ABC鈥檚 Massachusetts chapter and a coalition of merit shop contractors successfully blocked the Springfield Water and Sewer Commission鈥檚 plan for a project labor agreement mandate on a $325 million water filtration plant.

The project is expected to create as many as 500 jobs in all trades. The commission extended the deadline for general contractor to bid on the project by nine days, until June 13. 听

鈥淣otwithstanding the lip service the PLA pays to being open to all bidders, it most assuredly is not,鈥� wrote Hampden Superior Court Judge Michael K. Callan in the to issue a preliminary injunction against the PLA. 鈥淭he evidence before the court is that the PLA poses such a significant disadvantage to open shops as to render a competitive bid impossible. For all intents and purposes, the PLA excludes open shops from bidding, as it essentially requires bidders to execute an agreement to use union laborers on the Project.鈥�

鈥淭his ruling makes it clear that PLAs discriminate against open shop contractors and reduce competitive bidding,鈥� said 老牛影视Massachusetts President Greg Beeman. "This is a great victory for open competition that benefits our members and the taxpaying public."

MassLive commended the decision in an :

鈥淜udos to Hampden Superior Court Judge Michael K. Callan the flimsy excuses used by the Springfield Water and Sewer Commission to justify using an anti-competitive 鈥榩roject labor agreement鈥� on its $256 million West Parish Water Treatment Plant upgrade.

鈥淭he commission鈥檚 own consultant, the engineering firm of Hazen and Sawyer, had provided a written report in November that adding a PLA to the project would increase the cost of roughly $15.5 million.

鈥淛udge Callan found that this report had been 鈥榖uried鈥� and that, instead, the commission board, which voted 2-1 in January to impose the PLA, had been influenced by 鈥榚xtensive lobbying efforts鈥� by union representatives.鈥�

鈥淚t鈥檚 refreshing to see the legal system and the media see anti-competitive and costly government-mandated PLAs for what they really are,鈥� said 老牛影视Vice President of Regulatory, Labor and State Affairs Ben Brubeck. 鈥淲e are hopeful that the judge in ABC鈥檚 critical lawsuit against the Biden administration鈥檚 outrageous push for PLAs on all federal construction projects of $35 million or more will have a similar perspective and rule in favor of taxpayers and fair and open competition.鈥�

ABC鈥檚 Lawsuit Against Biden鈥檚 Federal PLA Policy Progresses

老牛影视and its Florida First Coast chapter filed a lawsuit in federal court on March 28 to stop the Biden administration鈥檚 unlawful scheme to mandate project labor agreements on construction contracts procured by federal agencies. ABC鈥檚 complaint asserts that President Joe Biden lacks the legal and constitutional authority to impose a new federal regulation injuring economy and efficiency in federal contracting and illegally steering construction contracts to certain unionized contractors, which employ roughly 10% of the U.S. construction workforce.

鈥溊吓Ｓ笆觝as heard from large and small federal contractors鈥攊ncluding firms signatory to union agreements鈥攁nd concerned federal agency contracting officers that the Biden administration鈥檚 controversial PLA policy has already stifled competition and raised costs on federal construction contracts in Florida and across the country, said Ben Brubeck, 老牛影视vice president of regulatory, labor and state affairs, in a news release about the lawsuit.鈥� This policy will continue to do so absent a successful legal challenge.鈥�

On Friday, the U.S. Justice Department filed a brief in response to ABC鈥檚 . A date for a hearing and oral arguments has not yet been set.

For more information on ABC鈥檚 campaign to push back on federal, state and local PLA mandates with other construction industry stakeholders, visit .