Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek has signed Executive Order 24-31 (EO 24-31) to improve timeliness, lower costs, invest in high-skilled workers, and increase the quality of state construction projects in Oregon through the use of project labor agreements (PLAs).
"Oregon will soon embark on multiple large scale infrastructure projects across the state. With these projects, we have a generational opportunity to lift up Oregon workers and reinforce public trust in our ability to do big things, and do them well," Kotek said. "With the broad use of PLAs across state projects, Oregonians will know that public dollars are spent efficiently and benefit the communities in which they're spent."
The executive order will require a project labor agreement to be negotiated and executed on state-funded projects where onsite labor costs constitute 15% or more of the total construction, reconstruction, or major renovation costs.
The executive order exempts projects that are short in duration or otherwise lack the operational complexity to make a PLA beneficial. It further exempts projects that are currently under development, along with those for maintenance, emergency repair, and minor alteration work to existing facilities.
Any PLA negotiated under EO 24-31 will have guarantees against strikes or lockouts and create mutually binding procedures for resolving labor disputes without delay, Kotek stated in a release.
"Labor disputes and disruptions can cause significant delay and cost increases for projects. The use of PLAs across Oregon will also ensure the use of highly skilled workers, further reducing costs over the lifetime of the project and investing in the local community's workforce," the release reads.
To ensure that state agencies are advancing gender and racial equity in their contracting through PLAs, the executive order requires state agencies to set targets for, track, and report the use of Certification Office for Business lnclusion and Diversity (COBID) certified firms that meet or exceed the baseline utilization rate reported in the 2023 State of Oregon Disparity Study, or an approved, agency-specific disparity study. Each PLA must also be non-exclusionary to open-shop and local firms.
The Oregon Governor's Office staff will conduct a biannual review of all relevant data to assess how the state is performing against the stated goals of the order and provide recommendations for corrective measures if needed, the release states.