A Victory Against Obama’s Unionism in New Hampshire
by Warner Todd HustonIn a victory for free labor, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has cancelled its solicitation for bids to build a new Jobs Corps Center in the state of New Hampshire. Why is it a victory? Because initial plans to receive bids would have discriminated against non-union construction companies per President Obama’s orders. Over 80% of all construction companies are non-union.
Executive Order 13502, signed early in Obama’s term, was applied to the New Hampshire construction project and instituted what is known as a Project Labor Agreement (PLA). A PLA is a way to force all companies working on a construction project to agree to union rules, dues, pensions and payments whether they are union shops and their employees are union members or not.
In effect, a PLA turns every employee and company working on a PLA enforced project into a unionized force. Naturally, this drives up costs, lengthens deadlines, and forces employees to fork over dues money even if they don’t belong to a union.
A PLA ruling either outright excludes non-union companies (often as much as 80% of the workforce in any particular state) or forces them to be hobbled under union rules, but PLAs are nothing less than a government payoff to unions. In essence a PLA is a direct transfer of government money to union coffers and that is precisely why President Obama decreed via Executive Order that henceforth all government construction projects would be forced to proceed under PLAs.
As David Denholm amusingly put it:
To put this in perspective, picture a thug at a candy store in Chicago telling the store’s owner that for a weekly payoff his windows won’t be broken and his customers will not be molested. The cost of the weekly payoff is, of course, passed along in higher prices to the purchasers of candy. The thug has the additional economic responsibility to impose the same terms on all other candy stores in the area so that his client won’t be at a disadvantage.
I wonder why Mr. Denholm used Chicago as his example…
The victory in New Hampshire came after Associated Builders and Contractor (ABC) member North Branch Construction of Concord, N.H. filed a protest with the Government Accountability Office (GAO). North Branch Construction challenged the PLA as unlawful and discriminatory.
“This is a real win for the principle of fair and open competition in government procurement,” said North Branch Construction attorney Maurice Baskin of Venable LLP, ABC’s General Counsel. “It is no coincidence that the Department of Labor cancelled its unlawful PLA mandate the day before the agency was required to file a response to our bid protest. We demonstrated that there was no justification for imposing a PLA on this project and that the PLA mandate violated the Competition in Contracting Act and other longstanding federal procurement requirements.”
“There is no justification for playing favorites in the government procurement process,” said ABC President and CEO Kirk Pickerel. “We hope that other federal agencies will heed this example and recognize that PLAs only result in delayed construction and harm to taxpayers. ABC will continue to protest any attempt to impose PLAs on federal construction projects in violation of competitive bidding laws.”
“The Department of Labor can still move this project forward by abandoning this illegal PLA,” said Ken Holmes, president of North Branch Construction. “Our company and other New Hampshire businesses deserve a fair opportunity to provide the public with the best construction product at the best price and we hope the Labor Department will build this project without a PLA in early 2010.”
It remains to be seen if this success can be replicated in other projects in the future, but for now this can be seen as a victory for free labor and a hopeful precedent for the future.
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332 Comments
Obamas not doing anyone any favors by restricting competition. Hes actually hurting a majority of the People. President Stick Figure enjoys the votes he gets from the automatons in the unions, its bad for America.
at one time in our history unions were needed.
as a youngun growing up in southern calif. i saw first hand the need for a union.
my father introduced me to cesar chavez the union org. for the farm workers.
i was just a child but i saw how the farm and migrant workers were taken advantage of.
the unions at that time provided a vital service but they have turned out to be just as bad if not
worse than those owners or companys the unions fought against.
you have the fat cats at the top of the union ladder getting rich off of the sweat and hard work of the
workers while the workers are being laid off.
More sickening garbage spewing from Obama's mouth and his presidential pen.
I hope all the suck-ass liberals who are waking up to the Gulag we're becoming are damned well sorry for what they did. Elections have consequences.
(Another thing that has consequences: The Republican's failure to put up a real candidate to run against ThuggObama.)
