Government-Mandated Project Labor Agreement Failures on Federal and Federally Assisted Construction Projects
ABC supports fair and open competition and opposes government-mandated project labor agreements on federal and federally assisted projects because hardworking taxpayers deserve more efficient and effective policies that will encourage all qualified contractors and their skilled workforce to compete to build long-lasting, quality projects at the best price. Just 12.7% of the U.S. construction workforce belongs […]
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 […]
Data Busts Myth that Project Labor Agreements Result in Increased Local Hiring
Special interest groups are in the business of convincing government officials and taxpayers there is a public benefit to anti-competitive and costly government-mandated project labor agreements (PLAs), which create jobs exclusively for unionized construction workers and steer huge public construction contracts primarily to well-connected unionized contractors. In particular, proponents of government-mandated PLAs push an unsubstantiated […]
Delays and Increased Costs: The Truth about the Failed PLA on the GSA’s Headquarters at 1800 F Street
New documents recently uncovered via a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request prove a government-mandated project labor agreement (PLA) initially used on a large-scale federal construction project—the Phase 1 modernization of the General Services Administration (GSA) headquarters at 1800 F Street Building in Washington, D.C.—led to increased costs and needless delays in the procurement process. […]
The Top 10 Stories of 2012
Happy New Year from TheTruthAboutPLAs.com In 2012, construction industry advocates of fair and open competition in public contracting defied a difficult political environment and economy to create more opportunities for qualified merit shop contractors and their skilled employees. President Obama’s Feb. 6, 2009, Executive Order 13502 encouraging federal agencies to mandate project labor agreements (PLAs) […]
GSA Wasted Millions on Union Handout: Where’s the Outrage?
Eight senior U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) officials have been disciplined, fired or forced to resign since last Monday’s release of a scathing report by GSA Inspector General (IG) Brian Miller, whose staff spent a year reviewing waste, fraud and abuse related to $823,000 in spending to entertain 300 GSA employees at a regional conference held at […]
Bids for Maryland’s Cheltenham Juvenile Detention Center Tainted by Big Labor Favoritism
Today the ABC Maryland Joint Legislative Committee issued this release in response to the Maryland Department of General Services’ (DGS) decision to include a provision in a Nov. 11, 2011, request for proposal (RFP) regarding a juvenile detention center in Cheltenham, Md. (Prince George’s County) that unfairly favors construction managers (CMs) promising to mandate a […]
ABC Members Testify in Support of Legislation Restoring Fairness in Federal Contracting
On June 3, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee’s Technology, Information Policy, Intergovernmental Relations and Procurement Reform Subcommittee held a hearing, “H.R. 735 and Project Labor Agreements: Restoring Competition and Neutrality to Government Construction Projects.” The subcommittee, chaired by Rep. James Lankford (R-Okla.), heard testimony about the negative impact of President Obama’s controversial Executive Order 13502 […]
Editorial: Tis the Season for White House Gifts to Big Labor
ObamaClause and his GSA elves are busy giving gifts to Big Labor this holiday season. Executive Order 13502: Obama’s Gift to Big Labor. Image by Elaine Natario courtesy of The Boston Globe, “Obama kowtows to labor unions,” 10/07/09. A Washington Examiner editorial is critical of White House gifts to Big Labor called project labor […]
GSA’s Policy of Big Labor Favoritism Draws Congressional Inquiry
After recent media reports exposed how the Obama Administration and the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) have conspired to steer lucrative federal construction contracts to businesses willing to build federal projects utilizing a union-favoring project labor agreement (PLA), members of Congress are starting to ask questions. This week, nineteen GOP members of Congress, including the incoming […]