U.S. House Oversight and Government Reform Committee to Examine Costly Government-Mandated PLAs
Today at 1:30 PM, the House Oversight and Government Reform (OGR) Committee’s (chaired by Rep. Issa of California) Regulatory Affairs, Stimulus Oversight and Government Spending Subcommittee (chaired by Rep. Jordan of Ohio) is holding a hearing called, Regulatory Impediments to Job Creation: The Cost of Doing Business in the Construction Industry. The hearing will focus […]
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 […]
Congressman Frank Guinta Submits Continuing Resolution Amendment Promoting Fair and Open Competition for the Procurement of Federal Construction Contracts
According to the New Hampshire Union Leader, yesterday U.S. Representative Frank Guinta (R-N.H.) filed an amendment pertaining to government-mandated project labor agreements (PLAs) on the Continuing Resolution legislation currently being debated on the House floor that would fund the federal government from March 4 through Sept. 30, the end of the current federal fiscal year (“Guinta: […]
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 […]
Chicago’s Crony Politics Force Wal-Mart to Sign Project Labor Agreement
TheTruthAboutPLAs.com readers have been sending emails and comments about recent reports that Wal-Mart has signed a multi-store project labor agreement (PLA) with Chicago area building trades unions for about $1 billion worth of construction during the next five years. The construction of “several dozen” stores in 19 Illinois counties is expected to create 10,000 permanent […]
Editorial Praises Passage of Lancaster County Fairness in Contracting Legislation
An editorial in today’s Lancaster Intelligencer Journal supports Wednesday’s passage of legislation by Lancaster County Commissioners that will help taxpayers get the best possible construction product at the best possible price. The measure prohibits Lancaster County from mandating anti-competitive and costly government-mandated project labor agreement (PLA) schemes that have been harming Pennsylvania’s construction industry and Keystone taxpayers thanks to […]
Los Angeles Tangled Up in Project Labor Agreements in 2010
The web site for the Los Angeles Convention and Visitors Bureau describes Los Angeles as a “union-friendly city” and declares that “Meeting professionals who plan union meetings often end up in Los Angeles, a city built by union labor. L.A.’s world-class buildings – Walt Disney Concert Hall, STAPLES Center, L.A. LIVE and the Cathedral of […]
Construction Union Membership Dips to All-Time Low
A new report released today (pdf) by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) indicates that from 2009 to 2010, union membership fell from 14.5 percent to 13.1 percent of the U.S. private construction workforce, with construction unions losing 157,000 members. In 2010, 801,000 workers in the private construction industry belonged to a union, the lowest recorded […]
Dissolve the State of Project Labor Agreements from Our Regulation Nation
On Jan. 18, President Obama issued an executive order, Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review, urging federal agencies to review and fix costly federal regulations that “stifle job creation and make our economy less competitive.” In an opinion editorial published in The Wall Street Journal (“Towards a 21st Century Regulatory,” 1/18/11), President Obama wrote: “Sometimes, those rules have gotten out […]
UPDATED: California’s Top Construction Union Officials Love the State’s $100 Billion High-Speed Rail Project
The November 27 Bakersfield Californian newspaper includes an opinion piece written by Bob Balgenorth, head of the California State Building and Construction Trades Council, promoting construction of the state’s proposed $98.5 billion High-Speed Rail as a better alternative to construction of freeways and airports: Bob Balgenorth: Airport, highway expansion impractical; HSR better option. He also […]