Unions were vital in introducing much needed safety reforms in the mining and manufacturing industries in this country. But like you say, they have over time turned into the same thing they were founded to fight against, with the leaders more concerned about lining their own pockets at the expense of the workers and US companies competitiveness with foreign industry. I think you'll see more companies like Boeing, who is building a 787 assembly line in a right to work state (South Carolina) to competed against the union factories to lower their costs and place a check on unions overreaching greed and self importance.
i totally agree with this but i am wondering when the unionized workers will wake up and see that the unions
have orginized themselves out of a job and sent it overseas.
Executive Order 13502 is another insistence where socialist finagling is out of step with a self-correcting republic.
Last time I checked, Extortion is still against the law. Kudos to NH for standing it's ground.
Remember to Vote in 2010 and 2012. We still have much work to do.
As an ex-Union person myself, skilled trades, millwright, Obama needs to stay out of this. Unions are compressing their contracts and they don't need any help from this guy. There is NO need for card check and help from this administration. Competition is the best way to go and to keep wages competitive between Union and non-Union alike. Just my thoughts!
Of course the employer who created a job for someone deserves no credit, he was just exploiting the worker who freely chose to take the job, and could freely leave the job whenever he choses. Those evil rich people who create jobs are horrible.
What were seeing is the last gasp of organized labor making a comeback.What I'm seeing around the country are unions contracting.It was the economy stupid.The crashing economy showed a lot of waste and unions are a big part of that waste.And that's taxpayer funded unions.
Obama's idiot handlers Axlerod,Emanuel,Gibbs et al are saying the people of this country won't remember the catastrophe that Obama and the democrats are responsible for.That's why Obama's handlers are idiots.
It's pretty obvious that THIS president's first priority is to scratch the backs and line the pockets of the people that put him in office. His second is to tear down our Republic not one brick at a time, but whole walls and buildings at a time. These people sicken me with their anti-American policies.
i agree
but i think we can also agree that during our history that was not always the case
unions were needed to help the workers get a fair wage and work enviroment
as it has turned out the unions have turned into simon legreed
Middle managers in China make $2000 per year – not per month.
Before Big Auto fell off the cliff last year we discovered that the UAW had strong-armed the companies to 'maintain' aging unproductive workers in "Job Banks" that paid them $35 per hour to do nothing. Well not nothing. Crossword puzzles were a popular way to pass time.
The idea that jobs are exclusive to America is one to dispel. And the 80% of us who are not unionized must step up to face down the "leaders" of the other 20% who they control. Quite frankly I don't give a rats arse what the 20% who are unionized think.
Union leadership NOW exists to essentially bring down the whole country. Even if they don't want to recognize that Chinese middle managers do exist outside of Utopia we must.
i've grown very suspect of the word "fair"- everyone has a different definition to its meaning. I think we can agree that no worker was forced to work anywhere, or at any wage, they could leave whenever they freely chose. Workers have the right to collectively bargain for better conditions and wages, and owners have the right to say no. Its the govt. that tries to limit your freedom and force People to do things, just look at Obamacare for an example.
Union members from private business make up less that 10% of all unions, unions are now primarily govt. workers.
their unofficially know as- lil Rahm, Axelrose, and Gibbs hes just bloated
Obama executive order is just another example of corruption in his administration. He got big campaign bribes from SEIU anfd other unions so he orders that all governement work be done by union members regardless of the cost to the public. Unions are good to only a certain point after that they cost allof us money for the sake most of the time for union bosses lining their own pockets. If unions can bid the jobs fro th erpice that non-union can bid it greta use the union bujt if they can't well that's the free market system the union will have to get their act together and get competitive with their demands. Wake Up America! It's not about a living wage for union members, it's about millions for politians and union bosses! I saw it first hand with the teamsters and the grocery workers union in Detroit. How's the auto industry doing with their union deals? Unfrotunately the majority of the money won in bargaining goes to support the union not the workers! Wake Up America! Before these communist &%&^^%$ steal the rest of our country from us! Demand Obama stop descriminating against whites and non-union workers. No more pay to play! Stop the corruption!
