Bridges Construction of Pittsburgh recently filed a bid protest with the Government Accountability Office after the federal government tried to impose a Project Labor Agreement (PLA) as part of the federal contract in the construction of a $50 mllion Veterans Affairs building. PLAs are construction contracts negotiated in advance that basically mandate union labor — a study from the Beacon Hill institute found that PLAs make construction projects 12 percent to 18 percent more expensive on average.

Last month, I wrote about how the Obama White House signed an executive effectively encouraging on all big Federal construction projects as way to pay back unions for their political support. After my column ran, a number of Republican Congressmen wrote a letter to the White House questioning the White House’s PLA policy.