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A multi-year legal and advocacy campaign by ABC and a coalition of construction industry stakeholders has delivered welcome relief to federal contractors harmed by President Joe Biden’s Executive Order 14063 and related Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council rule mandating controversial project labor agreements on large-scale federal construction projects of $35 million or more.

Widely criticized by ABC, the construction industry, taxpayer watchdogs and lawmakers for needlessly inflating construction costs, delaying projects and steering contracts to unionized firms and union labor at the expense of both taxpayers and federal laws requiring fair and open competition, Biden’s pro-PLA policy has been severely weakened by the courts and strong ABC advocacy efforts.

COURTS AND TRUMP ADMINISTRATION REVERSE BIDEN'S PLA MANDATE POLICY ON SOME FEDERAL CONTRACTS

ABC celebrated a Jan. 19 decision by the U.S. Court of Federal Claims that ruled in favor of experienced ABC members and other federal contractors that filed 12 separate bid protests against three federal agencies that mandated PLAs in solicitations for construction services as a result of Biden’s rule.

The court consolidated all of the bid protests into one case and struck down the federal agency PLA mandates for violating federal competitive bidding statutes. Persuasive evidence presented to the court indicated that federal agencies required PLAs even after they hired consultants and conducted research that determined PLA mandates triggered by the Biden rule would increase costs and reduce competition. Unfortunately, as of press time, the court stopped short of striking down the entire rule and instead limited its scope to the bid protest projects, meaning federal agencies still have the ability to mandate PLAs under the Biden policy.

However, in February 2025, following the inauguration of Donald J. Trump and the U.S. Court of Federal Claims’ key ruling, officials from the U.S. Department of Defense and the U.S. General Services Administration’s Land Port of Entry program announced they would no longer require PLAs on their federal construction projects previously subject to Biden’s pro-PLA policy.

This abrupt policy reversal means the vast majority of future federal contracting opportunities will be free from PLA mandates. Almost 80% of federal construction contracts of $35 million or more were awarded by the DoD and GSA’s LPOE program in FY2024, according to an ABC analysis of usaspending.gov federal agency contract awards.

The triumphant return of fair and open competition for this large population of future federal contracts is welcome news for taxpayers, federal contractors and the principles of free enterprise. However, more work is underway to eliminate PLA mandates governmentwide on both federal and federally assisted projects.

LITIGATION AND ADVOCACY SEEK TO SIDELINE ALL OF BIDEN'S PRO-PLA POLICIES

ABC federal contractors performed more than 50% of all large-scale federal construction contracts from FY2009 through FY2023 until Biden’s pro-PLA rule went into effect on Jan. 22, 2024, following a multi-year rulemaking implementing the February 2022 EO 14063.

Typical PLA mandates discourage competition from some of the best bidders (and the nine out of 10 U.S. construction workers who choose not to join a union) by forcing contractors to sign special union collective bargaining agreements, hire workers from union halls and apprenticeship programs, and accept compulsory union representation on behalf of any members of their existing workforces. This exposes those workers to union wage theft of up to 34% of their compensation unless they join a union and vest in union benefits plans.

For these reasons and many others, on March 28, 2024, ABC and its Florida First Coast chapter filed suit in a Jacksonville, Fla., federal court to block Biden’s PLA final rule. As of press time, the case is fully briefed and plaintiffs are awaiting a decision on the overall case and a ruling on ABC’s subsequent motion for preliminary injunction filed in April 2024. Of note, the U.S. COFC’s recent decision in the PLA bid protest case presents helpful new evidence and case law under consideration by the federal court in Jacksonville.

In June 2024, Aric Dreher from Cianbro—an ABC federal contractor member from Pittsfield, Maine—and ABC leadership testified before Congress in support of fair and open competition. The ABC-led team argued that when mandated by government, PLAs increase construction costs by an estimated 12% to 20%, reduce competition from qualified contractors and their employees, steal money from the paychecks of token nonunion workers permitted on PLA projects and exacerbate the construction industry’s worker shortage.

In addition, the U.S. House Oversight Subcommittee heard testimony highlighting other Biden administration policies pushing PLAs on federally assisted construction projects via more than $271 billion worth of federal agency grant programs for infrastructure projects procured by state and local governments.

The testimony illuminated how other Biden administration policy pushes private developers to mandate PLAs on clean energy construction projects supported by more than $270 billion in Inflation Reduction Act tax incentives and domestic microchip manufacturing facilities receiving as much as $52.7 billion in CHIPS and Science Act funding. Such schemes undermine congressional authority as all of these taxpayer investments were authorized and funded through legislation that does not require or encourage the use of discriminatory PLAs on taxpayer-funded construction projects.

On Jan. 9, ABC and 24 other construction and business groups in the ABC-led Build America Local coalition sent a letter to President Trump requesting an executive order that would eliminate the Biden pro-PLA policies and restore fair and open competition on federal and federally assisted construction projects, which would save taxpayers an estimated $10 billion annually.

ABC is encouraging stakeholders to contact their lawmakers and help create opportunities for all Americans in the construction industry. Urge them to support new policies that will encourage all qualified contractors and their skilled workforces to compete to build long-lasting, quality projects at the best price.

Through ABC’s grassroots campaign, ABC members can ask Congress and President Trump to stop harmful government-mandated PLAs on federal and federally assisted construction projects by passing the Fair and Open Competition Act legislation and/or a similar executive order.

Non-ABC stakeholders can learn more by visiting BuildAmericaLocal.com and watching the coalition’s informational video, as well as contacting lawmakers via the coalition website’s grassroots campaign.

For breaking updates on pending legal cases and advocacy developments, visit TheTruthAboutPLAs.com.

NOTE: All information contained in this article is current as of press date, March 10, 2025. For breaking news and additional updates, please visit constructionexec.com/comeback.