Worse than just being an ideologue, Obummer's a corrupt ideologue. He's in this for him…the perks, power, privilege, photo ops and then some. In Marxist/Communist/Fascist societies, there's always corruption at the top. Our Treasury is being looted.
Are there any frontiers of America, not touched by the Obama Dictations??? Are his mandating fingerprints on all formally private transactions in America???? Will the entire Presidential transportation fleet have to be replaced after all of Obamas travels??? How many laws is he restricted by, if not any, then is he an outlaw or is he simply lawless????
the union mentality is no different from an angler who would think nothing of completely fishing out a stretch of water (with dynamite, if need be) because, 'well, if i don't catch 'em all, then somebody else will.' if you ask him what he'll do when the fish are all gone, he'll just give you a blank stupid look.
Do I dare state it, but the Executive Order 13502 is a violation of the Constitution (of life liberty and the pursuit of happiness), it restricts companies and people from being able to better their lives and the lives of others. Obama is trying to use Chicago style force to make things go his way, the people that surround him are all members of that group from Chicago that wants to hurt people anyway they can, physically or financially. All you need to do is look around and see what is happing; people that oppose Obama’s agenda get stepped on some how, or put in the hospital.
We need to fight back come 2010 elections, and don’t let ACORN, SEIU, or their affiliates flood the ballot box with bad ballots
Hey Liberty666 – after I read your comment twice, I realized you were being sarcastic. I like your dry sense of humor.
IMPEACH NOW.
Pres. Obama & Crew follow the Chicago Way, so they make their own rules and break knee caps before cracking the law books. Rule of law in America? Fugeddaboudit! We've graduated to the Chicago Way! Hope and Change, baby, but don't take your eyes offa da guy wid da brass knuckles.
Ah, poor Barry!
He thought he was being crowned our new Emperor, chosen by popular acclamation and carried into office on the shoulders of his jubilant supporters!
Now, he is realizing he is… Well, he is actually less than a glorified CEO, as he primarily has to wait for that nasty two-house Board of Directors to let him do the really fun things he had planned, which is really starting to notice how angry those voting shareholders are and they want to keep their cushy jobs. Now he needs to accept he does not have the power of Imperial Decree, only that of enacting short-term "emergency measures" which are still open to being challenged.
Now that he sees it is just a job involving something too close to work for him, do you think he might just not bother to run in 2012? Ah, let's be nice to him, and do our best to get him out of there and keep him out. It's for his own good!
Unions are little more than organized shakedowns of their members. Union organizers are thugs and union officers are crooks. These stereotypes fit the Chicago and Obumma molds. Anything goes so long as the unions can extort money. As for propriety, have you ever seen Obumma bow to a WHITE person?
Whether or not you think unions are a good thing, clearly BO sees it as a good thing, that's why he issued this executive order. And he does not care about the debate or the nuances of what it was like back then and what it is like now. Capitalism is still evil, in his mind. Socialists prefer unionization to plain old capitalism — Obama believes that this causes strife but poses as Protector of the little guy. So what happens when you require that all union workers for example to get health care benefits? The company simply cannot afford to hire as many workers, so you get less jobs, and less paying jobs. The union negotiates on behalf of the worker, and he has to take what they give him.
Once the situation gets dire enough, and the company starts failing under the weight of the union, along comes the socialist with the promises to rescue the company and save all these union workers from losing their benefits, and spending mine, yours, and everyone elses money in massive quantities. Their thinking is they can demonstrate the failure of capitalism while their unions are engineering it. Well played, Mr.Obama. But we will not let you get away with it.
Obama is seeing that everyone around him is getting rich because he hands out all these favors…….and he is working for a salary….. Let's buy him out!! Why don't we ask him "what's the price….how much money do you want to quit your job?" One billion, one trillion? It certainly be a lot cheaper that what we and our children and grandchildren have to pay. When your new born baby is crying and you can't figure out why… do not fret, you have not done anything wrong……….He/She is just thinking how much in debt Obama has put him in!!……( just a little humor to ease the tension in all of us )
"suck-ass liberals"
Dad, has Mom let you back on the computer? You know what happened the last time…
Gee, how does that old expression go… Once you pay Danegeld, you never get rid of the Dane.
