Project labor agreements on public construction projects have been generating considerable controversy since the U.S. Supreme Court's unanimous 1993 "Boston Harbor" decision. Here we review a num ber of subsequent state and federal court cases, several state laws, proposed legislation, and President Bush's recent executive order on project labor agreements. We also identify and more closely examine several key arguments of the opponents of project labor agreements. We conclude with an outline for building and con struction trades unions and councils to utilize in determining whether or not project labor agreements are appropriate on a case- by-case basis.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
" ABC Pledges One Million To Fight Agreements." 1999. Engineering News-Record, vol. 242, no. 23, p. 9.
2.
" Airport Construction Soars." 1999. ABC News, vol. 8 no. 16 (September), section 2, p. 13.
3.
Bender, Rick S. and Allan B. Darr.1999. "Transit Job Too Important Not To Include Labor Pact." Seattle Times, May 26, p. B5.
Garrity, Kathleen B.1999. "Labor pact will make RTA costs jump." Seattle Times, May 20, p. B5.
6.
General Accounting Office.1998. " Project Labor Agreements: The Extent of Their Use and Related Information ." Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office.
7.
"Government-Mandated Labor Agreements." n.d. Associated General Contractors. http://www.agc.org/public/legislative
8.
Hammersley, Margaret.1999. "Labor Agreement Reached to Assure No Work Stoppages." Buffalo News, May 19, p. 8B.
9.
Jordan, Robert A.1999. "PLAs as a Benefit to Contractors." The Boston Globe, April 6, p. C4.
10.
" Labor Pact is Good Work." 1999. Buffalo News . (May 21), p. 2B.
11.
Lund, John and Joe Oswald.1996. "Boston Harbor and Project Labor Agreements for Public Owners: A Strategy for Union and University Labor Educators." Labor Studies Journal20 (Winter 1996): 21-38.
12.
Northrup, Herbert R. and Linda E. Alario .1998. "Boston Harbor-Type Project Labor Agreements in Construction: Nature, Rationales and Legal Challenges ." Journal of Labor Research19 (Winter 1998): 1-63.
13.
"Project Labor Agreement for Construction of the Miller Park Project." 1997. Contract between HCH Miller Park Joint Venture and the Milwaukee Building and Construction Trades Council, AFL-CIO, 20 pp.
14.
" Strike Sets Stage for Court Case." 1999. Engineering News-Record, vol. 242, no. 21, p. 18.
" Unions to Pump Up Project Pacts." 1999. Engineering News-Record, vol. 242, no. 15, p. 12.
17.
U.S. Department of Labor, Labor-Management Services Administration.1980. "Bargaining Structure in Construction: Problems and Prospects." Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office.
