State & Local Construction

Government-Mandated Project Labor Agreements Exacerbate Construction Industry’s Skilled Labor Shortage

2 March 30, 2021  Federal Construction, State & Local Construction

The construction industry needs to hire an additional 430,000 craft professionals in 2021, according to an analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data released March 23 by Associated Builders and Contractors. Yet federal, state and local lawmakers continue to push anti-competitive and costly policies promoting controversial government-mandated project labor agreements on taxpayer-funded construction projects, […]

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Do Project Labor Agreements Stop Strikes on Construction Jobsites?

0 March 29, 2021  Featured, Federal Construction, State & Local Construction

Some construction union lobbyists and bosses market anti-competitive and costly project labor agreements to public and private construction owners as a tool to guarantee labor peace on construction jobsites by prohibiting union-led strikes that can delay a project and increase the cost of construction. PLA advocates know that strikes, work stoppages, slowdowns and other labor unrest authorized […]

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African American Chamber of Commerce of New Jersey Speaks Out Against Proposed PLA Act Expansion in Joint Statement with ABC New Jersey

1 March 24, 2021  State & Local Construction

In what should come as no surprise, New Jersey’s history of favoring costly and discriminatory government-mandated project labor agreements over sensible policies favoring fair and open competition has reared its ugly head once again. Pro-PLA lawmakers in the state legislature, including known PLA fanatic Senate President Stephen Sweeney, have shown they continue to value the granting […]

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Setting the Record Straight: Do Government-mandated Project Labor Agreements Really Improve Safety Performance?

0 March 16, 2021  Federal Construction, Open Competition Works, State & Local Construction

Supporters of government-mandated project labor agreements often claim these controversial schemes ensure the safe delivery of construction projects, and therefore, it’s in the public interest for lawmakers to mandate PLAs on construction projects funded by hardworking taxpayers, resulting in reduced competition from local firms, increased construction costs by 12% to 20%, and fewer local construction […]

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Union Leaders and Contractors Oppose Government-mandated Project Labor Agreements Too

0 March 1, 2021  Featured, Federal Construction, Open Competition Works, State & Local Construction

The debate surrounding controversial government-mandated project labor agreements is often framed by the media, elected officials and policy wonks as a dispute pitting construction unions against nonunion contractors in a battle about whether the government should be enacting PLA preference and mandate policies that ultimately steer taxpayer-funded construction contracts to unionized contractors and create jobs […]

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U.S. DOT Promotes Government-mandated Project Labor Agreements in Infrastructure Grant Program

0 February 24, 2021  Featured, Federal Construction, State & Local Construction

In a concerning development for the merit shop contracting community and hardworking taxpayers, the U.S. Department of Transportation is encouraging the use of government-mandated project labor agreements on federally assisted construction projects funded through a grant program administered by the DOT’s Build America Bureau. On Feb. 17, the DOT announced it is seeking applicants for […]

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2021 Update: Courts Rule in Favor of #NoPLA Laws Promoting Fair and Open Competition

0 February 17, 2021  Featured, Federal Construction, State & Local Construction

Numerous courts continue to uphold pro-taxpayer federal and state laws and/or executive orders prohibiting anti-competitive and costly government-mandated project labor agreements. Advocates of government-mandated PLA schemes have been unsuccessful in challenging such laws in the courts. As discussed in this February 4, 2021, letter to the Biden administration, ABC supports fair and open competition laws […]

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BLS: 87.3% of U.S. Construction Industry Does Not Belong To A Union

3 January 30, 2021  Federal Construction, State & Local Construction

According to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ annual union members summary report published Jan. 22, 2021, union membership in the construction industry declined in 2020. Just 12.7% of wage and salary workers were members of unions in the U.S. private construction industry in 2020, a slight increase from 12.6% in 2019. According to BLS […]

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2020 Update: ABC’s Fight Against Government-Mandated Project Labor Agreements

0 September 22, 2020  Federal Construction, Open Competition Works, State & Local Construction

In February 2009, President Obama signed Executive Order 13502, which encourages federal agencies to mandate project labor agreements on large-scale federal construction projects exceeding $25 million in total cost on a case-by-case basis and permits recipients of federal assistance to mandate PLAs on state and local public works projects. Many merit shop advocates and public policy professionals predicted […]

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New Mexico County Debating CWA/PLA Ordinance

0 September 18, 2020  State & Local Construction

Bernalillo County, the largest county in the State of New Mexico, is currently weighing an ordinance that would require a community workforce agreement (CWA), also known as a project labor agreement, on all county projects valued at over $5 million. The ordinance also says that at least three trades must be employed on the project […]

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