Analysis of 2001 Bush Executive Order Allowing Federal Funds for Project Labor Agreements

By Kevin Dayton
01/18/2017
In early 2001, President George W. Bush issued two executive orders related to a prohibition on federal funding for construction contracts that included a requirement for contractors to sign a Project Labor Agreement with trade unions. The first executive order – Presidential Executive Order 13202, signed on February 17, 2001 – received national news coverage and Congressional attention....

TAGS: Project Labor Agreement, Project Labor Agreements

Will Mandated Project Labor Agreements Again Trigger Ineligibility for Federal Funds?

By Kevin Dayton
01/03/2017
Political observers are now speculating about which executive actions Donald Trump will take after becoming President. One of his actions may reverse federal policy toward government-mandated union Project Labor Agreements on federally-funded projects. President Trump can rescind President Obama’s 2009 executive order encouraging Project Labor Agreements on federally-funded projects. In addition, he can issue his...

TAGS: Barack Obama, Donald Trump, Project Labor Agreement, Project Labor Agreements

Unions Foiled in Plot to Evade Open Government Law

By Kevin Dayton
10/05/2016
It’s rare to see a California local government rescind a vote. But on October 4, 2016, the San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors voted 5-0 to rescind a controversial and probably illegal vote taken three weeks earlier to satisfy the political demands of construction unions. Rescind Project Labor Agreement Vote – San Joaquin County Board of...

TAGS: Project Labor Agreement, seiu

Unions Fill Power Vacuum at Obscure California Regional Government

By Kevin Dayton
02/26/2016
On June 7, 2016, voters in nine California counties in the San Francisco Bay Area will vote on a proposal (Measure AA) to annually assess a $12 tax on every property parcel. This tax would apply equally to each parcel, ranging in assessed property value from Google headquarters in Mountain View to a $30,000 trailer...

TAGS: Contra Costa Taxpayers Association, Project Labor Agreement, Project Labor Agreements

Unions Pester Community Choice Aggregation Energy Programs in California

By Kevin Dayton
02/16/2016
Where there is innovation, there is union interference. Marin Clean Energy, the first “Community Choice Aggregation” program in California, is planning to build a solar farm on a “brownfield” in the City of Richmond. Only one party objected to the project on environmental grounds: “Bay Area Citizens for Responsible Solar,” a front group for California...

TAGS: Adams Broadwell Joseph & Cardozo, California Unions for Reliable Energy (CURE), Project Labor Agreement, Project Labor Agreements

California Construction Unions Saved the Planet Again in 2015

By Kevin Dayton
12/30/2015
California construction trade unions continue to protect the environment from the scourges of renewable energy and infill development. A chart below provides examples of their achievements for the planet in 2015. Meanwhile, 2015 ends with the annual chatter at the state capitol that “maybe next year” will be the year that the California legislature amends the California Environmental Quality...

TAGS: California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), California Unions for Reliable Energy (CURE), CEQA, Greenmail, Project Labor Agreement, Project Labor Agreements, San Diego Convention Center Expansion, State Building and Construction Trades Council of California

Project Labor Agreement Threats Surge in California in 2015

By Kevin Dayton
12/22/2015
California’s construction trade unions greatly expanded their campaign in 2015 to get local elected officials to require construction companies to sign a Project Labor Agreement with unions as a condition of winning a public works contract. In 2015, 47 California local governments considered a union Project Labor Agreement mandate for future taxpayer-funded construction contracts. On a few occasions in 2015, Project...

TAGS: Project Labor Agreement, Project Labor Agreements

Will Citizens' Bond Oversight Committees Crumble Against Union Power?

By Kevin Dayton
11/05/2015
Numerous local K-12 school districts and community college districts throughout California have entangled themselves in controversies over facilities construction funded by borrowed money obtained through bond sales. These controversies include the irresponsible sale of Capital Appreciation Bonds, inappropriate expenditures using bond proceeds, and questionable contracts for bond underwriting, construction program management, and project delivery. There has even been overt...

TAGS: 55% Approval for Bond Measures, local bond measures, Project Labor Agreement, Project Labor Agreements, Proposition 39 (2000)

Construction Unions Dominate a Marin County Bond Measure Campaign

By Kevin Dayton
10/27/2015
Construction trade unions in California are likely to be celebrating on November 3, 2015 as voters approve another set of local school bond measures and launch another round of taxing, borrowing, and spending. Eight school districts in California are asking voters to approve a total of nine bond measures for school facilities construction on the November ballot....

TAGS: Marin County, Project Labor Agreement

Community College Board in California Will Be Accountable to Voters

By Kevin Dayton
10/17/2015
The eastern suburbs of San Diego (“East County”) have been and are still regarded as politically conservative. But even this area isn’t impervious to the political movement in California toward European-style social democracy. Labor unions and their political allies have recently gained political control of an East County local government and are now exercising their power. Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District...

TAGS: Coalition for Fair Employment in Construction, Project Labor Agreement, Project Labor Agreements, Proposition 39 (2000), San Diego County Taxpayers Association