Greenmail

Voters in City of Sacramento and County of Sacramento Asked to Ensure Fair and Open Competition for Construction Contracts

0 June 10, 2011  State & Local Construction, Uncategorized

On Thursday, June 9, a group of local contractors, construction workers, business associations, and taxpayer advocates held a press conference announcing the launch of an audacious campaign to win voter approval of two ballot measures that would ensure fair and open competition for taxpayer-funded construction contracts in the City of Sacramento and in the County […]

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Arizona Bans Greenmail, Government-Mandated PLAs on State and Local Projects

0 April 12, 2011  State & Local Construction, Uncategorized

Arizona is the latest state to ban the use of wasteful and discriminatory government-mandated project labor agreements (PLAs) on state and local construction projects. On April 6, Gov. Jan Brewer signed S.B. 1403, which prohibits state and local entities from requiring contractors to sign a PLA as a condition of performing taxpayer funded construction. Similar […]

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New California Legislation Targets Union Abuse of Environmental Laws Meant to Squeeze Project Labor Agreements Out of Private Developers

0 April 11, 2011  State & Local Construction, Uncategorized

When Governor Ronald Reagan signed the California Environmental Quality Act, or CEQA, (now comprising California Public Resources Code Sections 21000-21177) into law in 1970, many California state legislators believed the law would only apply to public projects, such as highways. The courts decided otherwise, and now unions routinely victimize private developers by abusing and exploiting […]

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Open Competition Legislation on the Move!

1 March 2, 2011  State & Local Construction, Uncategorized

There have been some big developments for proponents of fair and open competition around the country. It is clear that taxpayers from sea to shining sea are sick of their hard earned tax dollars funding special interest handouts in the form of wasteful and discriminatory project labor agreements (PLAs). Last week, lawmakers in Idaho cleared […]

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Newspaper in Mojave Desert: “Nobody with Half a Brain” Believes Construction Unions Fear Environmental Risks from Solar Power

0 February 15, 2011  State & Local Construction, Transportation & Infrastructure, Uncategorized

An editorial in the February 14, 2011 Barstow Desert-Dispatch (“Greenmail” a Threat to Energy Projects) is blunt about the union “greenmail” scheme to exploit the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and block permits for the construction of solar and other renewable power plants in the Mojave Desert: …we now have another reason to be concerned […]

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San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors Votes 3-0 to Reject Union Appeal of Solar Project

0 February 9, 2011  State & Local Construction, Uncategorized

At its February 8, 2011 meeting, the San Bernardino County (California) Board of Supervisors voted 3-0 to reject a scheme by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 477 to block a permit to build a 40-megawatt solar photovoltaic generating facility in the Mojave Desert, near Kramer Junction. The San Bernardino County Planning Commission […]

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International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Union Blocks Yet Another Solar Project

1 February 7, 2011  State & Local Construction, Transportation & Infrastructure, Uncategorized

Tomorrow (February 8, 2011) the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors will discuss the environmental objections of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local No. 477 to a 40-megawatt solar photovoltaic generation facility proposed by LightSource Renewables for construction in unincorporated San Bernardino County near Kramer Junction in the Mojave Desert. Neither the San […]

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Los Angeles Times Exposes How Unions Misuse Environmental Laws to Block Solar Projects and Extract Project Labor Agreements

2 February 6, 2011  State & Local Construction, Uncategorized

An article in today’s Los Angeles Times (“Labor Coalition’s Tactics on Renewable Energy Projects Are Criticized” February 5, 2011) exposes how a union front group called California Unions for Reliable Energy (CURE) has exploited environmental laws to block permits for solar thermal power plants until the developers sign project labor agreements. Objecting to this environmental […]

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Los Angeles is Laboring Under Greenmail

1 January 19, 2011  State & Local Construction, Uncategorized

The January 17 Los Angeles Business Journal includes an opinion piece (Laboring Under ‘Greenmail’) by thetruthaboutPLAs.com blogger Kevin Dayton of Associated Builders and Contractors of California explaining that Los Angeles-based construction unions are exploiting the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and other environmental laws to hold up permits until the private developers of proposed projects […]

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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

4 November 19, 2010  State & Local Construction, Uncategorized

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 […]

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