An Act amending Title 74 (Transportation) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, in administrative practice and procedure, providing for project labor agreement.

PRINTER'S NO. 1537
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE BILL
No. 1349
Session of
2025
INTRODUCED BY KAZEEM, GIRAL, McNEILL, HILL-EVANS, MADDEN,
MALAGARI, O'MARA, NEILSON, SANCHEZ, D. WILLIAMS, BELLMON,
BOROWSKI AND K.HARRIS, APRIL 30, 2025
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON LABOR AND INDUSTRY, APRIL 30, 2025
AN ACT
Amending Title 74 (Transportation) of the Pennsylvania
Consolidated Statutes, in administrative practice and
procedure, providing for project labor agreement.
The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. Title 74 of the Pennsylvania Consolidated
Statutes is amended by adding a section to read:
§ 304. Project labor agreement.
(a) Creation.--The department shall create a project labor
agreement on a highway construction project, including a highway
construction project that receives funding from the Federal
Government, if the department determines that it is necessary to
promote labor stability and advance the interests of the
Commonwealth in costs, efficiency, skilled labor force, quality,
safety and timeliness. The department may not award a contract
to a responsible offeror if the offeror fails to agree to the
provisions of the project labor agreement under this section,
unless certain conditions are met under subsection (f).
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(b) Notification.--Along with the solicitation of proposals
or bids for a highway construction project, the department shall
give public notice that the highway construction project shall
include a project labor agreement. The method of public notice
may include any of the following:
(1) Electronic publication which is accessible to the
general public.
(2) Advertisement as provided under 45 Pa.C.S. § 306
(relating to use of trade publications).
(3) Issuance of request for proposals to offerors on the
mailing list of the public entity.
(4) Publication in a newspaper of general circulation.
(5) If prequalification is a requirement of submitting a
proposal, notification to all private entities who have been
prequalified by the public entity.
(c) Negotiation of agreement.--If it has been determined
that a project labor agreement is appropriate for a particular
highway construction project, the department shall in good faith
negotiate a project labor agreement with one or more labor
organizations engaged in the construction industry. If the two
parties cannot agree to the terms of the project labor
agreement, the Governor shall appoint a designee to assist the
department and labor organizations in reaching an agreement.
(d) Binding agreement.--A project labor agreement negotiated
under this section between the department and one or more labor
organizations shall be binding on all contractors and
subcontractors working on the highway construction project and
may include provisions that:
(1) Permit contractors and subcontractors working on the
highway construction project to retain a percentage of their
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current workforce.
(2) The responsible offeror who is awarded a contract
and any subcontractor of the offeror is not required to be a
party to any other labor agreement with the labor
organizations other than for the highway construction project
covered by the project labor agreement.
(e) Contents.--
(1) A project labor agreement executed under this
section shall:
(i) Provide effective, immediate and mutually
binding procedures for resolving jurisdictional labor
disputes and grievances arising before the completion of
the work.
(ii) Contain guarantees against strikes, lockouts or
similar actions.
(iii) Bind all contractors and subcontractors on the
highway construction project through the inclusion of
appropriate bid specifications in all relevant bid
documents.
(iv) Require all contractors and subcontractors to
obtain not less than 10% of their workforce from the
hiring halls of signatory unions or local labor within
the county or engineering district in which the project
is located.
(v) Include that a percentage of the workforce is to
be composed of apprentices in the construction trade.
(vi) Set goals for apprenticeship hours to be
performed by underrepresented groups and women and
specify goals for total hours to be performed by
underrepresented groups and women.
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(vii) Include other terms as the parties deem
appropriate.
(2) Nothing in this subsection shall be construed as
requiring a responsible offeror to be a member of any labor
organization.
(f) Applicability.--Within each county or engineering
district in which a highway construction project is located, the
department shall determine if there are adequate amounts of
labor organizations or local laborers within the construction
industry that are necessary to comply with the contents of the
agreement under subsection (d). If there are insufficient
amounts of labor organizations or local laborers within the
county or engineering district in which the highway construction
project is located, or a labor organization cannot refer a
sufficient number of laborers to a contractor or subcontractor
within a 72-hour period, the department may set aside workforce
requirements under the project labor agreement.
(g) Compliance.--The department shall ensure that all
highway construction projects containing a project labor
agreement are implemented in a manner consistent with the
provisions of this section and are in full compliance with all
relevant statutes and regulations.
(h) Annual report.--
(1) Every January 1 after the effective date of this
section, the department shall submit an annual report to the
Governor and General Assembly. The report shall include the
following:
(i) Highway construction projects that include
project labor agreements.
(ii) Workforce statistics on the highway
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construction projects, including the percentage of local
labor used.
(iii) The status of the highway construction project
and whether the highway construction project was
completed on time and reasons for why the highway
construction project was not completed on time.
(iv) Apprenticeship hours completed by women or
underrepresented groups.
(v) Any occurrences when the department chose to set
aside workforce labor requirements under subsection (f)
and reasons for the decision.
(vi) Any other information deemed appropriate by the
department.
(2) The report shall be submitted to the following
members of the General Assembly:
(i) The President pro tempore of the Senate.
(ii) The Speaker of the House of Representatives.
(iii) The chairperson and minority chairperson of
the Transportation Committee of the Senate.
(iv) The chairperson and minority chairperson of the
Transportation Committee of the House of Representatives.
(i) Definitions.--As used in this section, the following
words and phrases shall have the meanings given to them in this
subsection unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:
"Highway construction project." The creation, repair,
maintenance, expansion or other construction of a highway owned
by the Commonwealth with an estimated total cost of $2,000,000
or greater.
"Hiring hall." A system or organization, often operated by a
labor organization, where employers go to find employees to fill
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job openings, and the labor organization manages the process of
referring workers to employers and ensures that workers are
selected based on established criteria.
"Labor organization." As defined in section 3 of the act of
June 1, 1937 (P.L.1168, No.294), known as the Pennsylvania Labor
Relations Act.
"Local labor." Laborers or skilled craftsmen in the
construction industry who are residents of a county or
engineering district in which a transportation project is
located.
"Project labor agreement." A form of a pre-hire collective
bargaining agreement covering the terms and conditions of a
specific project.
"Underrepresented groups." African Americans, Hispanic
Americans, Native Americans, Asian Americans, Alaskans or
Pacific Islanders.
Section 2. This act shall take effect in 120 days.
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