City of Richmond Developing Harmful PLA Policy
The City of Richmond’s Department of Public Utilities (DPU) is holding a PLA Workshop on Friday, September 6, 2024 from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. The location of the meeting is 1801 Commerce Road, Training Room 154, Richmond, VA 23224. According to an agenda circulated by the DPU:
The City of Richmond is hosting an informal workshop for invited subject matter experts on the draft policy for when capital public works projects will include the provision that the general contractor includes a completed project labor agreement (PLA) to be responsive to an invitation to bid.
This closed-door meeting will have far reaching implications for Richmond-based construction contractors. Email the DPU and let them know that closed-door meetings to discuss harmful PLAs are an outrageous violation of public transparency. Click HERE to send an email to April Bingham, Director of the Department of Public Utilities.
Ahead of the meeting, the DPU has circulated drafts of proposed PLA policies that would decimate local contractors and workers. Read them here:
If you are a construction contractor doing work in Richmond, here’s what you need to know about PLAs:
What You 🫵 Need to Know About Government-Mandated PLAs in Richmond
Project Labor Agreements (PLAs) are government-mandated schemes that require Virginia contractors and workers to pay into union-run funds and let unions dictate the terms of construction, including matters that go well beyond employment. If you sign a PLA, you are putting your business at-risk! Here’s what you may not know about PLAs:
Contractors are “assigned” employees by the union. Under a PLA, union hiring halls determine who works on a project, and who doesn’t. Typically, contractors are permitted to provide only 5 of their employees the opportunity to work on a PLA project.
PLAs force contractors to adhere to union collective bargaining agreements. These include antiquated work rules that often require multiple union members to do the job of a typical non-union construction worker. Contractors who don’t know these complex rules can be hit with significant penalties.
Contractors will become liable for massive “withdrawal liability” from union pension plans. By signing a PLA, contractors become participants in union pension plans under federal law. The only way to get out of the plan after a PLA project is to pay the contractor’s share of unfunded benefits – called “withdrawal liability.” Withdrawal liability can run into the hundreds of thousands, even millions, of dollars. See: American Dream Project Turns Into Nightmare
Non-union workers must contribute to union benefit and pension plans, even if they are not members of the union. This “PLA Wage Theft” can be up to 34% of a worker’s paycheck. These wages are effectively taken from workers and never returned to them.