A blog for public works and project labor agreements

large contractors that have no sense of responsibility to the public that they are serving get no love. -Charles Bradshaw

Charles Bradshaw, the owner/creator of Public Works Solutions contacted me about a link exchange, so I figured I'd check his site out.

What I found was a guy who was dedicated to serving his community, by making sure that publicly funded projects in his area of California, get their moneys worth. He cites the Project Labor Agreement as a huge win for members of his community. Here's a quote from his about me:

I have had the privilege of working with results oriented leaders that were fighting for things larger them themselves. The PLA provided labor peace for the construction projects, which modernized the maritime sector and expanded the Oakland International Airport. In addition to labor peace it brought hundreds of East Bay residents into the building trades.

and continues in a fashion I truly admire:

I despise poverty pimps and privileged whiners. Outreach programs that are 80% overhead that get no results and large contractors that have no sense of responsibility to the public that they are serving get no love.

Checking around the site I notice quite a few cool things, a movie on the construction of the World Trade Center, another on the making of Disney Land, a lot of local politics, a lot of mention of local budget and prevailing wage, and then I get to the tag section, and click on the "unions" tag, awesome, there's a lot of news that I missed on my usual trolling through the internet, here's a few recent ones:

• Good Opinion Piece About Labor Day
• Some Construction Health and Safety Notes, for August 1
• Building Trades Initiate Massive Safety Training in Las Vegas
• Four Construction Workers Killed Every Day Building America
  

Nice site Charles, I like seeing more people fighting for whats right in their areas, and it's nice to see that the Building and Construction Trades are getting respect from sites such as your own, for doing what is right for your community.

The WTC Construction movie (18 Minutes)

World Trade Center Construction, Part 1


World Trade Center Construction, Part 2

So go check out the site:

CT: Mohegan Sun and Buiding and Construction Trades sign PLA on almost $1 Billion expansion

"Mohegans' agreement a first for sovereign land in Connecticut" -Heather Allen
From TheDay.com Connecticut (4/02/08) :

Tribe, Unions Put 'Historic' Labor Deal On The Dotted Line
by Heather Allen

Mohegan — The Mohegan Tribe announced Tuesday that a project labor agreement has been signed among the tribe, the Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority and the New London-Norwich Building and Construction Trades Council.

This is the first such agreement to be signed relating to a project on sovereign land in the state.

“It's really a historic agreement,” said Jeff Hartmann, chief operating officer of the Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority. “I think it says in the spirit of negotiation and cooperation, these types of agreements can be forged.”

While the signed agreement was not made public Tuesday, most project labor agreements, or PLAs, stipulate that only union labor be used on a specific project, in this case Mohegan Sun's $925 million expansion project, in exchange for a no-strike agreement. The agreements are most commonly seen in relation to large, complex construction projects.

The tribe has always used union labor in its various construction projects but had never signed a PLA before.

And while a PLA is not required, the tribe entered into the agreement anyway.

“It's no secret they didn't have to do it,” said Chuck Appleby, legislative and political director for the trades council. “This shows the respect they have for us to put their names on the dotted line.”

and further continues...

Mike Rosario, a union representative for the plumbers and pipefitters union Local 777, said a panel will be set up to listen to and resolve any potential disputes and resolve those matters, avoiding strikes and walkouts.

“It's a win-win for everyone,” Rosario said. “You don't win when you walk off the job.”

Across the Thames River, a spokesman for the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation said the tribe always uses members of the trade council in its construction projects but has never entered into a formal agreement.

“We have nothing but the highest respect of the professionalism and the work product that they can produce,” said Bruce MacDonald, tribal spokesman.

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