Des Moines, Iowa (January 22, 2002) — National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation announced its intention to file an Amicus Curiae (Friend of the Court) brief in support of Associated Builders and Contractors’ (ABC) suit to stop the Polk County Board of Supervisors’ from imposing a union-only project labor agreement (PLA) on the construction of the Iowa Events Center.

“The first of its kind in Iowa, this PLA will be the model for similar agreements throughout Iowa unless it is overturned,” said National Right to Work Foundation Vice President Stefan Gleason. “Iowa’s sacred Right to Work is under attack by Big Labor. It is vital that this new compulsory unionism power grab is stopped in its tracks.”

A PLA is a collective bargaining agreement that contractors must become a party to as a condition of performing work on a government-funded construction project. They invariably require contractors to grant union officials monopoly bargaining privileges over their workers, use exclusive union hiring halls, and operate according to wasteful union work rules. A PLA’s undeniable function is to foist compulsory union representation onto the backs of employees of non-union contractors who choose the freedom to work without union involvement.

The National Right to Work Foundation attorneys intend to file their brief at the first appropriate time. In addition, they will offer research that shows how PLAs discriminate against workers, violate the spirit of Iowa’s Right to Work Law, and lines the pockets of Iowa’s union officials at the expense of taxpayers.

“Iowans are outraged that the Polk County Board of Supervisors is allowing union officials to use government contracts to harm workers who choose not to associate with unions,” said Gleason. “Work should be awarded on the basis of who is willing to do the best job at a reasonable price, not on whether they are willing to subject themselves to forced unionization.”

For more information on the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, please click here or contact us at 1-800-336-3600.

The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation is a nonprofit, charitable organization providing free legal aid to employees whose human or civil rights have been violated by compulsory unionism abuses. The Foundation, which can be contacted toll-free at 1-800-336-3600, assists thousands of employees in more than 250 cases nationwide per year.