October 21, 2014

In This Issue

Santa Barbara County PLA on Jail Expansion Goes Down to Ignominious Defeat!

Project Labor Agreement for New Sacramento Kings Arena Finally Made Public

Unions Promise a PLA on New State Courthouse in Sacramento

State Legislature Approves and Governor Jerry Brown Signs First Ever Mandated PLA

California High Speed Rail Boondoggle Has More Lives Than a Cat

What a great night in Sacramento with almost $30,000 raised

Join us at the 2nd Annual CFEC OPEN Comp 200

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Santa Barbara County PLA on Jail Expansion Goes Down to Ignominious Defeat!

After more than six months of hard work and thousands of dollars spent to defeat it, the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors discarded the proposed pilot Project Labor Agreement (PLA) for the Northern Branch Jail last Tuesday. This was a real team effort with CFEC sending out mailers and making phone calls to local taxpayers to encourage the board to reject the PLA. Thanks to CFEC and other key stakeholders, unions were forced to allow non-union representation into the PLA negotiations. Representing the merit shop and local taxpayers was Robin Hayhurst of the Santa Maria Valley Contractors Association who was masterful in getting a PLA that, while still discriminatory, had key provisions in it that caused problems with certain unions. You can read the PLA here. County staff was also excellent in making sure that any PLA be signed by all unions and encouraged the Supervisors to reject any PLA that did not contain all signatures.

In the end this is in fact what killed the PLA, the Operating Engineers would have nothing to do with a PLA that gained them nothing.

Santa Barbara County remains PLA-free but for how long is another question. Three union-owned Supervisors have encouraged staff to try again on another PLA for the next phase of the jail expansion, so the fight continues. Stay tuned!

Project Labor Agreement for New Sacramento Kings Arena Finally Made Public

Despite more than a year of demanding that the PLA governing the construction of the new $500 million Sacramento Kings Arena be made public, Turner Construction and the King's owners have kept this "agreement" hidden despite millions of taxpayer dollars helping to fund this "private/public" venture. CFEC has been warning contractors since the PLA was announced what it would mean for them. Until this week these assumptions were based on what previous PLAs looked like, which is a safe assumption considering how once you've seen one PLA you have seen them all.

But this PLA is even worse than we had anticipated. When unions have the opportunity to make a PLA as exclusionary as possible, like they legally can on private projects, they do it. This PLA is no exception.

Some of the PLAs most egregious provisions are:

Article 4: All pension monies and benefits must be paid to the union even if a union-free worker already has them

Article 5: All workers must pay union dues, even if they are union-free

Article 6: All workers much be dispatched through a union hiring hall even if they are union-free and union-free companies are limited to using four of their own workers at all

We will continue to monitor this project and bring you updates as we get them. Stay tuned.

Unions Promise a PLA on New State Courthouse in Sacramento

Sometimes union bosses just can't contain themselves and allow their hubris to get ahead of the facts. That pretty much epitomizes Robbie Hunter, head boss of the State Building and Construction Trades. Since he assumed this role Mr. Hunter has been hell bent in making sure that any union that needs PLA welfare in order to compete gets it.

Last week he was in Sacramento promising that the new Sacramento County Courthouse will "have a PLA" on it.

To date $27 million has been allotted to buy the land needed to build the courthouse. The courthouse is still two years away from beginning construction and that will only happen when the California Legislature finds the money for it. Unions will be watching-and guiding-the process every step of the way in order to try and place a PLA on this project as they did with the San Diego County Courthouse last year. CFEC will be there every step of the way to make sure they fail.

State Legislature Approves and Governor Jerry Brown Signs First Ever Mandated PLA!

Union dealing and scheming over state legislation in California occurs behind closed doors. But rarely is the true story ever revealed to the public, who ends up paying for those secret deals.

A rare exception has emerged with Assembly Bill 155. Based on information collected and organized by Labor Issues Solution's Kevin Dayton about the union manipulation of the legislative process for this one bill, someone could write a dissertation about how a bill really becomes a law - at least in California.

So how did a simple bill designed to help a county address its water shortage situation turn into a first ever state mandated PLA? Read here and learn how things are really done in California's capitol and who it is that owns that place.

Very informative, and foreboding.

California High Speed Rail Boondoggle Has More Lives Than a Cat
Just when you thought this $100 billion monstrosity and its PLA were dead, the California Supreme Court incredibly gives it another chance at life. Read about it here. Despite this setback for the rational minded this is by no means a total victory for HSR proponents, as Chris Reed writes here. Keep track of this ongoing scam at our website www.californiahighspeedrailscam.com.

What a great night in Sacramento with almost $30,000 raised

We had a wonderful night of food, drink, and amazing conversation at the Ten22 Restaurant on Thursday evening in Old Sacramento for our annual CFEC Sacramento fundraiser. Our goal was to raise $30,000 for our efforts to combat over a dozen PLA threats in the region.

A great group of long time supporters and new friends were on

CFEC's Eric Christen addresses the assembled

hand to enjoy the beautiful ambiance of Old Sacramento as well as hear an important update on the status of the many projects in the region. We were joined by Richard Markuson of the Western Electrical Contractors Association and Plumbing Heating and Cooling Contractors Association who gave the

CFEC supporters enjoying the ambiance

group a riveting recap of what's been going on at the Capitol and what we can expect in the coming months. John Robinson of the CA Construction Compliance Group also addressed the assembled about the important work they do to protect the merit shop industry. Overall it was a great event and we are so thankful to those who came out to support our efforts this year.

We still need your help to hit our $30,000 goal!

At the event we raised just over $28,000, which leaves us about $2,000 short of our goal. We are asking you today if you would help us meet our goal with a donation or by helping to bring one in.

We are fighting billions of dollars worth of projects right now around the state that are all under PLA threat. From school bond work and courthouses, to private developments and power plants, PLA proponents remain aggressive and committed.

If you are able to help us today you can do so one of two ways: Contribute right now using a credit card here or mail a donation in today by sending it to PO Box 1627, Poway, CA 92074. I appreciate your consideration and hope to hear back from you.

This event would not have been successful without the generous support of our sponsors (listed below). Thank you again to all those who were able to attend this event and contribute to the fight to ensure fair and open competition.

Platinum Sponsors

Barnum & Celillo Electric, Inc.

Rex Moore Electrical Contractors and Engineers

Gold Sponsors

Bayside Solutions

Royal Electric Company

Silver Sponsors

Acme Mechanical Contractors

California Construction Compliance Group

Gateway Pacific Contractors, Inc.

H & D Electric Inc.

USA Properties Fund, Inc.

Vanden BOS Electric Inc.

Western Engineering Contractors, Inc.

Bronze Sponsors

Biondi Paving & Engineering

Bosley Electric Company

GSE Construction Company

SW Allen Construction

TTS Construction Corporation

Vasko Electric Inc.

Wine & Food Sponsors

Sisler and Sisler Construction

TSV Painting, Inc.

Join us at the 2nd Annual CFEC OPEN Comp 200
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Whether it is through the use of our emails, weekly newsletters, gatherings, or other tactics we here at CFEC work hard to educate elected officials, business owners, and other entities about the discriminatory and harmful effects of PLAs. We are able to continue these efforts because of the generous support shown to us by our members. Please donate today and help us continue to keep fair and open competition alive. Thank you!

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