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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Gov. Culver Delivers for Big Labor
In what should be no surprise to anyone, Gov. Chet Culver announced today that the Iowa Department of Administrative Services has been approved to move forward with wasteful and discriminatory project labor agreements (PLAs) on two upcoming projects for the Department of Corrections. Here is the text of Gov. Culver’s release announcing the PLAs: Gov. […]
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” […]
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 […]
New Report Finds PLA Pension Requirements Steal From Employee Paychecks, Harm Employers and Taxpayers
A new study supports a key argument frequently made by nonunion employers and employees against government-mandated project labor agreements (PLAs): PLAs harm workers because they confiscate health and retirement benefits earned by nonunion employees working on PLA construction projects. An October 2009 report by Dr. John R. McGowan, “The Discriminatory Impact of Union Fringe Benefit […]
New Study Calls Federal Project Labor Agreements a Costly Solution in Search of a Problem
A news release issued yesterday by the Beacon Hill Institute (BHI) promotes a new study that is critical of federal government-mandated Project Labor Agreements (PLAs) and President Obama’s Executive Order 13502. The study found that PLAs, which are encouraged on federal construction projects costing more than $25 million via President Obama’s Feb. 6 executive order, will “significantly increase construction […]
New Evidence Shows Project Labor Agreements Will Injure Competition
On July 15, 2009, ABC’s weekly electronic publication, Newsline, conducted an electronic poll of Newsline subscribers about the impact of government mandated project labor agreements (PLAs) on bidding for public construction projects. The poll remained open until July 22, 2009 and readers were asked to respond to this question: “Would you be more likely or […]
Boston Herald Opposes Project Labor Agreements
Our post about the San Diego Union-Tribune’s anti-PLA editorial reminded me of an anti-PLA editorial published by the Boston Herald (“Stimulus for some,” 4/8/09) a few weeks prior to the launch of TheTruthAboutPLAs.com. The Herald’s excellent editorial came on the heels of an AP story about Mass. considering PLAs on projects funded by the federal stimulus […]