PLA's discriminate

A Louisiana Weekly article makes a compelling case that Project Labor Agreements discriminate against Black owned construction companies which are 98% non-union. The article also explains the reason for the non-union status of those businesses. If unionized, they likely would be pressured into hiring employees from predominantly white union hiring halls.

First PLA project announced

The Washington Times reports the announcement of a $35M New Hampshire federal construction project, the first under a PLA since the Clinton Administration.

PLA's fail stated goal

While campaigning last year, President Obama stated “we need to make sure the government uses project labor agreements to encourage completion of projects on time and on budget." Suffolk University economics professor David G. Tuerck penned an opinion piece in the Boston Globe which characterizes Project Labor Agreements [PLA's] as an Obama administration reward to labor. Key points: 1) PLA's have added 12 to 18 percent to school construction costs in Massachusetts and Connecticut, 2) during the PLA-free Bush administration no delays or cost overruns were reported to have occurred due to the absence of PLA's, 3) its "easy to find" delays or cost overruns on PLA projects. While this is not an apples to apples comparison it does make a point that PLA's don't assist the timely, on-budget completion of public construction projects.