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Project Labor Agreements ("PLAs") are single-site craft labor agreements used in the construction industry to provide reliable, cost-effective project staffing for capital construction projects. Accepted widely throughout the United States for industrial, commercial and public construction, PLAs are required by hundreds of project owners each year to facilitate billions of dollars worth of new construction, renovations and other capital improvement projects.

When seeking to use a PLA a project owner usually adopts a short-form PLA bid specification in its project plans and specifications. This specification requires all construction firms working on the site to abide by employment terms stipulated in a model PLA document attached to the specifications. Once in place, the PLA bid specification provides all site contractors and subcontractors access


to skilled construction personnel through the job referral systems operated by local building trade unions.

The building trades' referral systems, which by law must be open to union and non-union employees and applicants, provide a critical project planning/project delivery tool. By supplying an organized structure within the industry for recruiting, screening and deploying hundreds, or even thousands of skilled craft personnel in multiple trades, these systems allow construction users to access a reliable supply of trained craft personnel and predict future labor costs for capital projects accurately. Owners not only obtain cost-effective staffing, but also secure quality control over the entire craft labor force for a project.

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All contractors and subcontractors on the project are required to be parties to the PLA;
The agreement should cover all work performed by all craft workers employed on the project;
The appropriate labor organization is recognized as exclusive bargaining representative for employees in its craft;
Hiring is conducted through union referral or placement procedures on a non-discriminatory basis;
Uniform work schedules, holidays, overtime prov., start times, work-day, work-week duration, work rules and other terms are used; More>>