Project Labor Agreements and Big Labor Fail at Local Job Creation
Big Labor bosses and government-mandated project labor agreement (PLA) advocates frequently claim that PLAs are the only way to guarantee local hire on construction projects funded by tax dollars. Of course, this is another myth promoted by special interests to convince lawmakers and taxpayers that there is a public benefit to anti-competitive and costly PLA […]
McKeesport Area School District Board of Directors Rejects Wasteful and Discriminatory PLA Mandate
The McKeesport Area School District Board of Directors has decided to say NO to a wasteful and discriminatory project labor agreement (PLA) mandate on the construction of an upcoming $62 million consolidated project. This is a huge win for taxpayers and the vast majority of western Pennsylvania construction workers that choose not to join a […]
ABC Western Pennsylvania Chapter News Release: Potential PLA Would Cost McKeesport Taxpayers More
In a May 27 press release, the Western Pennsylvania chapter of Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) announced that they held a meeting on May 26 with the McKeesport Area School District Building and Grounds Committee to discuss the negative impact of wasteful and discriminatory project labor agreements (PLAs). The release also outlines some of the […]
Another Editorial Opposed to Federal Project Labor Agreements
Yet another editorial board – the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review – has come out in opposition to President Obama’s scheme to funnel federal construction contracts to Big Labor through project labor agreements (PLAs) via Executive Order 13502 (“The Union Label: Paying Off Big Labor,” 5/21/10): Rewarding Big Labor for political support, the Obama administration is virtually shutting nonunion contractors out of […]
Contractor: Obama Project Labor Agreement Preference Hurts Construction Industry
The Philadelphia Inquirer published an Op-Ed by ABC member Richard Lombardo, president and CEO of Harkins Builders, a general contractor with offices in Pennsylvania and Maryland, about the the April 13 final rule implementing President Obama’s pro-project labor agreement (PLA) Executive Order 13502 that encourages federal agencies to steer lucrative federal construction contracts to union-signatory construction companies (“Ruling […]
Building Pennsylvania: PLA Forum and Lt. Governor Debate
The Keystone Chapter of Associated Builders and Contractors is holding a forum to discuss wasteful and discriminatory project labor agreements (PLAs) as part of their May 11 Lt. Governors debate. This event is part of their Save the Endangered Species campaign to educate the public on the true impact of PLAs. TheTruthAboutPLAs.com’s Ben Brubeck is […]
Editorial Calls on Gov. Rendell to End Special Interest PLAs
An editorial in the Williamsport Sun Gazette questions the “source, timing and validity” of Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell’s remarks in his eighth and final budget address that chided “special interest groups for stymieing his legislative efforts to curb special interests” (“Timing suspicious on lobbyist crackdown,” 3/19). It also calls government-mandated project labor agreements (PLAs) a “rigged […]
Rendell Administration Love Affair With Big Labor Stalls Prison Construction Projects and Slows Job Growth for Pennsylvanians
There is renewed interest in the delayed construction of over $800 million worth of prison construction in Pennsylvania. As regular readers of TheTruthAboutPLAs.com remember, Gov. Ed Rendell (D) promised the Pennsylvania construction unions in 2008 that the Department of General Services (DGS) would require contractors to sign wasteful and discriminatory project labor agreements (PLAs) in […]
Do PLAs Reward Special Interests?
TheTruthAboutPLAs.com has long maintained that government-mandated project labor agreements (PLAs) are one of the purest forms of payback to special interests. Sometimes it is hard to believe that PLAs are even legal. And as this example will demonstrate, elected officials go to great lengths to justify their paybacks to special interests. Matthew J. Brouillette, president […]
Delays and Increased Construction Costs Plague PA Prison
Pennsylvania’s Graterford Prison project labor agreement (PLA) controversy is in the Philadelphia newspapers again. No progress has been made on the construction of this important project. Looking for something to blame? It’s the PLA, stupid! Looking for someone to blame? Blame Big Labor’s lobbyists for pushing costly, job-killing special interest PLAs and blame public officials for allowing these […]