43 Senators Oppose President Biden’s PLA Mandate
Forty-three Republican senators are condemning President Biden’s February 4th Executive Order guaranteeing collective bargaining agreements for individual public infrastructure projects, claiming it hinders competitive bidding and wastes taxpayer dollars. Per their letter dated March 8th, “mandating PLAs will prevent qualified contractors from fairly competing for contracts. These mandates will also deny critical construction jobs to local workers and small businesses and increase construction costs.” Sen. Young (R-IN), who spearheaded the letter, also sponsors legislation (S.403) to ban mandated project labor agreements (PLAs). Project labor agreements guarantee collective bargaining agreements for individual construction projects. President Biden’s order requires PLA agreements on federally funded construction contracts valued above $35 million.