A federal judge has struck down a Biden administration executive order that required project labor agreements (PLAs) on federal construction projects of over $35 million. A PLA is a pre-hire collective bargaining agreement with one or more labor organizations to establish terms and conditions of employment on a specific construction project.
In a case called MVL USA, Inc. v. United States, Judge Ryan T. Holte of the U.S. Court of Federal Claims ruled Jan. 21 that Biden’s Executive Order 14063 violates a 1984 law, the Competition in Contracting Act (CICA), because it excluded non-union contractors.
Presidential administrations have gone back and forth on PLAs for decades. In 1992, George Bush Sr. banned government agencies from requiring PLAs. Bill Clinton revoked that in 1997 and issued an order encouraging PLAs. George W. Bush rescinded that in 2001 and banned government-mandated PLAs but allowed general contractors to sign PLAs on their own. Then a 2009 executive order by Barack Obama encouraged the use of PLAs on federal projects of $25 million or more, but didn’t require them. In his first term, Trump broke the cycle of back and forth and despite lobbying from anti-union groups, left the Obama order in place. Then the 2022 executive order by Joe Biden went further than any previous president, outright requiring PLAs on federal construction projects of $35 million or more, though allowing exceptions.
Last year, Michigan-based defense construction contractor MVL USA, Inc. sued the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers over the Biden PLA requirement for construction of a parachute rigging facility at Joint Base Lewis McChord in Washington. That complaint was consolidated with 11 other construction companies’ complaints at three federal agencies.
In early January, the anti-union construction industry group ABC called on Trump to rescind the Biden order and issue an order restricting PLAs, but at press time, the Trump administration had taken no action.
