Workforce
GSA Won't Require Project Labor Agreements for Land Port of Entry Projects
Despite new court ruling that the agency must cut use of PLAs in its construction, the U.S. General Services Administration will keep it as an option for other projects
GSA's San Ysidro, Calif., Land Port of Entry finished a $741-million, three-phase expansion and renovation project in 2019, managed by the design-build team of Stantec and Hensel Phelps. It involved a complete reconstruction of port pedestrian and bus inspection facilities.
Photo courtesy U.S. General Services Administration
The U.S. General Services Administration—a major federal government property, real estate and procurement manager—will allow its Public Buildings Service to have project labor agreements on agency-run construction except for land port of entry projects. The option for GSA comes despite a January court ruling that bars it and two U.S. Dept. of Defense agencies from using the pacts.
The agency was informed in a Feb. 12 memo from GSA Senior Procurement Executive Jeffrey Koses, which said the agency now has an exemption from Federal Acquisition Regulation rules updated by the Biden administration that mandate use of the agreements.
The stipulation was successfully challenged by contractors related to projects of GSA, the U.S Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command. Since then, DOD has issued a directive that bars its use department-wide on all projects.
For GSA, the new rule is tailored narrowly to prevent mandated use of the agreements at entry site projects, with the Koses memo claiming that "would not advance [the government's] interests in achieving economy and efficiency in federal procurement," adding that the need for entry port modernization "is of an unusual and compelling urgency and requiring an [agreement] would be impracticable."
A project labor pact between craft workers and contractors sets wage rate and work rules that non-union crafts have not tended to accept and PLAs almost-always exclude non-union craft workers.
GSA’s new land port of entry policy "eliminates former President Joe Biden’s controversial rule requiring anti-competitive, inflationary, union-favoring project labor agreements on federal construction projects of $35 million or more––but only for ... solicitations to build critical land port of entry projects,” said Ben Brubeck, Associated Builders and Contractors vice president in a statement. ABC represents a majority of non-union contractors that do federal and other work.
"It is hard to say if this announcement is more a reflection of the fact that GSA only intends to build land ports of entry for the foreseeable future or if this is just an initial measure in complying with what was a very clear verdict from the Court of Federal Claims that PLA mandates are not lawful," said Brian Turmail, Associated General Contractors of America vice president. "If it is the former, that raises unrelated questions about the agency’s construction plans. But if it is the latter, as we suspect, we look forward to a more complete announcement from GSA in the very near future."
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The Federal Court of Claims overruled the Biden-era PLA rule for large (more than $35 million) federal projects after bid protests by both AGC and ABC member contractors. AGC came up with the legal strategy of challenging the mandate via bid protests. Koses is a member of the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council that issued a rule implementing what was a Biden executive order released in January 2024.
GSA did not immediately return messages seeking clarity on whether it would remove the Biden-era PLA mandate language for all agency projects or if the exception will continue only for land port of entry work.
The Trump Administration US Labor Secretary nominee, Lori Chavez-Deremer, appeared Feb. 19 in a confirmation hearing before the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee but was not asked about the agreements.
She did pledge to rescind support for a portion of the PRO Act that would overturn state right-to-work laws. The International Brotherhood of Teamsters has endorsed her but North America's Building Trades Unions, the umbrella group for most construction trades, did not immediately comment on the GSA memo.
