The National Building Trades Council--a department of the AFL-CIO--is the parent organization of the local Massachusetts Building Trades Council. According to Joe Dart, president of the local organization, if the order goes forward, the Big Dig could be severely affected.

"There is $800 million of work yet to bid," he tells GlobeSt.com. "We have assured the Massachusetts Highway and Bechtel Parsons that there would be no disruptions in labor-related issues. That's the way it's been." Without that assurance, notes Dart, there are no guarantees that labor won't strike.

The Big Dig's project labor agreement, which was reached 11 years ago, stipulates that the state agrees to use union workers in exchange for the union's agreement not to strike during the duration of the project. There have been no work stoppages on the Big Dig thus far.