In a sweeping announcement, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has revealed that in any project contracts valued at $35 million or more, language requiring a project labor agreement must be removed.
In line with that announcement, a memorandum has been released by the Defense Department declaring that “effective immediately, contracting officers shall not use project labor agreements for large-scale construction projects.”
In addition, “contracting officers shall amend solicitations to remove project labor agreement requirements, including any solicitation provisions and contract clauses.”
Of all the many regulatory decisions expected to be made by the new Trump administration, none were as inevitable as the swift ending of project labor agreements that were implemented three years ago by President Biden in all federal building contracts.
The long life of the project labor agreement struggle has ebbed and flowed depending on who is in control of the federal government: President Obama revoked an executive order signed by George W. Bush prohibiting federal agencies from requiring such agreements.
In his first term, Trump voiced opposition to the agreements with the result being that none were imposed during that four-year period. Biden reversed that trend, with his Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su at one point declaring, “These agreements guarantee a consistent supply of well-trained workers.”
But from the start of the Biden project labor agreements push, opposition was voiced throughout the construction industry. A spokesperson for the Associated Builders and Contractors charged that the agreements “hinder the ability of the best contractors to safely deliver taxpayer-funded construction projects on time and on budget.”
The Biden project labor agreements policy was subsequently challenged in court, with the U.S. Court of Federal Claims declaring last month that it was unlawful.
The new Defense Department announcement, however, does not appear to entirely settle the project labor agreements agitation. In a statement, Jeffrey Shoaf, chief executive officer of the Associated General Contractors of America, said his group would continue to talk with Trump administration in a move to “eliminate any remaining ambiguity that exists within the ranks of federal procurement officials.”
February 18, 2025
By Garry Boulard
Photo courtesy of Unsplash
