PLAs foster good jobs, safe worksites and cost-effective construction
What is a PLA?
A Project Labor Agreement (PLA) is a comprehensive pre-hire collective bargaining agreement that sets the basic terms and conditions of employment for an entire construction project.
PLAs benefit all parties on a project. These agreements set standards for employment, providing worker protections and guaranteeing family-supporting wages and benefits. PLAs are negotiated for each job individually, ensuring that the concerns of workers, contractors, project owners and the local community are understood and addressed.
PLAs set standards for employment on a project, providing worker protections and guaranteeing family-supporting wages and benefits.
A Framework for Cooperation
PLAs reduce the uncertainties inherent on construction projects by establishing all terms and expectations upfront, creating a framework for cooperation among all groups working on the project. By adopting a labor-management model that fosters jobsite efficiencies and ensures an uninterrupted supply of highly skilled workers, PLAs help keep a project on schedule — avoiding costly delays — and assist in preventing wage theft.
PLAs enable parties to more accurately predict labor costs and production timetables, which means more accurate bidding and lower overall costs. They also offer direct cost savings through streamlined safety procedures, avoiding the need to renegotiate agreements during the course of the project, setting work schedules to keep costs low, and using expedited dispute resolution procedures.
PLAs promote safe, timely, cost-effective construction and ensure it is delivered to the highest quality standards.
By providing facility owners with a unique and exceptionally reliable source of skilled, trained manpower in all applicable trades, PLAs promote safe, timely, cost-effective construction and ensure it is delivered to the highest quality standards.
Moreover, due to the projected increased demand for skilled labor in the North American construction industry, PLAs help address long-term needs of project owners by providing a highly effective strategy for recruiting and training the next generation of skilled construction workers, thus assisting the industry’s critical need for future workforce planning and development.
PLA Case Study: The Frederick Douglas Memorial Bridge in Washington, D.C.
The Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge, originally referred to as the South Capitol Street Bridge, spans the Anacostia River and connects Wards 6 and 8 in Washington, D.C.
The $440 million bridge replacement project was completed under a PLA in September 2021, on-budget and ahead of schedule, despite the Covid-19 pandemic.
More than 200 D.C.residents were hired to build the bridge, and D.C. residents accounted for more than 60 percent of its apprentices. At least 45 minority and women-owned businesses were part of the project, representing $91 million in contracting opportunities.
PLA Case Study: The Frederick Douglas Memorial Bridge in Washington, D.C.
The Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge, originally referred to as the South Capitol Street Bridge, spans the Anacostia River and connects Wards 6 and 8 in Washington, D.C.
The $440 million bridge replacement project was completed under a PLA in September 2021, on-budget and ahead of schedule, despite the Covid-19 pandemic.
More than 200 D.C.residents were hired to build the bridge, and D.C. residents accounted for more than 60 percent of its apprentices. At least 45 minority and women-owned businesses were part of the project, representing $91 million in contracting opportunities.