We have been paying off liberals for years, and all it has gotten us is more liberals demanding more money. I do not want them getting any, not just any more. And certainly not any more to Barry and cronies.
HumanPersonJr
Need to tell the RNC right now –that they had best start picking conservatives to back or they will be out of the loop.
Their enemies are not saints either – they oppose non-unionized US citizens through anti-citizen uses of immigration law.
I wonder if this was to just clear it for a bunch of illegals from Mexico to get this project.
What of the cases where they purposefully "scuttle the ship" and kill the company? It looks like what you just described – they sink the company and call it some unrelated "coincidence".
Liberty666
That last is Gibbles.
The Unions are always threatening to strike—to make life difficult if they don't get their way.
Just wait 'obewantitall' till the American people strike. When we realize (every one of us) how you are attempting to destroy us–and we rise up with a Loud Voice and say No, No You Can't.
That day is getting closer by the hour.
You are right as right can be. Truer words were never spoken.
We are sick of foolish, go-along-to-get-along candidates. This business of choosing the lesser of two evils is a dicey one. I think it's at least partly responsible for our present quandary, where we have a president who doesn't really think the USA is deserving of success in the world.
Guess what, President Obama — We are more than deserving. We've given our young men's blood and our national treasure to secure for others what we once enjoyed ourselves — the freedom to determine the course of our own lives. You don't own us, Mr. Obama. Each of us is an individual, not some faceless mass of humanity waiting for you to give us benefits. I OWN MYSELF. MY CONSERVATIVE BROTHERS AND SISTERS OWN THEMSELVES. Stop ruining our country, and for the love of liberty, stop apologizing for our incredible success as a nation.
I've lived 59 hard-won years.
My mother died without ever having owned a computer.
If you don't like the name I bestowed on the American Left, please explain to me why I should change my political stripe.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by LEANN SEEHUSEN, Partisan Media Group and Big Tweeting, Big Tweeting. Big Tweeting said: BigGovt: A Victory Against Obama’s Unionism in New Hampshire: In a victory for free lab.. http://bit.ly/JjUFY #BigTweet [...]
my friend he dont care about anyone who isnt one of his drones
ive been a truck driver for 21 years now so naturaly i watch trucking comp. over these years ive seen 13 union trucking comp.go out of bus because they just could not afford the uinos demands and compete and turn a profit so they shut down
HumanPersonJr
Amen.
This a law in NJ. Has been for years!
…and watch as there will be a Republican who looks away but allows some illegals from Mexico in.
…not if the Republicans back firms like Grigsby & Cohen, Jackson Lewis, and others of the same stripe.
When the unions are gone, you're next to be targeted – for the purpose of abusing immigration law to avoid all citizens.
Of your kindness please remember that only 16 states suffer teachers' unions, and my Texas, thank God, is not one of them. I would never walk out on my kids.
Mack,
Teacher
Veteran
Voter
Reagan Republican
Did you not hear Obama is going to naturalize all the illegals. Look at the news from friday on imagration reform
Mack,
God Bless Texas.
I am from Texas. The only thing that made me leave Texas, for parts unknown, was the influx of foriegners. Yankess moving south, Mexicans moving north, and the wack jobs headed east from California. Texas has her own perfect storm brewing, and it aint a gonna be purty.
My heart is still in the Panhandle.
I know a few people in the construction business. I'm not sure how it worked for the rest of the country but in California the union priced itself out of existence. (This apparently happened long before my time.) One of them is a rather snarky guy. He said he used to drop into the meetings and ask questions like: "If we're on strike, why do we still have to pay dues? We don't get paid but all the union leaders still do." Apparently he wasn't popular among the union leaders.
Interesting you mentioning that. I have about the same gripe about where I live. Mexicans (illegal ones) moving north, wack jobs from the east coast moving west….. Except I'm in California…
*runs for cover*
Such a situation isn't sustainable. At some point state funds will run out. Then it's a perfect crises… to seize more power. History does repeat itself.
