America's Building Trades Unions Praise Federal Court Decision to Strike Down Anti-PLA Law in Michigan

WASHINGTON, March 2, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Mark H. Ayers, President of the Building and Construction Trades Department, AFL-CIO, today issued the following statement regarding the decision by U.S. District Court Judge Victoria Roberts to strike down a Michigan law that would have effectively prohibited the use of project labor agreements (PLAs) by state and local government entities:

"Judge Roberts' decision, striking down Michigan's anti-project labor agreement law, was correct and consistent with the tenets of federal law.  Judge Roberts recognized that Michigan's law unlawfully interfered with the rights of workers under the National Labor Relations Act to act together to convince state and local agencies, as well as private sector developers, to utilize PLAs - a market-based, project efficiency tool - that ensures 'on time, on budget' results for their construction projects; as well as to ensure that local workers are getting the jobs created by taxpayer investments.

"In rejecting Michigan's claim that its law was intended to further its economic interests, Judge Roberts noted that state lawmakers had never demonstrated that PLAs increased costs for Michigan taxpayers.  The fact that PLAs do not increase costs is borne out by academic research, as well as real-world evidence in the private sector, where more and more profit-oriented and cost-conscious companies are turning to PLAs for their on-time, on-budget needs."

The Building and Construction Trades Department is an alliance of 13 national and international unions that collectively represent over 2 million skilled craft professionals in the United States and Canada

www.BCTD.org
www.Facebook.com/AmericasBuildingTradesUnions
www.PLAsWork.org

SOURCE Building and Construction Trades Department, AFL-CIO

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http://www.bctd.org