ABC Contractor Discusses Negative Impact of Project Labor Agreements with Fox Business Channel
Brett McMahon of Miller & Long Concrete (Washington, DC) discusses the negative impact of project labor agreements (PLAs) and President Obama’s Executive Order 13502 on construction businesses with Fox Business Channel’s 9/3 “Happy Hour” program. Miller & Long is the largest concrete contractor in the U.S. and was named the number one concrete construction company in […]
Gallup Poll: More than 6 in 10 Americans say Unions Hurt Non-Union Workers
A recently published Gallup Poll indicates that labor unions have their lowest approval rating since the Gallup Organization started measuring this issue in 1936 (“Labor Unions See Sharp Slide in U.S. Public Support,” 9/3). The poll is full of interesting findings that point to a decline in public support for unions. One tidbit jumped out as particularly germane to the debate […]
Missouri School District Bait-and-Switch Wastes $20,000 and May Have Violated State Law
The September 1 edition of the St. Louis Business Journal reports that the Heart of America Chapter of Associated Builders and Contractors sent letters to Missouri Governor Jay Nixon (D) and Attorney General Chris Koster (D) officially requesting that they launch an investigation into the Bayless School District’s procurement practices. Here is the rundown of the situation from […]
Largest Public/Private Industrial Investment in New York History Off Limits for Non-Union Labor
The Business Review (Albany) reports that GlobalFoundries has committed to building its $4.2 billion chip plant, the largest public/private industrial investment in the state’s history, with a discriminatory and costly project labor agreement (PLA) (“Done deal: Work begins on $4.2 billion chip fab,” 6/12). GlobalFoundries this week submitted a letter to the Empire State Development […]
“The Kids? Bah!”
As chronicled on this site, the San Diego Unified School District (SDUSD) recently approved a project stabilization agreement (A PLA by another name) for construction funded by the recently adopted Proposition S, a $2.1 billion bond. We believe this is nothing more than a handout to Big Labor and apparently, the San Diego Union-Tribune editorial […]
ABC Will Tackle Challenge of Derailing San Diego Unified School District’s New Project Labor Agreement
The repercussions of the November 2008 elections hit the San Diego construction industry hard on May 26, when the Board of Education for the San Diego Unified School District voted 3-2 to require contractors to sign a Project Labor Agreement (PLA) with unions for much of the school construction funded by the $2.4 billion Proposition […]
Bad Choices All Around
Saratoga Springs, NY is in the midst of a budget crisis and hoping federal stimulus money for construction can spur the local economy. The only problem is the 2008 New York Wicks Law “reform” may force Saratoga Springs into a wasteful and discriminatory union-only PLA. In 2008, New York “reformed” their Wicks Law, which is […]
Gaming the System: California’s Environmental Laws Are Pivotal to Unions Winning Project Labor Agreements from Private Developers
In California, Project Labor Agreements (PLAs) are the primary tactic used by construction unions to gain market share in the industry. And PLAs are not confined to public works projects. Particularly in the San Francisco Bay Area, the Sacramento area, the City of Los Angeles, and the San Diego area, private developers have been signing […]
In their words: Victims of the SDUSD Project Labor Agreement
The PLA on $2.1 billion worth of San Diego Unified School District (SDUSD) construction projects funded by Proposition S is going to prevent qualified local merit shop contractors and apprentices from working on school construction paid for by their own tax dollars unless SDUSD school board members reconsider their support for this costly and discriminatory PLA. […]