Mack, I unfortunately suffer from teacher's unions in Illinois,,,,but I found a way out. I filed for a religious accommodation under federal civil rights laws which trump any Illinois Education Labor Laws and I got it. Of course, they don't release the dues/fees…I donated that to the American Cancer Society. I found out about the possibility of this in a pamphlet called Union Dues and Religious Don'ts put out by the Right to Work Foundation. Most teachers didn't even know this was possible….neither did the union higher ups. They initially denied it because I was not a member of a church that forbad union membership (the only way to get religious accommodation under Ill. Educ. Labor Laws). A letter from an attorney citing case law and federal civil rights laws changed that. So, Mack in Texas, I'm jealous, but feisty.
Giblets anyone? how bout-Gibbs the Bloated
Obowma is a total big govt. ideologue, a true believer that govt. is altruistic and good, when the truth of the matter is the govt. is anti-social and forces People to do things rather than convinces People. Force is not freedom!
California was a great place to live until it reached a tipping point. That tipping point was when too many New Englanders moved in. Few, if any of them, have met a tax they oppose, a social program they oppose, or an idea they have that couldn't be paid for with someone else's money.
I work for a small, non-union contractor (<10 employees). They pay top wages and bennies to attract and keep a quality workforce, and have good equipment. We are busy all the time, in part because we don't have to charge the public artificially high union labor rates as our competitors do. Several co-workers came to us from 'socialist' employers because they could keep more of what they earned.
We are also involved in two contracts totaling over $1M with companies who decided it was cheaper for them to avoid all the handouts and incentives (and the 'strings' attached) and fund their projects privately.
The bottom line: we, and our customers, are all better off in a free market, without accepting 'help' from big brother. It CAN work.
Very True. A job we would normally charge $40.00 per hour cost the State $90.00 per hour for "Prevailing Union Wage". Why is NJ broke ??
actually i meant it as a compliment. that's the exact term of art my 76 yr. old Dad uses to describe the left and i got a laugh at the thought of him using his fairly limited computer skills to post anything here.
I am embarassed and humbled. I apologize for failing to catch the tenor of your remarks. Thank you for writing to let me know. Please forgive me.
Kudos to ABC in turning the tables with "unfairness" and "discrimination"! This is indeed a victory.
We need to use this weapon much more to defend the targets of legislation such as the Overweight, Doctors, Smokers, Oil workers, Coal workers, non-union workers, tea party participants, conservatives, etc peppered with constitutional rights challenges wherever possible.
It's also become one of the most unfriendly places to live. (I'm speaking of Southern California here.) It's not really a place to raise a family anymore either. Culture is all wrong now.
no problemo- thanks again for the chuckle. i could just hear my Dad's voice anytime the subject of politics comes up and it's never very far into the conversation before he uses that expression…
What a gracious individual you are! You have earned my respect and my gratitude.
I try to be correct in my assumptions, to read carefully, and to respond judiciously. I failed in all three efforts re your remarks.
I appreciate your great kindness. You could've blasted me and been within your rights, but you chose to be the bigger person. My best wishes to you and yours.
You think he cares about them?
One word to save the day… Competition!
I work in the construction industry in northern California, and there are many school boards and municipalities that have signed these PLA’s. We are a non-union company so we are not allowed to participate in these projects.
These PLA’s are even bold enough to claim that their purpose is to bring the project in on time and on budget. It scares me to think that a school board whose job it is to educate our children, think that by limiting competition you will save money.
And to the people that elect those school boards and pay those bonds, ask yourself this question.
Why would you pay for 4 new schools when you could get 5 for the same price?
[...] Big Government » Blog Archive » A Victory Against Obama’s Unionism … [...]
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Obowma is in the pocket of the unions. He does what's in his own best interests.
Obama needs their votes in November because the Dems can't win on the merits, so they have to pull out every trick in the book.
Rudy Giuliania basically said this on Hannity's radio show today – that the stimuless bill was a payoff to the Dems' constituents (unions, etc.) and that's why it failed. That Obamacare was more of the same – another payoff to the unions.
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