The Facts:

Project labor agreements (PLAs) are pre-hire agreements covering all crafts on large and complex construction

projects that establish terms and conditions of employment. The mutual agreements are between the entity

with control over contracting for the project and a coalition of unions for the duration of the project.

The main purpose of a PLA is to promote predictability, coordination, and efficiency on large infrastructure

projects. Construction is a highly skilled, labor-intensive industry. The success of any construction project

requires significant coordination among various contractors and a dependable, qualified workforce that is

trained in specific types of craft work. A PLA is a management tool that institutes uniform work rules and

harmonizes shift work to improve productivity, provides access to pools of skilled workers to reduce the chances

of labor shortages, and includes provisions for banning strikes and lockouts to promote on-time completion.

PLAs can also produce other positive outcomes. For example, PLAs include language to hire apprentices and

individuals from underrepresented backgrounds (Ormiston & Duncan, 2022).

Project labor agreements have been applied to public projects since at least the 1930s (Mayer, 2010). The

Tennessee Valley Authority, the nation’s largest public power company, has used a master PLA since 1991 and

entered into a 10-year extension through 2031 (Hill International, 2011; TVA, 2020). PLAs have been used on

school construction projects, road construction projects, affordable housing projects, and building projects

(Ormiston & Duncan, 2022). In Illinois, Governor JB Pritzker signed more than 800 PLAs during his first term

between 2019 and 2022, including nearly 200 Illinois Department of Transportation highway projects and over

600 Capital Development Board building projects (Donald, 2022; EO 19-02, 2019). In 2022, President Joe Biden

issued an Executive Order requiring that PLAs be used on federal construction projects worth $35 million or

more, building upon an Executive Order encouraging PLAs on federal projects worth $25 million or more under

President Barack Obama (Biden White House, 2022; Obama White House, 2009). Federal agencies—including

the U.S. Departments of Transportation, Energy, and Commerce—have released Notices of Funding

Opportunities (NOFOs) that encourage PLA utilization on federally-assisted projects (e.g., DOT, 2022).

Project labor agreements also have a long history in the private sector (Hill International, 2011). Corporations

like Apple, Intel, Honda, General Motors, British Petroleum, Proctor & Gamble, Wal-Mart, Disney, Ørsted North

America, Inc., Dominion Energy, and Micron Technology regularly employ PLAs on large, complex construction

projects (McFarland, 2022; Moran, 2011; Mayer, 2010). Power plants and pipelines often utilize PLAs (BLE, 2005).

Gaming companies like Bally’s and Hard Rock Casino have signed PLAs to build casinos (Briggs, 2022; Clark &

Carpello, 2021). And in the National Football League (NFL), 12 of out 18 stadiums built or renovated between

1998 and 2016 were constructed with PLAs (67%) (BCTD, 2012). According to information collected by the North

America’s Building Trades Unions, there were PLAs on at least 428 public and private projects valued at $184

billion in the United States between January 2022 and June 2023 (NABTU, 2023).

Project labor agreements are de-risking mechanisms that are widely used across the United States. PLAs are a

“valuable construction management tool” for project planning and workforce stability on both public and private

projects (Kotler, 2011). At the same time, PLAs ensure market-competitive wages and benefits, a skilled

workforce, uninterrupted labor supply, safety standards, robust workforce development commitments that

create career pathways, and timely completion of critical infrastructure projects on budget