Project Labor Agreements Work for Workers and Communities

by Mike Hall, Oct 14, 2009

For more than 70 years, project labor agreements (PLAs) benefited communities, employers and workers by ensuring fair wages and benefits and on-time completion of local, state and federal construction projects. PLAs, also known as Community Workforce Agreements, generally set wages and establish work rules and methods of settling grievances on large multi-contractor construction projects

But in one of his first acts as president, George W. Bush issued an executive order in 2001 banning the use of PLAs on federal projects.

This past February, President Barack Obama reversed the Bush order and restored the use of PLAs. His action sent anti-worker construction groups and companies into a tizzy, with the latest battle centering on a $30 million Job Corps Center in Manchester, N.H.

In September, the U.S. Department of Labor put out a request for bids on the project to be built under a community workforce agreement. But this month, a Concord, N.H., construction company and member of the stridently anti-union contractors group, Associated Builders and Contractors, filed a protest with the Government Accountability Office (GAO) seeking to have the agreement removed from the bid.

Joe Casey, president of the New Hampshire Building and Construction Trades Council, calls the action and opposition to PLAs a “low road approach”

that places a premium on the compilation and exploitation of the cheapest, most vulnerable, workforce they can find…project labor agreements offer on-time, on-budget, quality construction…while simultaneously addressing our nation’s skilled labor workforce demands by providing career training opportunities for minority and disadvantaged citizens and contractors.

The AFL-CIO Building and Construction Trades Department (BCTD) has just launched a new website, PLAs WORK, to present the facts about PLAs, highlight academic research, impact on local and state economies, benefits to workers and present private and public sector success stories.

In Pico, Calif., the global construction company Black & Veatch built a major power plant using a PLA. Says Senior Vice President Richard King:

The Pico Power Project was performed under a Project Labor Agreement. The superior craftsmanship, the strong commitment to safety, and the consistent and clear communications help ensure a productive worksite…the project was completed in a timely manner and within budget

BCTD President Mark Ayers says project labor agreements

provide maximum benefit to construction users; union and non-union workers; union and non-union contractors; lenders and insurance companies; and taxpayers. They are frequently negotiated to address a wide range of local and social needs, including the assurance of hiring of local residents, and outreach programs designed to offer local residents the opportunity for a career in the skilled trades.

In May, a report by the Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations found PLAs “make sense for public works projects” and debunked attacks by anti-union groups and contractors on such agreements. According to the report:

PLAs have been demonstrated to be a very useful construction management tool for cost savings, for on-time, on-budget, and quality construction. PLAs make sense for public works projects because they promote a planned approach to labor relations, allow contractors to more accurately predict labor costs and schedule production timetables, reduce the risks of shoddy work and costly disruptions, and encourage greater efficiency and productivity.

For more information, be sure to visit www.plaswork.org.

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