PLA's fail stated goal

While campaigning last year, President Obama stated “we need to make sure the government uses project labor agreements to encourage completion of projects on time and on budget." Suffolk University economics professor David G. Tuerck penned an opinion piece in the Boston Globe which characterizes Project Labor Agreements [PLA's] as an Obama administration reward to labor. Key points: 1) PLA's have added 12 to 18 percent to school construction costs in Massachusetts and Connecticut, 2) during the PLA-free Bush administration no delays or cost overruns were reported to have occurred due to the absence of PLA's, 3) its "easy to find" delays or cost overruns on PLA projects. While this is not an apples to apples comparison it does make a point that PLA's don't assist the timely, on-budget completion of public construction projects.