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Such claims, against and for PLAs, are merely anecdotal. It is the owner's responsibility, in <br /> soliciting bids for a project, to specify the terms of the contract, including completion time and <br /> the expected quality of the work to be performed. When the owner is a public entity that is <br /> responsible for several or many construction projects over a long-time horizon,that entity should <br /> turn to the data to determine whether the practice of mandating a PLA does reduce costs as <br /> proponents claim. As in past studies,we use data to determine if the pro-PLA claims are valid. <br /> Legal Background <br /> The controversy over PLAs on public construction projects has become more intense, with a <br /> myriad of court challenges from both sides of the argument. <br /> In 1993, the United States Supreme Court's Boston Harbor decision raised the stakes over the use <br /> of government-mandated PLAs on public projects. In 1988, a federal court ordered the <br /> Massachusetts Water Resources Authority to fund the cleanup of Boston Harbor. The Authority's <br /> project management firm,IFC Kaiser,negotiated a PLA with the local construction unions for the <br /> multibillion-dollar cleanup effort funded by taxpayer dollars. In a move that set a precedent,IFC <br /> Kaiser mandated a PLA as part of the project's bid specifications.10 As a result,a non-union trade <br /> group filed a lawsuit contending that the PLA requirement violated the National Labor Relations <br /> Act(NLRA). However,the United States Supreme Court held that a state authority,acting as the <br /> owner of a construction project and as a market participant purchasing construction services,was <br /> legally permitted to enforce a pre-hire collective bargaining agreement negotiated by private <br /> parties.11 Since the Boston Harbor decision, most PLA litigation has centered on the competitive <br /> bidding requirements of state and local law. <br /> to Herbert R.Northrup and Linda E.Alario,"Government-Mandated Project Labor Agreements in <br /> Construction,The Institutional Facts and Issues and Key Litigation: Moving Toward Union Monopoly on <br /> Federal and State Financed Projects,"Government Union Review 19,no.3,(2000):60. <br /> 11 Ibid.,60. <br /> The Anticompetitive Effects of Project Labor Agreements on Public Construction in Washington State 7 <br />