Federal Construction Project PLA Requirements: Project Labor Agreements (PLAs) set uniform standards for wages and other conditions of work prior to the commencement of a construction project. Unions are proponents of PLAs because it dramatically reduces competition from non-union construction companies. Unions say PLAs reduce cost and increase efficiency in construction projects. Many others argue…

Businesses seeking San Francisco public construction contracts may soon be required to sign project labor agreements under a measure heading to the mayor’s desk. That means large public projects in the city would require a collective bargaining agreement with one or more labor organizations. Citywide labor peace agreements will be mandatory on projects worth $5…

Most collective bargaining agreements in the private sector are governed by Section 9(a) of the National Labor Relations Act Section requiring a majority of employees in the bargaining unit support having a union represent them. If a majority is not in support, the employees are not in a union. In the construction industry, however, CBAs…

Members of the Building Trades Labor Coalition, which has supported the Trump administration’s push to expand apprenticeship training programs, say they are “livid” and “flabbergasted” that Senate Democrats did not extend them an invitation to participate in a upcoming committee hearing on modernizing apprenticeships. In the days leading up to the hearing, the building unions are now reaching above Senator Patty Murray (D-Wash.), the…

Workers represented by the Laborers’ International union of North America had been getting job assignments involving forklifts through the Construction Employers Association. But, Operating Engineers Local 18 sought to get that work. The National Labor Relations Board twice said the Laborers should get the work and ultimately ordered the Operating Engineers – which had been…

A marble contactor dropped out of a multi-employer bargaining unit and informed the union it would be terminating an existing CBA when it expired. The company also informed the workers it would implement new employment policies like modifications to wages and health insurance, stopping contributions to the union’s pension plan, as well as implementing flexible spending accounts,…