Speaking of public works, the Obama administration and the Department of Labor recently pulled the plug on the competition for a $35 million contract to build a Job Corps center in Manchester, NH. According to the Washington Times, the DOL cited a “need to evaluate the issues” surrounding the union-friendly bidding process and the requirement known as a “project labor agreement” or PLA. The PLA incorporates collective bargaining agreements into the contract that require construction companies to agree to recognize the union representation of the workers, hire workers from union halls, follow union work rules and contribute to union pensions. So what’s the problem?  Just 8.7% of construction workers in New Hampshire are unionized. This would force most of the workers to pay union dues and pension contributions for which they would never receive benefits. Contractors on this project, naturally, challenged the union mandate and stated that imposing a PLA on the project violated the Competition in Contracting Act.

In the first weeks of his presidency, President Obama signed executive orders making PLA’s the norm on all federal contracts, including one requiring contractors on large federal projects to post signs informing workers of the right to join a union. All of these outrageous mandates go hand-in-hand with Obama loading up on union loyalists at top spots in the Department of Labor and on the National Labor Relations Board.

Oh, by the way…only 16% of the nation’s construction trade workers are unionized.