Gov. Jerry Brown just gave the construction unions a big bonus by signing a bill that halts efforts by localities to ban Project Labor Agreements -- those union-monopoly laws that artificially inflate the cost of labor in public works projects by reducing the pool of bidding contractors to union firms. Non-union firms can bid on jobs but only if they become de facto union firms and hire their workers in the union hall. His signing message was Orwellian:
So banning democratic efforts to stop PLAs is democratic. Brown also is notorious for complaining about a lack of funds for vital public services, but PLAs inflate the cost of these infrastructure projects by as much as 25 percent. Brown does believe that local governments should have the democratic right to raise taxes by a simple majority vote. So his sacred right to democracy means whatever he wants it to mean at any given moment"I am signing Senate Bill 922 to prohibit bans on Project Labor Agreements (PLAs). Contrary to what the opponents claim, this bill does not require any local government to adopt a PLA. In fact, this bill preserves the right of all sides to debate what obviously is a hotly contested issue. Seems fair to me -- even democratic."
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