As SWACCA defends President Biden’s SWACCA-supported 2022 executive order mandating the use of project labor agreements (PLAs) on federally funded construction projects costing $35 million or more, a new legal battle opened when the Baltimore-D.C. Metro Building and Construction Trades Council filed suit in federal court in Virginia against the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA). The complaint alleges that MWAA is unlawfully failing to require PLAs on large construction projects at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and Washington Dulles International Airport, arguing that MWAA’s decision to forgo PLAs on projects exceeding $100 million violates both a 2022 MWAA resolution and the Biden Administration’s 2022 executive order. The council is seeking an injunction barring MWAA from awarding federally eligible large-scale construction contracts without a PLA, asserting that continued non-compliance undermines labor stability and the union’s bargaining position with airport contractors.
