USACE Baltimore District Labor Market Survey Due May 25
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) has issued a survey soliciting comments from the construction industry about the potential use of government-mandated project labor agreements (PLAs) for large scale (greater than $25 million) construction projects in the State of Maryland. TheTruthAboutPLAs.com, a project of ABC National, encourages the merit shop contracting community to respond to this PLA survey. Tell […]
USACE Baltimore District Project Labor Agreement Survey Due April 9
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) has issued a survey soliciting comments from the construction industry about the potential use of a government-mandated project labor agreement (PLA) on the large scale construction project to repair the McRee Barracks at Fort Belvoir, VA with an estimated cost between $25 million and $100 million. TheTruthAboutPLAs.com, a […]
Merit Shop Contractors Recognized for Safety Achievement and Performance on Federal NAVFAC Project
The Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) Southwest has again recognized a joint venture between two merit shop contractors for their outstanding safety record and performance on a $175 million federal construction project at Naval Base Point Loma near San Diego, Calif. In February 2011, NAVFAC lauded the P-401 Replacement Fuel Facilities project, being built by […]
Understanding Government-Mandated Project Labor Agreements and the Law
Lawmakers, the media, taxpayers and members of the construction industry frequently inquire about government-mandated project labor agreements (PLAs) and the law. They question how such blatant favoritism and cronyism is legal. In the 1993 landmark Boston Harbor case, the Supreme Court of the United States held that government-mandated PLAs are not prohibited by the National Labor Relations […]
Idaho Legislature Shows Commitment to Taxpayer Value; Rejects Federal District Court’s Decision
Last week, Idaho Gov. Butch Otter (R) signed S.B. 1337, which is the legislature’s second attempt to ban wasteful and discriminatory project labor agreement (PLA) mandates on taxpayer-funded construction. The prior piece of legislation (S.B. 1006 of 2011) Gov. Otter signed on March 3, 2011 to ban these taxpayer-funded handouts was invalidated in December 2011 […]
It’s Still Taxpayer Money!
The winner of the most absurd PLA-related quote of the week goes to a local official in Monroe, MI. The Monroe City Council was forced to accept a bid on a water main repair and rehabilitation project that was 12.7 percent or approximately $200,000 higher than the engineer’s estimate because it was the only bid […]
Take Action Against Government Mandated Project Labor Agreements in Federal Construction
Take action to ensure fairness and eliminate government waste in federal construction contracting. Call or write your senators and representative to co-sponsor the Government Neutrality in Contracting Act (S. 90/H.R. 983), introduced Jan. 6 by Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) and Feb. 11 by Rep. John Sullivan (R-Okla.). Click here to access ABC’s Grassroots Action Center. The Government […]