Biden to sign executive order boosting rights of 200,000 construction
workers
Send a link to a friend
[February 04, 2022]
By Nandita Bose
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe
Biden will sign an executive order on Friday requiring "project labor
agreements" in federal construction projects over $35 million, a
potential boost to workers and unions that negotiate these deals, and a
shift the administration says will speed up building times.
The order will apply to $262 billion in federal construction contracting
and impact nearly 200,000 workers, the White House said late on
Thursday, confirming news first reported by Reuters.
Project labor agreements are collective bargaining agreements between
building trade unions and contractors, which set wages, employment
conditions, and dispute resolution on specific projects. Democratic
presidents in the past have typically supported applying such agreements
to the massive U.S. federal contracting budget, while Republican
presidents have rescinded them.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2022/Feb/04/images/ads/current/debbiesfloral_lda_VALENTINES_2020.png)
The order, which will go into effect immediately, comes on the heels of
a $1 trillion infrastructure bill signed into law by Biden that invests
in the country's roads, ports and bridges.
Much of that money will flow through federal agencies to states and
local governments. The new executive order excludes projects funded by
grants to non-federal agencies, a senior administration official said,
adding that will make up for a bulk of the projects under the bill. But
it will apply to billions of other federal spending on waterways,
military bases and other areas.
[to top of second column]
|
![](../images/020421pics/news_e41.jpg)
President Joe Biden speaks about a U.S. Special Forces operation in
Northern Syria against ISIS leader Abu Ibrahim al-Hashemi al-Quraishi,
from the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, U.S.,
February 3, 2022. REUTERS/Sarah Silbiger
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2022/Feb/04/images/ads/current/stclara_lda_SPONSOR_090519.png) The White House said Biden would
visit Ironworkers Local 5 in Upper Marlboro, Maryland, Friday to
sign the new executive order, joined by Vice President Kamala Harris
and Labor Secretary Marty Walsh.
The U.S. construction industry - including workers, owners,
developers, contractors - has been one of the hardest hit during the
COVID-19 pandemic, due to a slowdown of available goods and labor
and the termination of entire projects.
Biden has vowed to strengthen unions and increase membership in the
United States after years of steady decline, and to increase
salaries for hourly workers in construction, health care and other
jobs.
"Contractors who offer lower wages or hire less qualified workers
will need to raise their standards to compete with other high-wage,
high-quality companies," the order says, according to a draft viewed
by Reuters. Earlier executive action by Biden requires federal
contractors in new or extended contracts to pay a $15 per hour
minimum wage.
Biden's move won praise from some contractors.
"This streamlines the negotiation process and gives employers access
to a highly skilled pool of craftworkers," Daniel Hogan, chief
executive of the Association of Union Constructors, that represents
1800 contractor companies, told Reuters.
(Reporting by Nandita Bose in Washington; Editing by Heather
Timmons, Aurora Ellis and Raju Gopalakrishnan)
[© 2022 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content. |