International Union of Painters and Allied Trades

Building Trades Victorious in
Project Labor Agreement Ruling

Building Trades unions emerged victorious late Tuesday in their legal fight to preserve and protect Project Labor Agreements on federally-funded projects nationwide.

"This is a great and sweeping victory," said Edward C. Sullivan, President of the Building and Construction Trades Department. "The Administration was attacking the unions and our way of doing business. The judge's decision is a proper reading of the law. We are pleased the court ruled in favor of working families in holding that the Administration's Executive Order conflicts with the National Labor Relations Act."

U.S. District Court Judge Emmet G. Sullivan of the District of Columbia upheld the Building and Construction Trades Department's fight to overturn Executive Order, 13202, the Administration's illegal ban of project labor agreements, known as PLAs, on federally-funded projects. The President's ban, an Executive Order, had erroneously outlawed Project Labor Agreements on future construction projects that receive any federal funds.

The Order deprived construction owners, employers and unions of their rights protected by the National Labor Relations Act, according to the court.

The Building and Construction Trades Department represents 14 construction unions with more than three million members nationwide. Judge Sullivan ruled that, "The President lacked the requisite authority for (the) Executive Order, and that the Executive Order, "in its entirety is preempted by the National Labor Relations Act."

The judge ruled that the Administration cannot issue a rule outlawing such agreements on federally-funded projects and prohibited the enforcement of the Executive Order nationwide.
The suit was filed April 26 in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia in Washington, D.C. (Building and Construction Trades Department, AFL-CIO v. Albaugh, D.C., Case No. 1:01CV00902 (EGS).

The Building Trades' lawsuit took direct aim at Executive Order 13202, which the President signed Feb. 17, blocking federal, state and local agencies, and private parties from using PLAs on federally-funded construction projects.

Mr. Sullivan reiterated today that the President's Executive Order had denied the public and the nation's taxpayers the benefits that PLAs provide on federal projects.

"It's widely known that Project Labor Agreements bring order to construction sites by setting wages, establishing work rules, and establishing methods of settling grievances," he added. "PLAs are a proven and just method to manage construction labor relations." PLAs have been used on federally-funded projects since the 1930s, including the Grand Coulee Dam in Washington State, NASA facilities at Cape Canaveral in Florida, and clean-up work at Boston Harbor. More than 300 PLAs are currently in use across the U.S., including at the Big Dig in Boston and the Port of Seattle. They have also been used most recently on such projects as international airports in Buffalo, N.Y., and Pittsburgh, Pa.

"The opponents of Project Labor Agreements," Sullivan noted, "are non-union contractors who want to drive down wages and benefits in the construction industry." Co-plaintiffs in the lawsuit with the Building and Construction Trades Department are the City of Richmond, Calif., and the Contra Costa (Calif.) Building and Construction Trades Council. The city and the unions sought a PLA on a federally-funded construction project at a rapid transit station.