From www.TheTruthAboutPLAs.com, May 29, 2012 

This afternoon, TheTruthAboutPLAs.com received a copy of Gov. Neil Abercrombie’s Administrative Directive 12-05, which encourages state agencies to require the use of a wasteful and discriminatory project labor agreement on projects costing more than $25 million and specifies the criteria for doing so.

The directive looks very similar to President Barack Obama’s 2009 Executive Order 13502 and executive orders issued in 2010 by Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn (text) and former Iowa Gov. Chet Culver (text), all of which encourage public agencies under their respective jurisdictions to require the use of PLAs on large-scale construction projects.

During the press event where the Abercrombie directive was unveiled to the public, five projects were identified as earmarked for PLA mandates. This list of five includes a small-scale school construction project at Ewa Elementary that is projected to cost approximately $11 million –less than half of the $25 million threshold identified in Abercrombie’s directive.

Given the facts, smart reporters and citizens should be asking the governor’s office the following questions:

• What criteria did the Abercrombie administration use to identify the five projects earmarked for PLA mandates?
• The directive states that “executive agencies may, on a project-by-project basis, require the use of a project labor agreement by a contractor where use of such an agreement will advance the state government’s interest in achieving economy and efficiency in state procurement, producing labor-management stability, and ensuring compliance with laws and regulations governing safety and health, equal employment opportunity, labor and employment standards, and other matters.” How did the administration determine that PLA mandates on these projects meet the appropriate criteria? Was a feasibility study or other research conducted?
• Did the administration contact nonunion state contractors to determine how this directive would impact their ability to continue performing work on public projects in Hawaii?
• Why is the Ewa Elementary School project, which clearly falls well below the $25 million cost threshold identified in the directive, subject to a PLA mandate?