Webinar: Project Labor Agreements on Federal & Federally Assisted Construction Projects

Learn more about the unprecedented support that the Biden administration has provided to unions and signatory contractors by mandating PLAs on large-scale federal construction projects for the first time. You can learn about the importance of this tool, and the fivefold tax credits available for covered projects under the Inflation Reduction Act, in expanding work opportunities for your firm. 

Please join us for an upcoming “Project Labor Agreements on Federal & Federally Assisted Construction Projects” webinar on Tuesday, May 28, 2024, at 2:00 p.m. Eastern. Participating in this webinar will teach you several critical aspects of PLAs and how to effectively advocate for their inclusion on all projects - federal, state, and local public projects and private projects. Essential points of talking include:  

·The Final Rule implementing the Biden Executive Order (EO) on PLAs, which requires the use of PLAs on “large scale” construction projects undertaken by the federal government –  e.g., the VA, the Department of Energy, the GSA, NASA, and the DoD unless an exception applies.

·The Biden administration’s promotion of the use of PLAs on federally-assisted projects undertaken under a federal loan or grant under the CHIPS Act, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, and other federal legislation.

·Use of PLAs on construction projects for which the Inflation Reduction Act’s fivefold tax credits and deductions are available to taxpayers who comply with the prevailing wage and apprenticeship utilization requirements.

·Tools for effective advocacy for PLAs on state and local projects and sample talking points. 

Take a moment to meet our speakers: 

Liz Nadeau has been a union labor lawyer for about 38 years. For the last nine years, as a sole practitioner, she has represented construction union clients nationwide in prevailing wage law, fair contracting, apprenticeship, project labor agreements, and safety and health. Liz specializes in complex regulatory advocacy before the Wage and Hour Division, the Office of Apprenticeship, OSHA, and the Treasury Department. During the Biden administration, an essential focus of her practice has been recommending regulatory changes to the White House Task Force on Worker Organizing and Empowerment. Before 2015, Liz served in the Legal Department of the International Union of Operating Engineers for 20 years in several capacities, including Co-General Counsel and Fund Counsel to the IUOE National Training Fund.  Liz is a graduate of Yale University (BA, 1982), the University of Michigan Law School (JD, 1986), and Johns Hopkins University School of Education (MS, 2021).

Grant Collins serves as outside labor counsel for SMACNA. He is an MSBA-certified specialist in both traditional labor law and employment law.

Grant’s traditional labor practice involves preparing for and serving as chief spokesperson for collective bargaining, advising employers on their rights and obligations under collective bargaining agreements and the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), and representing employers in grievance arbitrations and unfair labor practice charges before the National Labor Relations Board. Grant advises clients on contingency planning in both strike and lockout contexts, including preparing for potential picket-line misconduct, sympathy strikes, and residential picketing. 

On the employment side, Grant advises and represents employers in matters involving all areas of employment law, including discrimination, ADA accommodations, FMLA leave, paid leave, FLSA and state wage and hour compliance, and the new phenomenon of local employment law ordinances.

Click here to learn more about the event and to register.