Defense Department Announces It Will Not Prohibit Firms from Voluntarily Entering into a Project Labor Agreement Even as it Drops a Biden-Era Mandate that Required the Agreement for Most Projects
The Associated General Contractors of America’s chief executive officer, Jeffrey Shoaf, issued the following statement in reaction to the U.S. Department of Defense memorandum revising prior language, following entreaties from the association, clarifying that it will neither prohibit firms from voluntarily engaging in project labor agreements nor require them on its projects:
“From day one we have taken the approach that project labor agreements should neither be mandated nor prohibited as a condition for completing any type of federal construction project. The decision to enter into a project labor agreement is something that should be made without government interference exclusively by the employer and its employees.
“That is why we successfully worked to block an unlawful effort by the Biden administration to impose project labor agreements on federal construction projects. And that is why we encouraged the Defense Department to clarify a class deviation it issued that appeared to prohibit project labor agreements on its construction projects. We swiftly urged the agency to clarify that no firm should be denied the opportunity to compete for federal construction work on the basis of whether it chooses to enter into a project labor agreement.
“AGC will continue to advocate for the removal of any project labor mandates and prohibitions on all federal construction projects. In addition, we will continue our conversations with the Trump administration about the need to officially revoke former President Biden’s project labor agreement mandate executive order and implementing regulations to eliminate any remaining uncertainty.”