On May 16, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia granted the North America’s Building Trades Unions’ request for a preliminary injunction against the U.S. Department of Defense and General Services Administration’sorders seeking to exempt certain federal construction contracts from the Biden administration’s PLA mandate.

ABC issued a statement disagreeing with the decision and calling on President Donald Trump to rescind former President Joe Biden’s Executive Order 14063 and subsequent final rule, Use of Project Labor Agreements for Federal Construction Projects, mandating project labor agreements on federal construction projects worth $35 million or more. 

Prior to the May 16 injunction, the DOD had exempted all the agency’s contracts from the PLA mandate and the GSA had exempted all land port of entry projects.

While the DOD and GSA have not yet issued any public guidance in response to the injunction, the order means that the PLA mandate will be back in effect for all federal construction contracts over $35 million. 

Contracts that have already been awarded should not be affected but ongoing solicitations may be amended to reincorporate the PLA mandate. 

 Agencies should still have the option to seek case-by-case exceptions to the mandate.

Take Action: Tell President Trump to put an end to the PLA mandate by signing an executive order supporting fair and open competition through ABC’s action alert.

ABC urges President Trump to rescind the Biden-era policy and replace it with a new executive order that promotes fair and open competition and protects federal and federally assisted construction contracts from government-mandated PLAs, allowing merit shop contractors to have a fair chance to win work.

ABC will continue to fight against the Biden administration’s illegal and costly PLA mandate and will keep ABC members updated on further developments.