Understanding Government-Mandated Project Labor Agreements and the Law
Lawmakers, the media, taxpayers and members of the construction industry frequently inquire about government-mandated project labor agreements (PLAs) and the law. They question how such blatant favoritism and cronyism is legal. In the 1993 landmark Boston Harbor case, the Supreme Court of the United States held that government-mandated PLAs are not prohibited by the National Labor Relations […]
Project Labor Agreements: Not What We Need, Not What We Deserve
Today, Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) released a new video explaining the negative impact of union-favoring government-mandated project labor agreements (PLAs) on taxpayers and the vast majority of the construction workforce that chooses not to join a labor organization. This video is just one more resource in the fight against wasteful government-mandated PLAs. Supporting facts […]
Updated: ABC Hawaii Chapter Blasts Gov. Neil Abercrombie’s PLA Directive
Update: This afternoon, TheTruthAboutPLAs.com received a copy of Gov. Neil Abercrombie’s Administrative Directive 12-05, which encourages state agencies to require the use of a wasteful and discriminatory project labor agreement on projects costing more than $25 million and specifies the criteria for doing so. The directive looks very similar to President Barack Obama’s 2009 Executive […]
Idaho Legislature Shows Commitment to Taxpayer Value; Rejects Federal District Court’s Decision
Last week, Idaho Gov. Butch Otter (R) signed S.B. 1337, which is the legislature’s second attempt to ban wasteful and discriminatory project labor agreement (PLA) mandates on taxpayer-funded construction. The prior piece of legislation (S.B. 1006 of 2011) Gov. Otter signed on March 3, 2011 to ban these taxpayer-funded handouts was invalidated in December 2011 […]
Federal Judge Dismisses Lawsuit Against Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad’s Open Competition Executive Order
Despite the attempts of lawmakers in California to override the will of local voters and their elected officials, not all of the news on wasteful and discriminatory project labor agreement (PLA) mandates from the states last week was bad. On Sept. 7, a federal District Court judge in Iowa dismissed a lawsuit filed by the […]
Illinois: Where Raising Taxes Isn’t Enough
Illinois taxpayers are having a rough go of it lately. While leaders in many states have reshaped their state governments to use public funds more efficiently and provide some relief to taxpayers, Illinois lawmakers have decided to go the other way on this issue. Illinois lawmakers went after people’s pocketbooks directly in early 2011, enacting […]
Boston Herald: End Unpopular Pacts
The Boston Herald published another editorial opposed to government-mandated project labor agreements (PLAs) last week. It longed for the day Mass. officials enact legislation ensuring that all qualified contractors and their skilled employees have a fair opportunity to compete and win state-funded construction contracts (“End Unpopular Pacts,” 7/27/11): The Wall Street Journal recently tallied up the […]
WSJ Editorial: Government-mandated PLAs “Deserve to be Outlawed”
The title says it all and we completely agree! The editorial board at The Wall Street Journal has again come out against wasteful and discriminatory government-mandated PLAs. Here are the highlights from the editorial (“Project Labor Revolt: The states ban union political bid-rigging. Obama demurs,” 7/19/11): One benefit of the squeeze on state and local […]
Open Competition Legislation on the Move!
There have been some big developments for proponents of fair and open competition around the country. It is clear that taxpayers from sea to shining sea are sick of their hard earned tax dollars funding special interest handouts in the form of wasteful and discriminatory project labor agreements (PLAs). Last week, lawmakers in Idaho cleared […]
Gov. Branstad Determined to Enforce Open Competition Executive Order on Cedar Rapids Convention Center Project
Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad’s recent executive order to prohibit the use of wasteful and discriminatory project labor agreements on construction projects funded by taxpayer dollars is facing its first real test. The Cedar Rapids City Council voted 5-4 on Tuesday, Feb. 8 to move forward with a PLA requirement for the construction of the city’s […]