HB 1349 — An Act amending Title 74 (Transportation) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, in administrative practice and procedure, providing for project labor agreement.

PRINTER'S NO.   1537

                     THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA



                         HOUSE BILL
                         No. 1349
                                               Session of
                                                 2025

     INTRODUCED BY KAZEEM, GIRAL, McNEILL, HILL-EVANS, MADDEN,
        MALAGARI, O'MARA, NEILSON, SANCHEZ, D. WILLIAMS, BELLMON,
        BOROWSKI AND K.HARRIS, APRIL 30, 2025

     REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON LABOR AND INDUSTRY, APRIL 30, 2025


                                    AN ACT
 1   Amending Title 74 (Transportation) of the Pennsylvania
 2      Consolidated Statutes, in administrative practice and
 3      procedure, providing for project labor agreement.
 4      The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
 5   hereby enacts as follows:
 6      Section 1.    Title 74 of the Pennsylvania Consolidated
 7   Statutes is amended by adding a section to read:
 8   § 304.   Project labor agreement.
 9      (a)   Creation.--The department shall create a project labor
10   agreement on a highway construction project, including a highway
11   construction project that receives funding from the Federal
12   Government, if the department determines that it is necessary to
13   promote labor stability and advance the interests of the
14   Commonwealth in costs, efficiency, skilled labor force, quality,
15   safety and timeliness. The department may not award a contract
16   to a responsible offeror if the offeror fails to agree to the
17   provisions of the project labor agreement under this section,
18   unless certain conditions are met under subsection (f).
 1      (b)   Notification.--Along with the solicitation of proposals
 2   or bids for a highway construction project, the department shall
 3   give public notice that the highway construction project shall
 4   include a project labor agreement. The method of public notice
 5   may include any of the following:
 6            (1)   Electronic publication which is accessible to the
 7      general public.
 8            (2)   Advertisement as provided under 45 Pa.C.S. § 306
 9      (relating to use of trade publications).
10            (3)   Issuance of request for proposals to offerors on the
11      mailing list of the public entity.
12            (4)   Publication in a newspaper of general circulation.
13            (5)   If prequalification is a requirement of submitting a
14      proposal, notification to all private entities who have been
15      prequalified by the public entity.
16      (c)   Negotiation of agreement.--If it has been determined
17   that a project labor agreement is appropriate for a particular
18   highway construction project, the department shall in good faith
19   negotiate a project labor agreement with one or more labor
20   organizations engaged in the construction industry. If the two
21   parties cannot agree to the terms of the project labor
22   agreement, the Governor shall appoint a designee to assist the
23   department and labor organizations in reaching an agreement.
24      (d)   Binding agreement.--A project labor agreement negotiated
25   under this section between the department and one or more labor
26   organizations shall be binding on all contractors and
27   subcontractors working on the highway construction project and
28   may include provisions that:
29            (1)   Permit contractors and subcontractors working on the
30      highway construction project to retain a percentage of their

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 1    current workforce.
 2          (2)   The responsible offeror who is awarded a contract
 3    and any subcontractor of the offeror is not required to be a
 4    party to any other labor agreement with the labor
 5    organizations other than for the highway construction project
 6    covered by the project labor agreement.
 7    (e)   Contents.--
 8          (1)   A project labor agreement executed under this
 9    section shall:
10                (i)    Provide effective, immediate and mutually
11          binding procedures for resolving jurisdictional labor
12          disputes and grievances arising before the completion of
13          the work.
14                (ii)    Contain guarantees against strikes, lockouts or
15          similar actions.
16                (iii)    Bind all contractors and subcontractors on the
17          highway construction project through the inclusion of
18          appropriate bid specifications in all relevant bid
19          documents.
20                (iv)    Require all contractors and subcontractors to
21          obtain not less than 10% of their workforce from the
22          hiring halls of signatory unions or local labor within
23          the county or engineering district in which the project
24          is located.
25                (v)    Include that a percentage of the workforce is to
26          be composed of apprentices in the construction trade.
27                (vi)    Set goals for apprenticeship hours to be
28          performed by underrepresented groups and women and
29          specify goals for total hours to be performed by
30          underrepresented groups and women.

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 1                  (vii)    Include other terms as the parties deem
 2            appropriate.
 3            (2)   Nothing in this subsection shall be construed as
 4      requiring a responsible offeror to be a member of any labor
 5      organization.
 6      (f)   Applicability.--Within each county or engineering
 7   district in which a highway construction project is located, the
 8   department shall determine if there are adequate amounts of
 9   labor organizations or local laborers within the construction
10   industry that are necessary to comply with the contents of the
11   agreement under subsection (d). If there are insufficient
12   amounts of labor organizations or local laborers within the
13   county or engineering district in which the highway construction
14   project is located, or a labor organization cannot refer a
15   sufficient number of laborers to a contractor or subcontractor
16   within a 72-hour period, the department may set aside workforce
17   requirements under the project labor agreement.
18      (g)   Compliance.--The department shall ensure that all
19   highway construction projects containing a project labor
20   agreement are implemented in a manner consistent with the
21   provisions of this section and are in full compliance with all
22   relevant statutes and regulations.
23      (h)   Annual report.--
24            (1)   Every January 1 after the effective date of this
25      section, the department shall submit an annual report to the
26      Governor and General Assembly. The report shall include the
27      following:
28                  (i)    Highway construction projects that include
29            project labor agreements.
30                  (ii)    Workforce statistics on the highway

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 1            construction projects, including the percentage of local
 2            labor used.
 3                  (iii)    The status of the highway construction project
 4            and whether the highway construction project was
 5            completed on time and reasons for why the highway
 6            construction project was not completed on time.
 7                  (iv)    Apprenticeship hours completed by women or
 8            underrepresented groups.
 9                  (v)    Any occurrences when the department chose to set
10            aside workforce labor requirements under subsection (f)
11            and reasons for the decision.
12                  (vi)    Any other information deemed appropriate by the
13            department.
14            (2)   The report shall be submitted to the following
15      members of the General Assembly:
16                  (i)    The President pro tempore of the Senate.
17                  (ii)    The Speaker of the House of Representatives.
18                  (iii)    The chairperson and minority chairperson of
19            the Transportation Committee of the Senate.
20                  (iv)    The chairperson and minority chairperson of the
21            Transportation Committee of the House of Representatives.
22      (i)   Definitions.--As used in this section, the following
23   words and phrases shall have the meanings given to them in this
24   subsection unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:
25      "Highway construction project."         The creation, repair,
26   maintenance, expansion or other construction of a highway owned
27   by the Commonwealth with an estimated total cost of $2,000,000
28   or greater.
29      "Hiring hall."       A system or organization, often operated by a
30   labor organization, where employers go to find employees to fill

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 1   job openings, and the labor organization manages the process of
 2   referring workers to employers and ensures that workers are
 3   selected based on established criteria.
 4      "Labor organization."    As defined in section 3 of the act of
 5   June 1, 1937 (P.L.1168, No.294), known as the Pennsylvania Labor
 6   Relations Act.
 7      "Local labor."    Laborers or skilled craftsmen in the
 8   construction industry who are residents of a county or
 9   engineering district in which a transportation project is
10   located.
11      "Project labor agreement."    A form of a pre-hire collective
12   bargaining agreement covering the terms and conditions of a
13   specific project.
14      "Underrepresented groups."    African Americans, Hispanic
15   Americans, Native Americans, Asian Americans, Alaskans or
16   Pacific Islanders.
17      Section 2.    This act shall take effect in 120 days.




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