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Bush Amends Order on Project Labor Agreements

BOSTON-The Bush administration amends its executive order banning project labor agreements on federally-funded projects. Projects with existing project labor agreements--such as the Big Dig here--will be allowed to file for an exemption.

By Naomi Grossman | Updated on April 19, 2001

BOSTON-In a move that has caused a collective sigh of relief among those involved with the Big Dig here, the Bush administration has amended its executive order banning project labor agreements for federally-funded projects. The White House has agreed to allow projects with existing project labor agreements to file for an exemption from the ban.

“The president has listened to our legitimate concerns,” Sean O’Neill, spokesperson for the Big Dig, the $14 billion massive highway construction project in the heart of the city here, tells GlobeSt.com. “But going forward, all federal projects will not have project labor agreements.”

The ban would have had a major impact on this project where an agreement with the labor unions has been in effect for the past ten years. The agreement specified that only union workers would be used on the project and in exchange, unions promised not to strike. While worker’s wages would not have been affected by this directive because the prevailing wage in this state is equal to the union wage, when projects would be put out to bid–reportedly, the project still has $800 million in work left to bid–bidders would no longer have to be union organizations. If union members do not like certain outcomes, a strike delay on a project this large would be extremely damaging.

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