The Biden administration announced on December 18 that federal construction contracts over $35 million will be required as project labor agreements (PLAs).

PLAs steer contracts to union-signatory contractors by reducing competition from experienced, union-free businesses, granting union labor a monopoly to build these taxpayer-funded projects.

PLA projects harm local workers, small businesses and taxpayers.

More than 88% of the U.S. construction industry made the choice not to join a union and according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, only 12.7 percent of those employed in 2022 were a member of a public or private union in Pennsylvania

This makes special-interest favors like this PLA work against a majority of Pennsylvania’s construction workers.

PLAs increase the cost of public works projects by 12% to 20%, in part because of reduced competition from quality contractors and the imposition of inefficient union work rules and restrictive hiring practices that prohibit nonunion firms from using most or all of its existing construction workforce.

Taxpayers and local workers are best served by inclusive policies that create a level playing field for all contractors to compete in building public works projects.

We cannot build a stronger infrastructure with increased accountability with union-only PLAs that lend themselves to wasteful spending and anti-competitiveness.

G. David Sload

Howard