Sandy's Union Windfall

President Obama found an ally in Governor Chris Christie during Hurricane Sandy, but New Jersey taxpayers should hope they'll go their separate ways on the clean-up. The President wants to direct federal tax money to unions in a way that will raise costs and spread the money thin.

The Army Corps of Engineers recently sought comments from the construction industry on using a so-called project labor agreement, or PLA, for Hurricane Sandy beach clean-up from Barnegat Inlet to Little Egg Inlet worth between $25 million and $100 million. The Army Corps will decide whether to require a PLA, which would establish a collective-bargaining agreement for any contractor who wants to bid on the project. Watch for unions singing in the rain.

In 2009, Mr. Obama signed an executive order encouraging federal agencies to mandate project labor agreements (on a case-by-case basis) for federal projects over $25 million. The agreements often require contractors to hire workers at union hiring halls (forcing non-union workers to join the union), pay into union benefit plans and force non-union employers to abide by union work rules.

Unions love the agreements because they scare away competitors who don't want to operate under such mandates. In New Jersey, a mere 24.5% of the construction industry is unionized, and the use of PLAs is a scheme for unions to gain market share.

Unions claim that PLAs help bring projects in on time, but the real effect is to raise costs. According to an October 2010 report by the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development, school construction using project labor agreements took longer on average (100 weeks instead of 78 weeks) and cost 30.5% more per square foot than non-PLA projects.

A study by the Boston-based Beacon Hill Institute at Suffolk University showed PLAs increased construction costs by 12% to 18% on state projects compared to similar projects that didn't engage in union favoritism. And that was for states that have prevailing wage laws that set floors for wage and benefit rates in construction.

Sandy's

In 1956, the four men set out to start one of the first McDonald's franchises outside the McDonald brothers' home state of California. Ray Kroc had just begun selling McDonald's franchises outside California, and the four friends partnered to buy the right to open McDonald’s restaurants in central Illinois. In June 1956, they opened their first restaurant in Urbana, Illinois, only the third McDonald’s restaurant to open outside California. The Urbana store proved popular with students, professionals, and young families at the University of Illinois. It did so well that the group decided to open additional stores in Decatur, and Peoria, Illinois.

However, Ray Kroc notified them that Peoria and Decatur were not included in the central Illinois territory, and furthermore that changes to the terms of the franchise meant they would owe a higher percentage of their profits to McDonald's. Having invested heavily in the Peoria location, including erecting the building, Lundberg and his partners decided instead to open their own restaurant, and settled on the name Sandy's. The chain adopted a Scottish-based theme to combat the Scottish-rooted McDonald's, even though the latter was not based on a cultural theme of any kind. Lundberg was named president.

Laysan Albatross

The Laysan Albatross averages 81 cm (32 in) in length, weighs 2.4–4.1 kg (5.3–9.0 lb), and has a wingspan of 195–203 cm (77–80 in), with males being larger than females This albatross has blackish-grey upperwing, mantle, back, upper rump, and tail, and their head, lower rump, and underparts are white. It has a black smudge around the eye, and its underwing pattern varies between individuals, with some having narrower black margins and variable amounts of black in the underwing coverts. Finally, their bill is pink with a dark tip. Juveniles have a grey bill and a dark upper rump. They do not have a breeding plumage.

The Laysan Albatross is usually easy to identify, in the North Pacific it is simple to separate from the other relatively common albatross, the all black Black-footed Albatross. It can be distinguished from the very rare Short-tailed Albatross by its all dark back and smaller size. The Laysan Albatross' plumage has been compared to that of a gull, two tone with a dark grey mantle and wings, and white underside and head