Columbus Dispatch Examines Value of PLAs, OSFC Director Loosens Corrupt Grip on Ohio Schools
With Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland’s appointed director of the Ohio School Facilities Commission (OSFC), former Big Labor boss Richard Murray, under investigation for pushing school districts to use union-favoring project labor agreements (PLAs) as a condition of receiving funding from the OSFC, the media stands ready scrutinize these corrupt and wasteful agreements. A recent Columbus Dispatch points to evidence that PLAs in Ohio […]
Why the Final Rule Implementing President Obama’s Project Labor Agreement Executive Order Should Be Challenged
ABC General Counsel Maurice Baskin, Esq., Venable LLP, today released a thorough analysis of the final rule implementing President Obama’s Feb. 6, 2009 pro-project labor agreement (PLA) Executive Order 13502. The analysis, The Final Rule Implementing the PLA Executive Order: Why it Should Be Challenged, describes why and how the final rule is violating the law. […]
WSJ Editorial Blasts Obama Gift to Big Labor, Calls Project Labor Agreements “Crony Contracts”
Today’s Wall Street Journal editorial blasts President Obama’s pro-project labor agreement (PLA) Executive Order 13502 that was implemented into federal procurement regulations thanks to the Federal Acquisition Regulatory (FAR) Council’s final rule issued yesterday (“Crony Contracts. Want federal business? Better be a union shop.” 4/14/10). This editorial is one for the ages. Let’s hope federal agencies and […]
Government-Mandated Project Labor Agreements: A Form of Corruption
George Nash, director of commercial construction and development for Facchina Construction Co. and 2010 chairman of the board for Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) Metro Washington chapter, calls out project labor agreements (PLAs) for what they are – corruption – in an editorial published by the Washington Business Journal on April 9. This editorial mentions […]
Review of District of Columbia Project Labor Agreements
As members of the D.C. Council review the misleadingly named District Resident Employment and Trade Stimulus Act of 2010 (Bill 18-650), which would require project labor agreements (PLAs) on D.C. construction projects that cost more than $200,000 and receive government assistance, it is important to review the limited, yet poor, history Washington, D.C., has had with PLAs. Research in […]
Washington Times Editorial: Obama and D.C. Council Pay Off Their Union Bosses with PLAs
A Washington Times editorial calls government-mandated project labor agreements (PLAs) resulting from President Obama’s pro-PLA Executive Order 13502 and proposed D.C. Council legislation “a solution that neither the District nor the nation can afford” (“EDITORIAL: More silver pieces for unions,” 4/2). Evidence rapidly accumulated that President Obama will pay any price, bear any burden, meet […]
New Report Says Anti-Competitive PLAs Won’t Help District of Columbia Economy
A new report on government-mandated PLAs, “The Problem with PLAs in the District of Columbia,” was released today. Focusing specifically on the D.C. construction market, ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu’s report examines the existing data indicating whether government-mandated PLAs make sense in the District of Columbia. Here is a key finding from the report: “In […]
Cato Journal: Why Project Labor Agreements Are Not in the Public Interest
A compelling article critical of government-mandated project labor agreements (PLAs) by David G. Tuerck, executive director of the Beacon Hill Institute for Public Policy Research, appears in the current issue of the Cato Journal (Volume 30 Number 1, Winter 2010, “Are Unions Good for America?”). “Why Project Labor Agreements Are Not in the Public Interest” […]
An Ailing Process Indeed
Wasteful and discriminatory project labor agreements (PLAs) continue to garner public attention in Indiana, as Wishard Health Services prepares to go forward with a PLA on approximately $750 million in hospital renovations at their Marion County facility. The latest PLA-related story titled, “An Ailing Process,” comes courtesy of the January 24 Indianapolis Star. Here are […]
Independent Study Finds PLAs Increase Construction Costs
A TruthAboutPLAs.com reader sent us a June 2009 study conducted by property and construction consulting firm Rider Levett Bucknall prepared for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Office of Construction and Facilities Management. The VA hired this firm to evaluate the cost impact of project labor agreements (PLAs) in various markets where the VA […]