Fox and Friends does not like Obama's use of PLAs

In a long-overdue expansion of the barracks at the United States Military Academy at West Point to alleviate overcrowding, Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) and President Barack Obama want to ensure that the work is done under a project labor agreement. PLAs have been shown to improve conditions and wages for union and non-union workers and are a boogeyman of pro-corporate right-wingers, who constantly lie and distort what PLAs do and refer to them as paybacks to union bosses. Crooks and Liars has extensively covered the right-wing assault on PLAs, but suffice it to say that nearly everyone involved would benefit from a project labor agreement being used at West Point.

After securing the funding for new barracks to alleviate severe overcrowding at the United States Military Academy at West Point, Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) is now pressing the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to build the project under a Project Labor Agreement (PLA) in order to ensure efficiency and lower costs. Forty percent of rooms at the prestigious military academy are currently housing three students despite being built to lodge two. The proposed new construction would house 650 of West Point’s 4,400 cadets. Hinchey hopes a PLA will help employ construction workers locally in the region.

“PLAs have been effective in ensuring that projects are completed in a timely manner and within budget. Partnership agreements with the Hudson Valley Building and Construction Trades Council have helped to ensure the highest quality of work on local construction projects,” Hinchey wrote in a letter sent on June 12 to Lt. General Thomas P. Bostick, who is the Chief of Engineers for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

“Furthermore, an increased use of local labor on construction projects at West Point would certainly foster a more active partnership between the USMA and the local communities in my district, where many members of the Academy’s staff live…I understand the urgent need for this project, and I know that it is critically important to sustaining the morale and quality of life of the cadets. This is why I strongly supported the funding for this project as a member of the House Appropriations Committee. I am confident that the use of a PLA will help to ensure that this project is completed effectively and efficiently while also strengthening the relationship between the Academy and our local communities.”

The use of a PLA would go far to comply with an Executive Order, signed by President Obama in February of 2009, that encourages the use of PLAs on federally funded construction projects. The EO reversed the Bush era policy of eschewing the agreements which package diversity requirements with safety and wage standards.

McDonnell showing support for 'right-to-work' for less laws

Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell has recently extended his anti-labor credentials by caving to extremists in his state on the topic of project labor agreements. A series of e-mails recently released show that he did not have a problem with PLAs until recently, after being pressured by extremists in his party who oppose the rights of working families.

Phase one of the expansion of the Dulles Metrotrail expansion in Northern Virginia was completed under a PLA and the second phase was set to be conducted the same way. Now McDonnell is saying that he won't proceed with the project unless the PLA is revoked. The move not only takes away rights from working families and shows that McDonnell is a flip-flopper who caves under pressure from extremists, it also endangers jobs in the state during fragile economic times:

The aforementioned revelations unearthed by the Washington Post shown that a compromise was agreed to in principal before objections from the right caused them to break down:

The e-mails were provided to The Washington Post by people who are sympathetic to the MWAA and who have been frustrated that McDonnell’s shift has drawn little attention.

The dozens of brief notes exchanged over a period of four months and a subsequent memorandum of understanding among Silver Line contributors show that Connaughton and Jack Potter, the MWAA chief executive, worked carefully on the wording before agreeing to a set of principles that enabled a mandatory project labor agreement.

“Sean, are you okay with the principle below?’’ Potter asked July 27.

“Yes,’’ Connaughton responded.

In November, in an apparent sign of continuing progress, the MWAA asked Connaughton where to send a copy of the agreement for his signature.

But the sentiment soon changed. Connaughton never signed an agreement for a PLA for Phase 2. In February, amid mounting Republican criticism of the PLA for Phase 1, the General Assembly enacted a law intended to prohibit PLAs on the Silver Line project.

Virginia’s “Right-to-Work” law draws definite distinctions between “mandatory” and “voluntary” PLAs. Now, Virginia lawmakers are caught up in a game of words that would be pure comedy if not for the jobs that hang in the balance.

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A financial watchdog for the city of San Diego and the California state comptroller are warning that if the city's proposed ban on project labor agreements passes, it will be a financial disaster, as the city will lose, at a minimum, more than $158 million in state grants. The ban seems to be pointless, anyway, since San Diego has never required a PLA for any project.

For background, California passed a set of laws that ensure taxpayer protections in a PLA — a construction agreement for large-scale public works projects that outlines wage, safety, and diversity standards as well as local and veteran hiring goals — and prohibit cities from adopting blanket PLA bans. Charter cities lose state funds if they limit PLAs. Since the passing of the state law, public agencies have started backtracking on PLA bans. Escondido removed its proposed ban on PLAs by revising its draft charter proposal citing the potential loss of state funds. El Cajon followed, also removing the language banning PLAs from a proposed charter, and the Palmdale Water District Board voted unanimously to repeal its ban on PLAs. Other cities that have adopted PLA bans are also considering repealing them.

PLA bans at a local level started a few years ago in Southern California. With fiscal repercussions looming, they will likely end here as well.

