Mandatory Project Labor Agreements Mean Virginians
Pay More to Get Less.
It’s simple. When Virginia politicians mandate Project Labor Agreements, you 🫵 pay higher taxes for fewer public works.
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If You Like Paying Higher Taxes for Less Infrastructure, Then You’ll ♥️ Government-Mandated PLAs in Virginia.
Dear Virginia:
Every credible study shows that mandated Project Labor Agreements hike the cost of construction, significantly reducing the number of public infrastructure projects completed in Virginia. Further, these agreements force local contractors to adhere to antiquated and inefficient work rules that add delay-inducing complexity to Virginia infrastructure projects. (What’s more, Virginia construction workers are worse off under mandatory PLAs!)
What does this mean for you? Fewer projects and longer delays mean more gridlock on Virginia roads, overcrowded Virginia schools, and less fire and police protection for Virginia taxpayers. Don’t let this be Virginia’s future. Join us, and take action to stop government-mandated PLAs in our Commonwealth!
Sincerely,
Virginia Construction workers and business leaders
Independent Studies Find that Government-Mandated PLAs
Increase Costs and Decrease Benefits
Case Study: Los Angeles’s PLA on Affordable Housing Development
Voters in Los Angeles approved Proposition HHH to dedicate over $1 billion towards the construction of 10,000 new units of affordable housing. But politicians in City Hall added a Project Labor Agreement. According to an independent study, the PLA increased costs by a stunning $141 million - 14.5%. Further, the study found that the PLA prevented over 800 fewer units from being built, meaning over 800 families will not receive an affordable housing option because of the PLA.
Click here to read the study
The Latest News on PLAs in Virginia
5 Ways Mandatory PLAs Hurt Virginians
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1. Costs
PLAs dramatically increase the cost of publicly funded construction projects, meaning taxpayers pay more for less.
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2. Delays
PLAs add antiquated work rules and delay-inducing complexity to public infrastructure projects.
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3. Discrimination
PLAs discriminate against minority- and woman-owned construction businesses and their workers.
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4. Exclusion
PLAs exclude Virginia construction contractors on projects funded by their own tax dollars.
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5. Wage Theft
PLAs force non-union construction workers to pay into union-run funds that provide them no benefits.
Fraud Alert!
Some Say Government-Mandated PLAs Help Workers.
They’re wrong.
Don’t Be Fooled.
Get the Truth.
Mandatory PLAs are sold to elected officials and the public on the lie that they help construction workers. But PLAs are designed to help labor union officials, not construction workers. There’s a big difference. Don’t be fooled. Construction workers lose with government-mandated PLAs. Here’s how.
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Mandatory PLAs require workers to contribute to union-run pension funds, union-run benefit plans, and to pay union dues. In most PLAs, these contributions are mandatory even if the worker is not part of a collective bargaining agreement and is not part of a union. The data show this can be significant – up to 34% of a worker’s take home pay.
The biggest part of this include mandatory contributions to union pension funds. This is particularly deceitful given that the worker will not vest in the pension fund during the course of their work on the project. In other words, money is taken directly from the worker and placed in a union pension fund, where it is kept and never returned to the worker. This is wage theft. And it is morally wrong.
For more information see our explanation of PLA WageTheft
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Approximately 95% of Virginia construction workers do not belong to a labor union. These workers re effectively excluded from working on the projects paid for by their own tax dollars.
When a PLA is required on a project, hiring on the project is outsourced to union hiring halls. These hiring halls typically work on seniority within the union, meaning that workers that have been in the union the longest are placed on projects first. This is why workers from outside of Virginia can take priority on project funded by Virginia tax dollars, simply because they have been in the union longer
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Under most PLAs, construction firms only get to utilize up to 5 of their own employees, with the rest “assigned” to them by union hiring halls. Thus, firms have no idea what the background, skills, or strengths of these workers are before placing them on a complicated construction project. Most construction firms spend considerable resources and effort in training their existing workforce, which must sit on the sidelines if the project is covered by a mandatory PLA.
This construct creates significant safety concerns and places everyone at a higher risk. Workers are placed on the job with strangers, assigned by a union, and asked to perform skilled trade work. Simply put, there is no way PLAs are in the best interest of workers from a safety perspective.
95% of Virginia construction workers have chosen not to join a union.
But…
Government-mandated PLAs force Virginia workers to join a union, regardless of whether they want to, as a condition of working on a taxpayer-funded project. Forced-unionization by Virginia politicians is wrong!
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Population Survey, Union Membership, Coverage, Density, and Employment, by State, 2023.
PLA Failures in Our Region
Woodrow Wilson Bridge
Virginia/Maryland
Prince George’s County Schools
Maryland
Laurel Library
Maryland