Full Text of HR1119 96th General Assembly
HR1119 96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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| HOUSE RESOLUTION
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| WHEREAS, Project Labor Agreements (PLAs) effectively deny | 3 |
| nearly 85.5% of the U.S. private construction workforce (those | 4 |
| who do not belong to a labor union) the ability to gain | 5 |
| employment on almost all public work projects; PLAs reduce | 6 |
| competition and significantly drive up costs for taxpayers; and
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| WHEREAS, PLAs put special interests ahead of the public | 8 |
| interest by essentially restricting the bidding process to | 9 |
| contractors backed by big labor unions, while denying others | 10 |
| the opportunity to perform the job at a better price; and
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| WHEREAS, PLAs require contractors, including construction | 12 |
| contractors, to agree to the terms of a one-time collective | 13 |
| bargaining agreement with labor unions, without regard to the | 14 |
| wishes of the employees, as a condition of performing work on a | 15 |
| particular construction project; and
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| WHEREAS, Numerous academic studies have compared the | 17 |
| impact of PLAs on bid and final construction costs when | 18 |
| compared to similar non-PLA projects and have found that PLAs | 19 |
| cost 10% to 18% more per square foot; and
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| WHEREAS, PLAs force construction employees who are not | 21 |
| members of a union to be shut out of working on PLA projects; |
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| PLAs also force construction employees to pay union dues and | 2 |
| fees, follow union hiring hall guidelines, and obey inefficient | 3 |
| union work rules for their craft for the life of a PLA project, | 4 |
| even though they have freely chosen to NOT belong to a union; | 5 |
| and
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| WHEREAS, Associations that represent small, disadvantaged, | 7 |
| minority and women-owned businesses, such as the National Black | 8 |
| Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Women | 9 |
| Business Owners, are publicly opposed to PLAs; local minority | 10 |
| workers are shut out of PLA projects because they are | 11 |
| overwhelmingly under-represented in members of key unions, | 12 |
| including trade unions and craft unions; and
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| WHEREAS, PLAs deny taxpayers the accountability they | 14 |
| deserve from government while encouraging waste and | 15 |
| discrimination in contracting; and | 16 |
| WHEREAS, PLAs significantly limit and, in some instances, | 17 |
| prohibit the majority of the taxpaying construction | 18 |
| contractors from working on a public or private construction | 19 |
| project because of their non-union affiliation; these | 20 |
| agreements are a form of discrimination against law-abiding, | 21 |
| taxpaying Illinois citizens and employers; and | 22 |
| WHEREAS, Free and open competition is conducive to |
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| production, economic growth, and efficient use of limited | 2 |
| resources; it is in the public interest, especially when public | 3 |
| contracts and tax dollars are concerned, that all qualified and | 4 |
| capable contractors and workers are fairly considered; and
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| WHEREAS, Union affiliation should not be one of the | 6 |
| determining factors in awarding construction contracts; free | 7 |
| and open competition is the only way to protect public and | 8 |
| private interests, stretch scarce construction dollars, and | 9 |
| maximize product quality; therefore, be it
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| RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 11 |
| NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we | 12 |
| urge the Governor to withdraw Executive Order 2010 - 03 and | 13 |
| discontinue the use of PLAs on State and Federal Public Works | 14 |
| Projects in Illinois; and be it further
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| RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 16 |
| presented to the Governor.
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