Durbin Critical of Army Corps Decision Not to Use a Project Labor Agreement for the Wood River Levee, a Part of the Metro East Levee Projects

CHICAGO – U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today criticized a decision by the Army Corps of Engineers not to select a contract with a Project Labor Agreement (PLA) for the Wood River Levee in Wood River, Illinois. Both Durbin and the Southwestern Illinois Flood Prevention District Council had urged the Army Corps to use a PLA.
  
“This decision is baffling to a community that made it abundantly clear that this project contain a PLA.  PLAs serve as a basis for a partnership between the local workforce and the contractor responsible for the project, and cooperation among all parties is essential for progress.”
   
A PLA is a pre-hire collective bargaining agreement with one or more labor organizations that establishes the terms and conditions of employment for a specific construction project.  According to the Southwestern Illinois Flood Prevention District Council, PLAs have been used successfully on nearly all major projects, public and private, in recent years in Southwestern Illinois.

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