This morning, the attached email was sent to ABC member contractors who expressed interest in encouraging their employees to participate in the regulatory process that will implement President Obama’s pro-project labor agreement (PLA) Executive Order 13502.

These ABC members either participated in a PLA survey conducted by ABC National, contacted ABC National or chapters asking for assistance in participating in the regulatory process, or submitted comments to the FAR Council (the company owner or senior management likely filed comments prior to August 13). We suggest that you remind appropriate ABC members (especially federal contractors) to submit comments and encourage their employees file comments with the government. The public has until midnight on September 23, 2009 to submit comments on the proposed rule.

On February 6, President Obama issued Executive Order 13502, which encourages federal agencies to require PLAs on federal construction projects costing more than $25 million.  On July 14, the Federal Acquisition Regulatory (FAR) Council issued a proposed rule that would implement President Obama’s pro-PLA Executive Order 13502. You may recall that the comment period initially closed on August 13, but was reopened for an additional 30 days in late August. ABC National is aware of over 400 comments submitted to the FAR Council by ABC contractors.  Thank your for helping increase member participation.

ABC National’s Comments and Launch of a Federal PLA Study by the Beacon Hill Institute

On September 23, at 1:00 PM EST, ABC National will circulate our regulatory comments to ABC chapters, members and the media via a tele-press conference in conjunction with the launch of a new study by the Beacon Hill Institute, “Project Labor Agreements on Federal Construction Projects: A Costly Solution in Search of Problem.”  The latest PLA study by the Beacon Hill Institute examines government mandated PLAs on federal construction projects and concludes that the “justifications offered by the Obama Administration for reinstating PLAs are not supported by the evidence.” We will send a link to this study and a brief study summary out next week.

Fundraising for a Legal Challenge and anti-PLA Campaign

There is a significant member-to-member fundraising effort underway that will support an expensive forthcoming legal challenge to federal PLAs and Executive Order 13502. With the help of ABC’s new Open Competition Committee (OCC), to date we have raised close to $300K.  In addition, this fundraising effort will fund PLA-related research, messaging, studies and public relations efforts needed to educate the public and elected officials about this issue.  This morning Brett McMahon, VP of ABC Member Miller & Long (concrete subcontractor, ABC Metro Washington), appeared on Fox & Friends on Fox News to discuss Executive Order 13502 and PLAs.

If you know of any federal contractors in your chapter that want to make a make a contribution to support free and open competition by donating corporate and personal dollars to ABC’s anti-PLA fund, please contact me so we can get them the appropriate paperwork.