AGC Urges White House to Reform Federal Project Labor Agreement Mandate

The Associated General Contractors of America (AGC), representing 28,000 construction firms nationwide, is calling on President Donald J. Trump to address inefficiencies and cost increases caused by the federal Project Labor Agreement (PLA) mandate.

AGC supports free and open competition in publicly funded construction and opposes any government-imposed PLA mandates. AGC is urging he revocation of President Biden’s Executive Order 14063 and its related Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) revisions. If revocation is not possible, AGC requests policy changes to improve fairness, efficiency, and cost control.

Key Concerns

• PLA mandate reduces competition and raises costs.
• Tight bidding timelines make PLA negotiation impractical.
• Unions can delay or block agreements, disadvantaging some contractors.
• Exceptions are rarely granted, creating procurement bottlenecks.
• Lack of transparency in federal market research limits oversight.

AGC Recommendations

1. Flexible PLA Submission Timing – Allow submission after award and accept good-faith negotiation certification.
2. Post-Solicitation Exceptions – Permit agencies to grant exceptions after reviewing offers and compare bids with/without PLAs.
3. Local Authority to Grant Exceptions – Empower district and regional contracting officers to approve project-specific exceptions.
4. Standardized Market Research – Use a uniform, stakeholder-informed questionnaire for all agencies.
5. Public Market Research Results – Require agencies to publish anonymized findings to promote transparency and accountability.

AGC’s proposed reforms aim to reduce waste, increase competition, and lower taxpayer costs while ensuring the federal government gets the best value in construction contracting.

For more information, visit AGC.org.