Project Labor Agreements, also called Community Workforce Agreements emerged in the 1930s as basic pre-hire agreements between contractors and local building trades unions throughout the United States and more recently in Canada. These basic agreements set standard pay and benefit rates across the trades.

Owners and contractors quickly recognized the clear economic and systemic value of the PLA model for job site management. By the 1980s, PLAs were common in both the public and private sectors, and had begun to evolve into the Project Labor Agreements in use today. Modern PLAs are negotiated on a case-by-case basis, and include provisions that keep jobs running smoothly, promote efficiencies, and assist in the development of a skilled workforce.

Today, Project Labor Agreements in the public sector focus on creating a positive community impact as well as promoting their on-time, on-budget completion. These PLAs are crafted to address the specific needs of the project and the community, including provisions for local hiring, minority and at-risk targeted training programs, minority-owned small businesses, apprenticeship ratios, scheduling, work rules, safety, cost-containment, management-rights and specialized procedures. It also enables community groups and schools to partner with local unions to connect disadvantaged youth with training and a well-paying career in the building trades.

These agreements facilitate the smooth completion of projects by establishing, upfront, the terms and conditions of employment and a framework for cooperation that will apply to all workers and their respective crafts involved in a construction project. PLAs in particular have recently been under attack in Congress and in State Legislatures across the country.