91视频

By Ethan Duran
91视频 Newswires

The Department of Defense has pulled for large-scale construction projects.

That’s according to a Feb. 7 within the office of the Secretary of Defense directed to branches including the Army, Navy and Air Force, ending the DOD’s rule for large defense projects requiring federal contractors to sign labor agreements with unions. The move follows a federal judge’s ruling that project labor agreements attached to large federal projects was illegal.

鈥淓ffective immediately, contracting officers shall not use project labor agreements for large-scale construction projects,鈥� wrote John M. Tenaglia, principal director of contracting at DOD. 鈥淐ontracting officers shall amend solicitations to remove project labor agreement requirements,鈥� he added.

In January, a judge in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims ruled in favor of construction companies who staged bid protests over an requiring project labor agreements worth more than $35 million. Former President Joe Biden signed the order in February 2022 after signing the trillion-dollar infrastructure law.

Both the and the supported revoking the executive order. Firms that belonged to both organizations staged bid protests resulting in the ruling. The rule is still in place for federal civilian agencies, however.

鈥淭he DOD’s new policy effectively eliminates President Joe Biden’s controversial rule requiring anti-competitive, inflationary, union-favoring project labor agreements on federal construction projects of $35 million or more 鈥� but only for DOD construction solicitations,鈥� said Ben Brubeck, ABC vice president of regulatory, labor and state affairs, in a statement. 鈥淭he DoD’s policy remains in effect until it is rescinded,鈥� he added.

鈥淭he announcement that the U.S. Department of Defense will drop project labor agreement mandates from its military construction solicitations is a clear sign that our approach is working,鈥� said Jeffrey Shoaf, chief executive officer of AGC, in a statement. 鈥淲e expect all federal agencies involved in procuring construction services to follow suit and drop what is clearly an unlawful mandate from their construction solicitations,鈥� he added.

In 2024, at least 12 federal contractors protested the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command and the General Services Administration. Judge Ryan T. Holte ruled on the contractors’ side that the Federal Acquisition Regulatory rule that led to project labor mandates was illegal.

Government agencies had a deadline on Feb. 3 to correct solicitations and follow the judge’s decision.