Public Wakes Up To Unions' PLA Power Play

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Investors Business Daily:

Unions: The push-back against public-sector collective bargaining goes beyond Wisconsin. Project labor agreements, promoted by the Obama administration, are also taking hits.

Want peace? Get a PLA. That's the implicit argument — or threat — behind project labor agreements.

Until recently, we doubt if many voters outside the building industry were even aware of these union-friendly contracts and their costs. But more people, including San Diego voters, are catching on to them.

Last week, residents of America's eighth largest city passed not one but two tough measures against unions in the public sector. One, widely reported, is a reform plan that puts most new hires on 401(k)-style retirement plans rather than guaranteed pensions. The other bans the city from requiring PLAs on any of its projects.

The PLA ban drew less attention across the country. But, in its way, it's even more defiant toward Big Labor and its political allies.

Under Gov. Jerry Brown, California has enacted laws barring state construction funds for cities that ban PLAs. San Diego will now put those laws to the test.

On the other side of the country, PLAs lost a round at the regional airport agency representing Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia. Last Wednesday, the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority voted 11-1 to drop PLA preferences from contracts on the $6 billion second phase of the rail line it's building from D.C. to Dulles International Airport.

Unions took another hit at the end of May when the Obama administration rescinded a bid solicitation that would have required contractors on a $40 million Job Corps Center in New Hampshire to sign a PLA.

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The move came after three contractors protested the PLA requirement to the Government Accountability Office and the GAO indicated that it would find in their favor.

PLAs can serve some limited purposes, such as ensuring a steady supply of skilled labor for long-term projects in remote locations.