AGC Concerned with PLA Provision in Climate Change Bill

On June 9, AGC and its coalition partners sent a letter to Senator John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Senator Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.), as well as the rest of the Senate, expressing concerns over a provision in the American Power Act encouraging the use of Project Labor Agreements (PLAs). The letter states that the undersigned organizations are committed to free and open competition in all public construction markets and believe that publicly financed contracts should be awarded without regard to the labor relations policy of the government contractor. Neither a public owner nor its representative should mandate the use of a PLA that would compel any firm to change its labor policy or practice in order to compete for or perform work on a publicly financed project. The letter also said that it should be up to the contractor to negotiate a PLA on a voluntary basis if the contractor believes it would benefit a particular project. To view a copy of the letter click here.