Lt. Governor Bill Bolling cast the tie-breaking vote to prohibit the use of project labor agreements on construction projects where state money is used.
This bill is modeled from Koch Brother-sponsored ALEC legislation. This vote had nothing to do with the merits of project labor agreements and everything to do with paying back corporate donors. When asked on the House floor, the chief patron of the bill was unable to clearly explain a PLA, only that she wanted them prohibited.
We’d like to thank those House Delegates and Senators who stood up for workers and communities by defending the safety, training and wage standards that project labor agreements guarantee. As we have seen, PLAs are a valuable tool that creates accountability on megaprojects where millions of taxpayer dollars are at stake.
There is little doubt we are seeing the results of not having a firewall in the Senate to prevent anti-worker legislation from making it through the General Assembly. We need to make sure our members know who stands up for working families in Richmond this session.
Virginia AFL-CIO Blog 