Posted on 12/27/2009 10:20:41 AM PST by jazusamo
President Obama's plan to force contractors to hire union workers for large government construction projects is proving easier said than done, confusing and costlier than expected.
It's been more than a decade since a federal project required bids that include union representation of workers, known as a "project labor agreement" or PLA, and a $100 million project to modernize the 12-story Lafayette Building that houses federal agencies is highlighting the kinks that need to be worked out.
The General Services Administration (GSA), for example, first called for PLAs to win bids to rehabilitate the Washington office complex, but earlier this month backtracked, saying the solicitation was in error and it would instead ask contractors to submit two bids, one with a PLA and one without - a highly unusual and costly requirement.
"It's crazy to try to do that. ... It is just pure confusion on their part," said Brett McMahon, vice president of business development for Miller & Long Co. Inc., the country's largest concrete subcontractor and the largest employer of construction workers in the Mid-Atlantic region.
He estimated that a general contractor would spend more than $100,000 putting together a single bid for a job of that size and submitting dual bids would increase the cost by about $75,000.
GSA officials said the dual bids were part of its effort to comply with Mr. Obama's order to use PLAs and a way for the agency to gauge the cost of using PLAs. The Lafayette Building modernization is one of 10 pilot projects with solicitations for bids under way that require the dual pricing, officials said.
"As part of our ongoing outreach, GSA has received feedback from bidders that this process has not caused a significant increase in workload or cost in preparing a proposal,"
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
Thugs all, especially Obama.
Al Capone never died.....he lives on.
The list, ping
Most certainly and resides in WH now.
NObama also is pushing hard to UNIONIZE the TSA.
Just what we need-—more and more incompetant workers who can shut down the economy with a strike of an hour.
Roving strikes like SEIU performs in San Francisco would be even more dangerous.
I can give them the comparison:
Union workers cause any job to cost 2 times minimum to perform.
BTW—SEIU currently stands for Service Employees Internaional Union.
It should stand for STRIKING employees International Union with their behavior in San Francisco.
If the RATS succeed in unionizing the TSA it will be a disaster.
Their efficiency is low now but being unionized will make it worse and as you say they could shut down the country with a strike.
Even if strikes were illegal if a president like Obama is in office there would be no repeat of the Reagan firing of Air Traffic Controllers.
I’m thinking PLA probably stands for Payback Labor Agreement. The big O owes them big time and he’s delivering.
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