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ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ Persuades Corps of Engineers to Withdraw PLA Requirement

Solicitations requiring bidders on certain U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) construction projects to submit an executed project labor agreement (PLA) prompted ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ to write and call agency officials expressing strong concern.  On August 18, the agency called ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ to announce that it was withdrawing the PLA requirement and to thank ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ for educating them on the issue. On August 12, ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ sent a to the USACE's Mobile District demanding information about the agency's justification for including a PLA mandate in a solicitation for the construction of an Air Force Technical Applications Center at Patrick Air Force Base in Florida. The letter questioned how it determined that the conditions listed in President Obama's  on PLAs were present. The requirement, along with similar mandates by other contracting agencies and information about pressure from higher in the Administration, also prompted ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ to send a calling on President Obama to protect contracting officers from such political pressure, and to send an "unmistakable and public" message that political appointees should not cross the line between politics and procurement. Read more .