PLA Mandates, Right-to-Work in Indiana and the Super Bowl
It is an exciting week in Indiana and not all of the action is on the football field. While the Giants and the Patriots prepared for their Super Bowl match-up, Indiana’s state government took steps to guarantee Hoosiers the opportunity to work without having to pay dues to a labor union. On Wednesday, Gov. Mitch […]
Is Phase 2 of the Dulles Metrorail Silver Line Subject to a Government-Mandated Union Project Labor Agreement?
Will a recent deal to save the multi-billion dollar Phase 2 Dulles Metrorail Silver Line project in Northern Virginia force prime contractors to agree to an anti-competitive and costly project labor agreement (PLA) with labor unions in order to win construction contracts? What level of protection will Virginia’s right-to-work law offer to the state’s nonunion […]
Louisiana Bans Government-Mandated PLAs on State Funded Projects
The wave continues! With Gov. Bobby Jindal’s signature yesterday of S.B. 76, Louisiana is now the fifth state to ban government-mandated project labor agreements (PLAs) to some degree in 2011 and the ninth state to do so nationwide. This is a huge development for taxpayers in Louisiana. This bill guarantees that free enterprise – not Big Labor […]
Louisiana Legislation Would Ban Government-Mandated PLAs
The drive to prohibit wasteful and discriminatory government-mandated project labor agreements (PLAs) in Louisiana got some national media attention this week. Here are the highlights from the May 25 Washington Examiner piece, “Project Labor Agreements Could be Used to Undermine Right to Work Laws and Force Double Payment of Benefits.” “Louisiana’s Right-to-Work Law allows employees within […]
Indiana House Democrats Blocking Open Competition for Public Construction
While much of the national media attention has focused on Wisconsin, lawmakers in Indiana have also fled across state lines to keep the newly elected majority in the state House of Representatives from having the opportunity to conduct the people’s business. In Indiana, the Democrats initially left town over proposed Right-to-Work legislation, which would have […]
Branstad Vows to Undo Project Labor Agreements
Iowa gubernatorial candidate Terry Branstad has spoke out this week against against Gov. Chet Culver’s Executive Order 22 and his efforts to encourage state agencies to consider and implement wasteful and discriminatory project labor agreements (PLAs) on state projects. The Cedar Rapids Gazette asked the former governor about the PLA issue on the campaign trail. […]
Project Labor Agreements Irk Cajun Contractors
The New Orleans City Business ran a story on the anticipated impact of project labor agreements (PLAs) on Louisiana contractors and the greater New Orleans construction industry (Project Labor Ageeements Irk Contractors, 12/14). Construction industry officials insist it will have the opposite effect and severely impact right-to-work states such as Louisiana, where union labor is […]
Washington Times: Obama Puts Union Strings on Federal Jobs with Project Labor Agreements
The Washington Times covered President Obama’s Executive Order 13502 and the bid protest filed this week with the Government Accountability Office by North Branch Construction, a Concord, N.H.-based general contractor and member of ABC (“Obama Puts Union Strings on Federal Jobs,” 10/7). The focus of the bid protest is a government-mandated project labor agreement (PLA) […]
Executive Order 13502 “Egregious” and “Simply Unfair”
In an outstanding piece titled, “Forced Union Payments on Tax Paid Projects,” Mike Thompson of the Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy calls President Obama’s Executive Order 13502, which encourages federal agencies and departments to utilize wasteful and discriminatory project labor agreements (PLAs) on federal projects over $25 million, “egregious” and “simply unfair.” Here are […]
Understanding PLAs in Right to Work States
There is great confusion in the construction community about the legality of PLAs in right to work states. The media, public, elected officials and construction professionals would benefit from understanding the small but significant difference between PLAs in right to work states and PLAs in non-right to work states.PLAs can occur in right to work […]