Construction Unions Push PLAs to Save Underfunded Union Pension Plans
A piece in The Washington Examiner (“Almost half of top unions have underfunded pension plans,” 6/7) reports that some major construction labor unions have underfunded pension plans. This is relevant to the PLA debate because PLAs typically force non-union employers and their employees to contribute to union pension funds for time worked on a PLA project. Readers may […]
Take Action Against Government Mandated Project Labor Agreements in Federal Construction
Take action to ensure fairness and eliminate government waste in federal construction contracting. Call or write your senators and representative to co-sponsor the Government Neutrality in Contracting Act (S. 90/H.R. 983), introduced Jan. 6 by Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) and Feb. 11 by Rep. John Sullivan (R-Okla.). Click here to access ABC’s Grassroots Action Center. The Government […]
PLA Basics: Unions Offer Project Labor Agreements as a Solution to Strikes Created by Union Members
Construction unions market union-only PLAs as a tool to construction owners to guarantee labor peace on construction projects. Unions know that strikes, work stoppages, slowdowns and other labor unrest can shut down a jobsite and delay the opening of a project, potentially costing construction owners lost revenue. Union negotiators leverage the threat of union-led strikes […]
Lansing City Market PLA Reduces Bidders, Increases Costs and Harms Local Workers
A 4/24 article in the Lansing State Journal reports budget busting bids and a lack of bidders on the estimated $1.6 million Lansing City Market project that will be built using a union-only PLA thanks to a requirement by Lansing City Officials. The Lansing City Market project will be re-bid and opened to a broader base of contractors after […]
Virginia Building Trades Pressure Dominion Virginia Power for Project Labor Agreement
A TruthAboutPLAs.com blog reader forwarded the below story about Virginia State Building & Construction Trades Council members engaged in a corporate campaign against Dominion Virginia Power. Those experienced with PLAs know that the goal of these campaigns is to create a public relations headache for private construction owners such as corporations like VA Dominion Power so […]
Project Labor Agreement Basics: PLAs Increase the Cost of Construction
If you read the last post, you have learned how PLAs discourage competition from merit shop contractors. Fact: PLAs effectively eliminate merit shop contractors and their employees from working on PLA construction projects. So how does this fact impact construction owners and taxpayers? Academic studies overwhelmingly show that union-only PLAs increase construction costs between 10 […]
Project Labor Agreement Basics: What is a PLA?
A government-mandated project labor agreement (PLA) is an anti-competitive and costly scheme designed by Big Labor and sympathetic public officials to funnel construction contracts to unionized contractors and union members while cutting competition from qualified merit shop contractors and their skilled merit shop employees. A PLA is a multi-employer, multi-union, pre-hire collective bargaining agreement that PLA proponents […]