Union carpenters and other skilled labor tradespeople working in and around Pittsburgh.
The Prince William Board of County Supervisors showed restraint and good governance by choosing to study project labor agreements rather than bowing to pressure from anti-union contractors, according to a recent guest column by Cyndie Williams, Executive Director of the Carpenters Contractor Trust, published by InsideNoVa that examines the facts behind the debate. (Read the full column here.)
Claims that project labor agreements drive up construction costs do not hold up when examined against real-world data. A study of 99 California community college construction projects found that PLAs had no impact on overall costs once researchers controlled for project size, complexity and location. Similar findings emerged from research into 70 Massachusetts school construction projects, which showed no difference in total project expenses, as well as an analysis of 319 Ohio school projects that found no measurable effect on bid prices.
> Related guide: What is a Project Labor Agreement?
Critics also argue that PLAs exclude nonunion contractors, but federal labor law prohibits discrimination based on union membership. Nonunion contractors are free to bid on PLA projects, provided they follow the same wage standards and work rules that apply across the jobsite. The more relevant question, supporters argue, is why some contractors resist competing under transparent and uniform labor standards.
Union construction workers typically earn higher wages and receive better benefits than nonunion workers. According to 2023 data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, union construction workers earned an average of $1,424 per week, compared with $1,007 for nonunion workers, a 41% difference. (See BLS union earnings data.) Higher wages result in increased tax contributions and reduced reliance on public assistance programs such as Medicaid and SNAP.
PLAs also help projects stay on schedule. Research shows that construction projects built under PLAs are completed faster than those without them. High-profile projects such as MetLife Stadium in New Jersey and U.S. Bank Stadium in Minnesota both finished weeks or months ahead of schedule using PLAs.
PLAs have been in use since the 1930s and remain common across public and private construction because they work. Their continued adoption reflects performance and accountability, not politics.
