President Biden Signed Executive Order to Boost JOB Quality of Federal Construction Projects
This will result in many more project labor agreements across the country at a time of historic investments. You can see the announcement video here which includes opening remarks from Secretary Walsh, the Executive Order here, and a fact sheet here.
“By requiring the use of project labor agreements (PLAs) on federal construction projects above $35 million, the Order will help alleviate the management and coordination challenges that can stymie progress on major construction projects. This helps projects get completed on time and helps the government get the best value for taxpayers’ dollars.
Based on FY2021 figures, this Order could affect $262 billion in federal government construction contracting and improve job quality for the nearly 200,000 workers on federal construction contracts.”
In addition, lots of other content to check out in the newsletter:
- January’s jobs report brought positive news: The economy added 467,000 jobs last month, and the unemployment rate was little changed at 4.0%. Over the last three months, the economy has added 541,000 jobs per month on average, with a total of 6.6 million since President Biden came into office.
- Employers can now apply for the 2022 HIRE Vets Medallion Award, which recognizes employers that meet standards for excellence in recruiting, hiring and retaining America’s military veterans.
- $15 million in Navigator Grants is available through the American Rescue Plan Act to help states collaborate with community and worker organizations to improve equity in their unemployment insurance systems, ensuring all workers have access to these critical benefits.
- Earlier this week, Secretary Walsh asked his Twitter followers to share how their union has supported them. Read their union support stories or share your own.
