Project Labor Agreements Are Gaining Momentum

PLAs guarantee against work stoppages provided only union employees are hired on the job. On large jobs--such as the Big Dig--a PLA is considered crucial to the management of the construction project. But PLAs are increasingly being used on smaller projects to prevent delays. "PLAs are winning a lot of friends," Joe Nigro, secretary treasurer of the Building and Construction Trades Council/Metro District, tells GlobeSt.com. "They are being used on more and more projects."

This past February, President George W. Bush issued an executive order preventing the use of PLAs on new construction projects that are federally financed. The Big Dig received a waiver for the remainder of its work but the Building and Construction Trades Department of the AFL-CIO recently successfully challenged Bush's order when a judge issued a preliminary injunction against enforcing the order on a bridge project near Washington D.C.

Nigro contends that if those critics paid their construction workers the right amount of money, gave them a pension and health insurance, "we wouldn't have to worry about PLAs. They don't want their employees to be members of a union." According to Nigro, any contractor can bid on a PLA project and his organization can provide union members to work on the job.

Among the many local PLas, Nigro notes that Harvard University has had a PLA for the past 12 years. "Jobs are getting done in time and on budget," points out Nigro. "All these cities--like Chelsea and Weymouth and Worcester--are crying for PLAs."