Yesterday, the Assistant to the President and Director of the National Economic Council Lael Brainard, Office of Management and Budget Deputy Director for Management Jason Miller, Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su, and Administrator of the General Services Administration Robin Carnahan were joined by the Commissioners from the Connecticut, Illinois, and New York Departments of Transportation, Micron Technology, construction contractors, North America’s Building Trades Unions (NABTU), AFL-CIO, and other Federal agencies to discuss the Biden-Harris Administration’s implementation of Project Labor Agreements for large Federal construction projects.

Participants shared their experiences on large-scale construction projects, which often have multiple employers at a single location, and the challenges for Federal contractors to predict labor costs when bidding on contracts and to ensure that a steady supply of labor exists on the contracts being performed. They have found that Project Labor Agreements (PLAs) prevented labor disputes involving one or more employers from delaying the entire project, and ultimately resulting in higher costs.  The resulting operation and coordination on projects with PLAs resulted in minimal delays and disruption to the local community; in some cases, complex construction projects were completed ahead of schedule. In the meeting, participants commended the Biden-Harris Administration on this rule, as PLAs have improved access to critical labor skills, ensured parties to agree to dispute resolution procedures and mechanisms for labor-management cooperation on critical matters like safety, and support workers from underserved communities and small businesses.

Thomas Ensminger, Vice President of Union Labor Relations at Day and Zimmermann, shared that “project labor agreements are how we make sure we have the workforce we need to deliver our project on time, on budget, and in a safe manner. PLAs are a tried-and-true methodology, and is a mainstay of successful projects across this country.”

They also shared how PLAs ensure our federal projects benefit from a well-trained workforce that helps deliver the high-quality facilities on-time and on-budget. Additionally, workers also have the security and peace of mind that come with collectively bargained wages and benefits, better pathways to good-paying jobs, and stronger health and safety protections. They ensure workers are paid fair wages and benefit from safe and fair working conditions.

As Manish Bhatia, EVP Global Operations of Micron Technology shared, “Micron is proud to have put PLAs in place to support our planned investments in New York and Idaho and we thank the Biden-Harris Administration for convening this important roundtable conversation today. Memory fabs are some of the world’s most complicated construction projects and therefore the most skilled trade labor is needed. Unions are well positioned to help train and grow a pipeline of diverse workers that America will need to build all of these fabs. These partnerships are central to our success and growing the semiconductor workforce in the United States.”

List of Participants:

• Executive Office of the President:
  • National Economic Council, Director Lael Brainard
  • Office of Management and Budget, Deputy Director for Management Jason Miller
  • Office of Management and Budget, Senior Advisor Christine Harada
• Federal Agencies
  • Department of Labor, Acting Secretary Julie Su
  • General Services Administration, Administrator Robin Carnahan
  • Department of Energy, Deputy Under Secretary Dr. Kathleen Hogan
  • Department of Transportation, Deputy Assistant Secretary Scott Goldstein
  • U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Jay Shannon
  • U.S. Navy, Cindy Readal
  • Department of Veterans Affairs, Dr. Zebulon Fox
• Construction Companies
  • Enerfab – Jacob Snyder, Chief Operating Officer
  • Kiewit – David Marko, Labor Relations Manager
  • Day & Zimmerman – Thomas Ensminger, Vice President of Labor Relations
• Labor Organizations
  • NABTU
    • Jim Brewer
    • Jon Newman
    • Stephen Courtien
  • AFL-CIO
    • Bill Samuel
    • Mia Dell
  • LIUNA
    • Yvette Pena-O’Sullivan
• State DOTs
  • CT DOT – Garrett Eucalitto, Commissioner
  • IL DOT Terrence Glavin, Deputy Secretary
  • NY DOT – Norman Kee, Deputy Counsel
• Commercial
  • Micron – EVP of Global Operations, Manish Bhatia