Money For Nothin’
Bret Jacobson, a blogger on BigGovernment.com, reminds readers (Our Dire Straits: Money For Nothin’, 12/9/10) of a story reported earlier this week about taxpayer waste on the renovation of the Lafayette Federal Building in downtown Washington D.C. As regular readers remember, the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) paid a federal contractor at least $3.3 million as […]
Millions of Stimulus Dollars Wasted on Lafayette Building’s Project Labor Agreement Gift to Big Labor
How much does a government-mandated project labor agreement (PLA) add to a $52.3 million construction project funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) in Washington, D.C.? At least $3.3 million. That’s the cost of a change order the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) paid to a federal contractor to ensure renovations to the […]
National Black Chamber of Commerce Attacks Union Barriers to Black Employment in Construction
Harry Alford, National Black Chamber of Commerce president and frequent critic of discriminatory and costly government-mandated project labor agreements (PLAs) penned another column trashing PLAs that will run in numerous newspapers across the country this week. The piece attacks special interest schemes similar to PLAs that funnel taxpayer-funded construction jobs to union members and away from the […]
Congressional Testimony Says Project Labor Agreements Harm Minority Contractors and Employees
On Sept 22, the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform’s Subcommittee on Management, Organization, and Procurement held a hearing called, “Minority Contracting: Opportunities and Challenges for Current and Future Minority-Owned Businesses.” Testimony (pdf) of Anthony W. Robinson, president of the Minority Business Enterprise Legal Defense and Education Fund (MBELDEF) pointed to union-favoring government-mandated project labor agreements (PLAs) as […]
Think Tank Attacks Project Labor Agreement Discrimination
Jim Waters, vice president of policy and communications for the Bluegrass Institute, Kentucky’s free-market think tank, penned an interesting column about the discriminatory nature of government-mandated project labor agreements (PLAs). Here is an excerpt from “Local PLAs bite the hand feeding the beast,” 9/24: Prejudice at the lunch counter may have disappeared, but other types of discrimination remain alive […]
Project Labor Agreements Don’t Guarantee a Local Workforce
When Big Labor claims project labor agreements (PLAs) guarantee a local workforce, challenge that assertion. Inquire and request documentation explaining the local union hall’s policy on “travelers” or “boomers” and ask elected officials in charge of construction projects to have local union halls submit their policy in writing. Typically, union collective bargaining agreements and PLAs give out-of-area travelers/boomers […]
Sen. Collins and Coalition Oppose Project Labor Agreement Final Rule
On Thursday, a coalition of organizations opposed to government-mandated project labor agreements (PLAs) sent a letter to all Hill offices concerning the final rule issued by the federal government that will open the door to waste and discrimination in federal contracting. The Federal Acquisition Regulatory (FAR) Council’s final rule, released April 13, implements President Obama’s Feb. 6, 2009 pro-PLA Executive […]
Minority Contractor Speaks Out Against Proposed Baltimore City PLA Requirement
Minority contractor Harold Scott speaks out against proposed legislation to require community partnership agreements, otherwise known as wasteful and discriminatory project labor agreements (PLAs), on Baltimore City construction projects worth over $5 million in an editorials titled, “Baltimore Bill Hurts Minority Workers,” published April 7 by The Baltimore Sun. Here are the highlights: This bill […]
Bay Area Black Builders Push Back on Project Labor Agreements
Joseph Debro is president of a new organization, Bay Area Black Builders, composed of black construction workers and contractors fighting together for economic justice. Mr. Debro writes about how building trades unions in his community, through project labor agreements (PLAs), serve as a barrier between black contractors and prosperity (“Jobs Now!” 12/28). The building trades unions have […]
Philadelphia National Association of Minority Contractors Blasts Project Labor Agreements
John Macklin, president of the Philadelphia chapter of the National Association of Minority Contractors and vice president of the association’s northeast region, wrote an excellent Op-Ed in opposition to a project labor agreement (PLA) on the $400 million Graterford Prison expansion project. It ran in the print edition of the Philadelphia Daily News as well as the […]