Breaking down barriers, building up communities : implementing project labor agreements with targeted hiring goals

Abstract

For decades, government and community organizations have developed strategies to provide workers historically excluded from the Building Trades with access to jobs on publicly funded construction projects. Studies of best practices recommend the use of: project labor agreements (i.e., contracts between project owners and unions that are negotiated prior to the selection of contractors) that set goals for the workforce's composition in terms of race, gender, residence, income and/or craft experience; funding for pre-apprenticeship training programs; and sanctions or incentives for compliance. This thesis uses interviews and published sources to explore the importance of contract language, resources, and relationships in the implementation of four project labor agreements that included targeted hiring goals. It identifies five potential hurdles to expanding access to jobs in the Trades, and evaluates the use and success of best practices on these four projects. It concludes that in addition to the aforementioned best practices, the federal government should grant funds to promote better relationships among stakeholders prior to the negotiation of PLAs.