Obama Administration Official Exceeds Authority in Pushing Local Governments to Mandate Project Labor Agreements
“I encourage you to read this guidance and to make use of project labor agreements whenever possible.” Is this an excerpt from a letter written by a top construction union official promoting anti-competitive and costly government-mandated project labor agreements (PLAs)? Believe it or not, it is the concluding inspirational thought in a “Project Labor Agreement […]
Voters in City of Sacramento and County of Sacramento Asked to Ensure Fair and Open Competition for Construction Contracts
On Thursday, June 9, a group of local contractors, construction workers, business associations, and taxpayer advocates held a press conference announcing the launch of an audacious campaign to win voter approval of two ballot measures that would ensure fair and open competition for taxpayer-funded construction contracts in the City of Sacramento and in the County […]
Merit Shop Advocates Prepare to Open a New Front in the Fight Against PLAs in California
Merit shop advocates in California are taking the fight against wasteful and discriminatory project labor agreements (PLAs) to northern California. This campaign will make the City of Sacramento and Sacramento County the 8th and 9th local government entities in California to ban government-mandated PLAs. Here is a press release from the Coalition for Fair Employment […]
Sacramento Publically-Owned Utility Lets Staff Make Key Contracting Decisions – Including PLA Mandates – with No Board or Ratepayer Scrutiny
Last night (September 2), the board of directors of the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) had an unexpected and unscheduled hour-long inquiry into its contracting practices, including district mandates for contractors to sign project labor agreements (PLAs) with unions in order to work on two specific large projects. We learned that the elected board of […]