ABC’s Massachusetts chapter and a coalition of merit shop contractors successfully blocked the Springfield Water and Sewer Commission’s plan for a project labor agreement mandate on a $325 million water filtration plant.

ABC is encouraging all members to call on their representatives in Congress to cosponsor the Fair and Open Competition Act (H.R. 1552/S. 622). The bill, introduced by Rep. Dennis Ross (R-Fla.) in the U.S. House of Representatives and Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) in the U.S. Senate, would ensure controversial project labor agreements (PLAs) cannot be mandated on taxpayer-funded construction projects.

ABC President and CEO Michael Bellaman sent President-elect Trump a letter urging him to guarantee government neutrality in federal construction contracting on January 4. The letter urged President-elect Trump to rescind President Obama’s Executive Order 13502, which encourages federal agencies to require project labor agreements (PLAs) on federal contracts to build projects of $25 million or more on a case-by-case basis, and replace it with the executive orders 13202 and 13208, which prohibit PLAs from being required on federal and federally assisted construction projects.

ABC and ABC’s Inland Pacific Chapter celebrated a victory Sept. 16 when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit set aside a lower court’s decision against an Idaho law that banned government-mandated project labor agreements (PLAs) on taxpayer-funded construction projects.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Naval Facilities Engineering Command have issued two surveys soliciting comments from the construction industry on the potential use of project labor agreements (PLA) on projects in Maryland and Kentucky.

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) have issued two surveys soliciting comments from the construction industry on the potential use of project labor agreements (PLA) on projects in Missouri and Texas.

Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval signed legislation June 9 to make Nevada the 23rd state to restrict the ability of state and local government entities to implement wasteful and discriminatory project labor agreement (PLA) mandates on taxpayer-funded construction projects.

The U.S. Senate passed the Concurrent Resolution on the Budget (S. Con Res 11) for Fiscal Year 2016, May 5 which contains ABC-supported language adopted during Senate Vote-A-Rama, that would restrict the use of government-mandated project labor agreements (PLAs). The budget was previously passed by the House on April 30. 

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) have issued three surveys soliciting comments from the construction industry on the potential use of project labor agreements (PLA) on projects in California and Texas. 

A diverse coalition of construction industry associations and employer groups led by ABC sent a letter to the U.S. House of Representatives April 13 opposing government-mandated project labor agreements and anti-competitive PLA preferences used by federal agencies as a result of President Obama’s pro-PLA Executive Order 13502 and related regulations. The letter asks lawmakers to cosponsor the Government Neutrality in Contracting Act (H.R. 1671) which was introduced by Rep. Mick Mulvaney (R-S.C.) and has been referred to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.