International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Union Blocks Yet Another Solar Project
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 […]
Los Angeles Times Exposes How Unions Misuse Environmental Laws to Block Solar Projects and Extract Project Labor Agreements
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 […]
Minority Contractors Association in Portland, Oregon to Host PLA Forum
The National Association of Minority Contractors – Oregon is hosting a public forum on project labor agreements today (January 25, 2011) at the Kaiser Town Hall Bldg on N. Interstate (3704 N. Interstate) from 4:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Pacific Time. In a January 19 opinion piece in the Portland-based The Skanner newspaper entitled Can the Unions […]
Los Angeles is Laboring Under Greenmail
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 […]
UPDATED: California’s Top Construction Union Officials Love the State’s $100 Billion High-Speed Rail Project
The November 27 Bakersfield Californian newspaper includes an opinion piece written by Bob Balgenorth, head of the California State Building and Construction Trades Council, promoting construction of the state’s proposed $98.5 billion High-Speed Rail as a better alternative to construction of freeways and airports: Bob Balgenorth: Airport, highway expansion impractical; HSR better option. He also […]
San Diego Voters Have the Chance to End Taxpayer-funded Handouts
San Diego County voters have the chance to end taxpayer-funded handouts to Big Labor today, as Proposition A is on the ballot for voters to consider. Proposition A would solidify a ban on government-mandated project labor agreements on county-supported projects. More information on Proposition A is available in our earlier posts. Also, check out ABC […]
Palmdale Water District (in Los Angeles County) Votes to Ban Project Labor Agreements
Tonight (Wednesday, October 27, 2010), the Palmdale Water District in northern Los Angeles County became the seventh local government in California and the first water district in California where fair and open competition for ratepayers is guaranteed and project labor agreements (PLAs) are prohibited. On a 3-2 vote, the elected board of directors adopted a resolution to […]
San Diego’s Major Newspaper Reports on Proposition A to Prohibit Project Labor Agreements
The October 26, 2010 San Diego Union-Tribune reports on the issues concerning Proposition A, a measure on the November 2, 2010 ballot that would amend the charter (constitution) of San Diego County to prohibit the county from entering into contracts that require its construction contractors to sign project labor agreements (PLAs) with construction unions. The article […]
Solano County in California Uses Erroneous Citation of State Law to Justify Project Labor Agreement
Associated Builders and Contractors’ (ABC) government affairs staff in California knows the state’s labor laws and public contracting laws, inside and out. So ABC representatives immediately spotted the error when they read the Solano County Department of General Services staff report for the September 28, 2010 Board of Supervisors meeting that justified the use of […]
Why Do Private Corporations and Developers in California Sign Project Labor Agreements? San Diego Provides a Clue
In October 2001, the California Research Bureau released a “study” commissioned by California State Senate Pro Tem and Big Labor advocate John Burton (D-San Francisco) about Project Labor Agreements (PLAs). As you can imagine, this report was full of logical fallacies, but fulfilled the intention of Sen. Burton to get an “authoritative” study to support PLAs […]