Despite right-wing and corporate claims about PLAs, the evidence is quite clear that they are a benefit to workers, governments and taxpayers:

Saying PLAs are “only used in the public sector at the behest of union-allied politicians” is a blatant falsehood, and one this paper should immediately correct. PLAs have been used by public- and private-sector entities across the United States since the 1940s and are the method of choice for complex private-sector projects, where cost and quality are the overriding issues. The former head of construction for Toyota North America, Jeff Caldwell, wrote, “I have had numerous real-world experiences with PLAs, and I can say without any equivocation that they are a valuable tool for any entity seeking an economical and efficient construction process.”

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Fox News makes up things about project labor agreements based on Governor Brown's previous law preventing PLA bans

In a big win for workers in California, Gov. Jerry Brown (D) signed a bill that would prevent local communities from banning project labor agreements. PLAs are used to set standards on construction jobs in terms of wages, work conditions, diversity, local hire rules, health care benefits and worker safety. They have been successfully used across the country to benefit both workers and contractors. Conservatives dislike them because they cut back on profiteering in the construction industry and because unions frequently negotiate for PLAs on projects they work on. Localities like San Diego have sought to ban them in an attempt to cut costs and undercut union strength and the rights of working families.

The State Building and Construction Trades of California applauded the legislation:

Governor Jerry Brown today signed Building Trades sponsored SB 829, which makes it unequivocally clear that no local governments may enact blanket prohibitions on PLAs without losing state funding for public works projects.

The bill is a follow-up to last years’ SB 922, which prohibited bans on local PLAs.

But anti-union forces creatively argued that SB 922 wouldn’t apply to some charter cities. So we sponsored SB 829, to remove any trace of doubt that the law applies to all charter cities as well.

The bill passed both the Assembly and Senate on party line votes, with Democrats in favor and Republicans opposed. It was during the Assembly floor debate that one of the Republicans, Assembly Member Shannon Grove of Bakersfield, made the outlandish claim that labor unions were “enemies of the constitution.”

SBCTC Legislative Director Cesar Diaz said SB 829 now eliminates any lack of clarity regarding PLA bans, and makes it crystal clear that local governments must remain free to consider whether to use PLAs if they are to receive state funding for construction projects.

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Federal Judge Victoria A. Roberts struck down as unconstitutional a ban on project labor agreements signed into law last year by Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder (R). The ruling was a major victory for working families in Michigan and preserves one of the most widely-used and effective tools in protecting laborers in the U.S. Roberts ruled that PLAs are explicitly legal and encouraged under a law passed by Congress, and that the state not only doesn't have the right to ban them, that it was being dishonest in its attempt to enact the ban.

In Michigan, the court recognized that by effectively prohibiting the use of PLAs on public works projects, the Act interfered with the Section 7 rights of employees to engage in concerted activity to convince public entities to use PLAs, and the rights of employees and their unions to enter into the kinds of agreements authorized by Sections 8(e) and (f) of the Act. The court went on to find that this across-the-board rule is a regulation, not proprietary conduct, which is preempted under both Garmon and Machinists preemption principles.

But Judge Roberts did not stop at simply striking down the law, she went on to question the motives of those who put it in place, suggesting that anti-union sentiment was at the root of the legislation:

In her ruling, Roberts disputed that the laws intent was to level the playing field.

“The problem with the Michigan Legislature’s attempt to impose its own definition of fairness on labor relations is that Congress already decided what the proper balance of power should be between unions and employers when it amended the (National Labor Relations Act) in 1959,” Roberts wrote. “Here, ‘fairness’ is a disguised way for the State to upset the balance of power established by Congress.”

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Kansas Republicans have renewed their attacks on the rights of working families and union members by proposing a bill that would ban project labor agreements. We Party Patriots points out the benefits of PLAs:

We have listed time and again on this site the benefits of PLAs. They include: wage, safety and benefit standards as well as minority, female and veteran hiring requirements, to name a few. When anti-union extremists use the term “competitive” they intend to suggest that PLAs cut non-union contractors out of the bidding process. But, per usual, this is misleading and has been proven false not only in theory but in practice. What is truly “competitive” about PLAs are the workers’ wages and benefits they ensure.

Working Kansans, a labor group in the state, points out the key problems with the proposal:

It creates bigger government by putting the State government in the middle of contracting. Local and State entities should be able to negotiate the best terms for everyone involved without the State interfering in the negotiations.

This will only make it easier for contractors outside of Kansas to come in and take way jobs from working Kansans. Workers make up the citizens in our community and those workers should have the right to receive better wages and terms on the projects in their community.

This bill only progresses the race to the bottom by allowing out of state workers to come in and take away Kansas jobs from our friends and neighbors.

As previously reported, project labor agreements are are collective bargaining compacts connected to specific jobs that lay out the basic guidelines of how employment on the particular project is to work. PLAs have a long, successful history across the United States but are currently under heavy attack from conservatives seeking to undermine unions and workers. Conservatives regularly claim that PLAs cost jobs and harm non-union workers, but numerous studies and reports have rejected those claims.

Last year, the Kansas legislature attempted to ban payroll deductions for union membership, similar to attempts made by Republicans in Alabama in Florida. Republicans have also recently targeted project labor agreements in Idaho and Michigan, as part of their efforts to weaken the rights of working families across the nation.