Association sues to block Biden administration’s effort to mandate project labour agreements

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Neil Gerrard Senior Editor, Construction Briefing

15 January 2024

President Joe Biden delivers remarks on his “Investing in America” agenda at the North America’s Building Trades Union National Legislative Conference on April 25, 2023, at the Washington Hilton (Image: The White House)

The Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) and its Louisiana chapter have filed a lawsuit in federal court to block the Biden administration’s effort to mandate project labour agreements on major federal construction projects.

Calling the move “unlawful”, the AGC argued that President Biden lacks the legal and constitutional authority to impose such policies. It also claimed that mandating PLAs would undermine existing agreements for union contractors and exclude open shop firms from competing for federal projects.

“This new regulation is an unlawful solution in search of a non-existent problem,” said Stephen E. Sandherr, the chief executive officer of the AGC.

“Current law prohibits the president from unilaterally imposing labour and employment terms that would disrupt existing agreements for union contractors and exclude open shop firms from competing for federal projects.”

The association and its chapter filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for Western Louisiana in response to the administration’s efforts to implement the new project labor agreement regulation.

This regulation seeks to impose PLAs for all federal construction projects that are valued at or above US$35 million.

Government-mandated PLAs require a contractor to negotiate with unions and reach an agreement as a condition of being awarded the project. The AGC claimed this allows unions to impose more costly work rules and practices.

In its legal filing, the association said that the president’s project labor agreement regulation is beyond the scope of executive authority. The complaint also argued that the regulation contradicts the Procurement Act, the Competition in Contracting Act and the National Labor Relations Act in terms of limits that can be placed on competing for federal work and decisions of requiring union participation in the workforce.