Related Articles

ABC Misleads San Diego Voters in Anti-PLA Effort

July 25, 2011

A San Diego newspaper has called out Associated Builders and Contractors, the anti-union corporate lobby, for spreading misinformation about a ballot measure that would ban the use of project labor agreements on city construction projects.

San Diego City Beat reporters caught ABC supporters telling voters gross mistruths about PLAs on tape in their efforts to collect signatures in support of the measure.

As reported on the We Party Patriots blog:

City Beat took issue with signature gatherers asking respondents about potholes, something most people have a great distaste for, despite the fact that pothole repair does not fall under the jurisdiction of project labor agreements which are reserved for large-scale construction … The “Fair and Open Competition” effort also claims nonunion contractors are banned from bidding on small projects, an outrageous fallacy.

Project labor agreements are project-specific, pre-hire agreements between contractors and employees that govern wages, safety regulations and construction timelines. They are popular with contractors because they ensure projects run smoothly and predictably.

Public PLAs have been under attack from ABC and other corporate special interest groups, who have teamed up with anti-worker politicians and right-wing political operatives to ban the use of the agreements in jurisdictions across the country.

ABC allies in the Michigan and Maine state legislatures recently voted to outlaw the use of PLAs on state projects, while Republican consultants have placed anti-PLA measures on the ballot in municipalities across California.

Opponents attack PLAs as wasteful, but studies show that they save money, reduce the risk of subpar work and encourage greater productivity, says Cornell University researcher Fred Kotler.

ABC’s attacks on project labor agreements masks its own shoddy construction record says We Party Patriots, a pro-worker blog.

There is surprisingly little media attention on the ABC, even though they … [push] for low wages, unskilled and unsafe working conditions at every turn. An analysis of data at the Department of Labor Standards Enforcement Web site found that ABC, with only 0.4 percent of California’s contractors, account for 24 percent of wage and hour violations.

Watch ABC’s falsehoods caught on video.

Photo used under a creative commons license from Flickr user Social Media Max