Associated Builders and Contractors today voiced its strong opposition to North America’s Building Trades Unions’ filing of a lawsuit against President Donald Trump’s administration, seeking to reinstate project labor agreement mandates on certain U.S. Department of Defense and General Service Administration construction contracts over $35 million.
“NABTU’s misguided decision to file a challenge against the Trump administration’s lawful exemption from anti-competitive, union-favoring project labor agreement requirements on certain federal projects is a reminder that these special interests are fearful of fair and open competition,” said Kristen Swearingen, ABC vice president of government affairs. “Instead, they prefer policies that put a thumb on the scales in their favor at the expense of hardworking taxpayers who suffer the impacts of these inflationary, discriminatory requirements.
“ABC supports the Trump administration’s exemption of projects critical to America’s national security from these rules,” said Swearingen. “We urge the administration to take a step further and fully rescind former President Joe Biden’s Executive Order 14063 implementing PLA mandates. This would erase any basis for NABTU’s lawsuit, allowing all contractors—both union and nonunion—to compete on a level playing field. It would also be a huge win for government efficiency by saving taxpayers up to $10 billion annually.”
The Biden PLA mandate has been widely criticized by the construction industry, taxpayer watchdogs and lawmakers for needlessly inflating construction costs, delaying projects and effectively steering contracts to unionized firms and union labor.
In an ongoing case, ABC filed suit in federal court to block this policy in March 2024. ABC has also supported federal contractor members in bid protests that resulted in a Jan. 19 decision by the U.S. Court of Federal Claims declaring PLA mandates illegal and removing them from the solicitations the contractors were bidding on. ABC will consider legal options for defending the Trump administration’s PLA mandate exemptions against NABTU’s meritless lawsuit.
