ABC Member Files Protest Against U.S. Department of Labor Project Labor Agreement

ABC Member Files Protest Against U.S. Department of Labor Project Labor
Agreement

Contract Discriminates Against Majority of New Hampshire's Construction
Workforce

WASHINGTON, Oct. 6 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Associated Builders and
Contractors (ABC) member company North Branch Construction, a Concord,
N.H.-based general contractor, Oct. 5 filed a bid protest with the Government
Accountability Office (GAO) against the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL). The
complaint accuses the DOL of violating federal law by mandating the use of a
project labor agreement (PLA) -- a controversial contract that strongly favors
union-signatory contractors, increases the cost of construction up to 18
percent, and restricts competition from nonunion contractors and their
qualified workforce -- in its bid specifications for the construction of a
federal DOL Job Corps center in Manchester, N.H.

The complaint states that the DOL's inclusion of the PLA, "unduly restricts
competition, is wholly unsupported and violates the Competition in Contracting
Act, Executive Order 13502, the Small Business Act, and numerous procurement
regulations," and requests that the GAO order the DOL to remove any PLA
requirement from the solicitation.

"PLAs are special interest handouts that deny taxpayers the accountability
they deserve from government contracts," said Ken Holmes, president of North
Branch Construction. "This DOL PLA discriminates against New Hampshire's
qualified and experienced nonunion employees and businesses, such as North
Branch Construction, who all deserve a fair opportunity to provide the public
with the best construction product at the best price."

A PLA is a contract that discourages competition from nonunion contractors and
their nonunion employees by requiring a construction project to be awarded
only to contractors and subcontractors that agree to recognize unions as the
representatives of their employees on that job; use the union hall to obtain
workers; obey the union's restrictive apprenticeship and work rules; and
contribute to union pension plans and other funds in which their employees
will never benefit unless they join a union.

"More than 91 percent of New Hampshire's construction workforce does not
belong to a labor union, and since August 2008, New Hampshire's construction
workforce has suffered an 18.6 percent increase in unemployment," said Holmes.
"A PLA on this project is bad economic policy, especially because a PLA will
unnecessarily increase the cost of construction of this taxpayer-funded
project, and it will prevent nonunion workers from competing - possibly
increasing unemployment in our state."

The legal challenge is expected to heighten tensions over the federal
government's recent shift in federal procurement policy concerning the use of
discriminatory and costly PLAs. On Feb. 6, President Obama signed Executive
Order 13502, which repealed a 2001-2008 prohibition on federal PLAs and
encourages agencies to require PLAs on federal construction projects whose
total costs exceed $25 million. The Federal Acquisition Regulatory (FAR)
Council is in the process of reviewing public comments on its controversial
July 14 proposed rule that would implement Executive Order 13502 into federal
procurement code. The DOL PLA is believed to be the first government-mandated
PLA on a federal construction project since Executive Order 13502 was issued,
despite the fact that a final rule has not been implemented by the FAR
Council.

North Branch Construction's bid protest is supported by ABC's Construction
Legal Rights Foundation and the ABC New Hampshire/Vermont Chapter.

Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) is a national association with 79
chapters representing 25,000 merit shop construction and construction-related
firms with two million employees. Visit us at www.abc.org. For more
PLA-related information or to view the complaint, visit
www.TheTruthAboutPLAs.com or www.abc.org/pla.

SOURCE Associated Builders and Contractors

Gail Raiman, +1-703-812-2073, or Gerry Fritz, +1-703-812-2062, both of
Associated Builders and Contractors