ABC March 31 released a new study that determined implementing government-mandated project labor agreements (PLAs) on construction projects in the District of Columbia would hurt local workers and businesses.  

The study comes at the same time the D.C. Council is considering the District Resident Employment and Trade Stimulus Act of 2010 (Bill 18-650) that would require PLAs on all government-assisted projects costing more than $200,000 in D.C.  ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu, the author of the study, called the bill “bad economic policy.”  

“PLAs would deprive taxpayers of the benefits of open competition from local contractors because these agreements favor union workers, who comprise a minority of the local construction workforce,” said Basu.  

According to the study, mandating PLAs on construction projects in the current, depressed D.C. construction economy is likely to have a destabilizing effect and will lead to reduced employment of local residents and harm small and disadvantaged businesses.   

“Quality local firms like my company have successfully built public works projects in the District free of PLAs for decades,” said Jim Anglemyer, president of WCS Construction, LLC, a construction contracting firm based in Washington, D.C.  “There is no reasonable justification for PLAs in the District.  This legislation is special interest politics; the D.C. Council should be supporting all local businesses rather than choosing favorites.”  

The pro-PLA Executive Order 13502, signed by President Obama and expected to be approved by the federal government in the coming weeks, also may affect the District’s construction recovery.   

“President Obama’s order to encourage the use of PLAs on federal construction projects costing more than $25 million could determine whether PLAs will be used on upcoming D.C.-area construction projects built by the federal government,” said Ben Brubeck ABC’s director of federal procurement and labor affairs. “The D.C. Council legislation, coupled with President Obama’s pro-PLA executive order, has the potential to make it impossible for D.C.’s nonunion contractors and employees to earn a living.”  

The full study is available at: www.abc.org/plastudies.    

For more information on Project Labor Agreements, visit www.TheTruthAboutPLAs.com.