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How the $3 million threshold affects county bidding
The project labor agreement threshold in Union County, New Jersey, has dropped from $5 million to $3 million, pulling a wider share of county construction work under union standards, TAPinto reported.
The Union County Board of Commissioners approved the change in response to a state law adopted earlier this year, according to county officials. The lower threshold means more county work will be built under agreements that set wages, benefits, work rules and safety expectations before the first crew reports to the site.
Board of Commissioners Chairman Joseph Bodek said the change “expands opportunities for our local skilled trades” and ensures more county projects are built by the highly trained workforce residents expect, according to a press release announcing the requirement.
What the lower threshold changes for county projects
Union County Counsel Bruce Bergen said the county already uses project labor agreements on every project state law reaches. The agreements will not change how the county bids its work, Bergen said, and the shift is unlikely to affect state aid or funding the county draws through capital bond ordinances.
READ MORE: Project labor agreements do not raise costs, research review finds
Under New Jersey law, project labor agreements are written to keep public work moving without strikes, lockouts or slowdowns, and to hold one set of terms across every trade on a site. The statute also points to more predictable project costs and lower repair and maintenance spending over the life of a finished building. Research reviews that take up the question, do PLAs increase costs, have found no consistent price penalty on public projects.
William Mullen, president of the New Jersey State Building and Construction Trades Council, called the $3 million threshold a smart investment in the county’s workforce and its taxpayers, and credited the commissioners for pushing for higher-quality public infrastructure.
Union County joins a growing list of New Jersey local governments rewriting their own project labor agreement rules since the state opened that door earlier this year.
Related guide: Project labor agreements in New Jersey: the law and the 2026 change
