Biden Executive Order to Mandate Project Labor Agreements on Federal Construction Projects
The Biden Administration just issued Executive Order (“EO”) 14063, which will require project labor agreements (“PLA’s’) on “large-scale construction projects,” defined as federal construction projects, within the U.S., at an estimated total cost of $35 million.
A project labor agreement (PLA) is a collective bargaining agreement between a contractor and the building trade union. Such are negotiated before any workers are hired, and they establish the terms of employment on a project.
EO 14063 provides that PLA’s must:
- Allow all contractors and subcontractors related to the projects to compete for work, unionized or not;
- Contain guarantees against strikes, lockouts and, and any other job disruptions;
- Establish mutually binding dispute resolution methods;
- Provide other mechanisms for cooperation between labor and management; and
- Fully conform to all statutes, regulations, executive orders and presidential memoranda.
All contractors and subcontractors that work on the construction project are subject to the PLA, and its terms supersede any of their existing collective bargaining agreements. Yet, the contractors are not required to unionize.
Furthermore, a “senior official” within an agency may grant exceptions to these requirements if requiring a PLA would either not advance the Federal Government’s interests in achieving economy and efficiency, substantially reduce the number of potential bidders, or be otherwise inconsistent with statutes, regulations, executive orders or presidential memoranda.
If your business has any questions about this topic, or any other general employment issues, please do not hesitate to contact the attorneys at The Royal Law Firm at 413-586-2288.
