) mandate on its estimated $20 million to $50 million Job Corps Center in Manchester, N.H., when it issued a pre-solicitation for construction services without discriminatory and costly PLA mandate or preference language. When mandated by government entities, […]
The Merit Shop Goes to Washington
Members of the merit shop contracting community, welcome to Washington, DC, and ABC’s 2012 Legislative Conference. If you are here, you already understand the importance’s of ABC’s motto, “Get Into Politics or Get Out of Business!” As construction industry leaders, you will be talking with your peers and lawmakers on Capitol Hill about the negative […]
ABC Declares Victory as Federal Government Withdraws Project Labor Agreement
Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) is declaring victory in its fight for open competition and taxpayer value on federal construction projects. ABC issued the following press release earlier today: ABC DECLARES VICTORY AS FEDERAL GOVERNMENT WITHDRAWS PROJECT LABOR AGREEMENT WASHINGTON, D.C. – Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) today announced another victory in its fight against government-mandated […]
Labor Secretary Solis Promotes Project Labor Agreements at Big Labor’s Infamous Hotel Boondoggle
It is no secret that U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) Secretary Hilda Solis supports anti-competitive and costly project labor agreements (PLAs) on federal construction projects. On Nov. 9, 2010, Solis made these remarks in support of PLAs and President Obama’s pro-PLA Executive Order 13502 to the United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing […]
Manchester’s Stalled Federal Job Corps Center Raised in New Hampshire Gubernatorial Campaign
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) cancelled its solicitation Nov. 2009 for bids to construct a new Job Corps Center in Manchester, N.H. The solicitation contained a crony contracting scheme called a project labor agreement (PLA) that would funnel construction contracts to unionized contractors. It was the first time a federal agency attempted a government-mandated PLA on a federal construction project since […]
How Will Decline in Construction Union Membership Change Project Labor Agreement Debate?
A new report released today by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics indicates that from 2008 to 2009, union membership in the U.S. private construction workforce fell from 15.6 percent to 14.5 percent. In 2009, just 958,000 members of the U.S. private construction workforce belonged to a labor union, compared to 1.195 million construction union […]
GSA Admits Jumping the Gun with PLA Gift to Unions?
Washington Examiner Beltway Confidential columnist Barbara Hollingsworth covered the controversial project labor agreement (PLA) on a federal construction project in Washington, D.C. that has been in the news (GSA Admits Jumping the Gun with PLA Gift to Unions, 12/28). The General Services Administration admitted it made a mistake when it placed a non-competitive, cost-raising, union-pleasing Project Labor Agreement […]
AP: DOL N.H. PLA SNAFU
Here’s a Friday recap of the alphabet soup of media coverage of the recent news surrounding the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) decision to cancel its solicitation for bids to construct a new Job Corps Center in Manchester, N.H. under a government-mandated project labor agreement (PLA). The DOL’s Job Corps Center PLA was believed to be […]
Labor Department Admits Project Labor Agreement Policy Responsible for Construction Delay
As reported earlier, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) cancelled its solicitation for bids to construct a new Job Corps Center in Manchester, N.H. under a government-mandated project labor agreement (PLA). The cancellation came in response to a protest filed with the Government Accountability Office (GAO) by ABC member North Branch Construction of Concord, N.H., with ABC […]
Project Labor Agreement Strings Trip New Hampshire Job Corps Center
ICYMI, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) cancelled its solicitation for bids to construct a new Job Corps Center in Manchester, N.H. under a government-mandated project labor agreement (PLA). The cancellation came in response to a protest filed with the Government Accountability Office (GAO) by ABC member North Branch Construction of Concord, N.H., with ABC support […]