North America’s Building Trades Unions (NABTU) has reportedly filed a lawsuit against the Trump Administration, and Cabinet Members, including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and General Services Administration acting administrator Stephen Ehikian for their role in sidestepping expanded project labor agreements requirements.

At the NABTU Legislative Conference on April 9, President Sean McGarvey ripped into the White House for its recent decision to move away from project labor agreements, which are pre-contract commitments by an employer to enter into a collective bargaining agreement with one or more unions.

POLITICO reports McGarvey said, “the administration’s action crossed a red line for the large labor group, an umbrella organization for millions of unionized construction workers in the U.S. and Canada.”

During the NABTU Legislative Conference, McGarvey told union members and attendees, “I went over to the White House, got as high up the pecking order as we could get to let them know that what we believe was done was unlawful.”

The construction unions say that the Trump Administration, particularly the Defense Department (DoD) and the General Services Administration (GSA) usurped the PLA requirements stipulated by a 2022 Biden Executive Order when they issued separate memos waiving those obligations in February.

The DoD’s waiver stated in part, “Effective immediately, contracting officers shall not use project labor agreements for large-scale construction projects, implemented at Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) subpart 22.5 and 36.104(c).”

The GSA later issued a similar directive exempting contracts involving land ports of entry from having to use union labor. The Department of Veterans Affairs also issued a notice waiving PLA requirements.
McGarvey says the Trump Administration is risking alienating NABTU members—many of whom voted for him—with this policy change.

“You talk to any building trades member in the country, and they understand three things,” McGarvey told POLITICO after the conference wrapped up. “They understand Davis-Bacon prevailing wage [laws], they understand registered apprenticeships and they understand project labor agreements.”