New Study From Cornell University Shows Project Labor Agreements Are a Tool That Builds Middle Class Careers

News provided by

Building and Construction Trades Department, AFL-CIO

Oct 06, 2011, 02:30 ET

WASHINGTON, Oct. 6, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The School of Industrial and Labor Relations at Cornell University today released a report, Community Workforce Provisions in Project Labor Agreements: A Tool for Building Middle-Class Careers, that demonstrates how project labor agreements (PLAs) are helping to create middle-class careers in the U.S. construction industry. The report represented a national study of PLAs by Cornell University, consisting of an analysis of more than 185 PLAs, along with a national survey of state and local building and construction trades councils in the United States. Among the key findings are that 97% of the 185 PLAs examined incorporated "community workforce provisions" which are specifically designed to create pathways to jobs and career training for women, minorities, and military veterans (through the "Helmets to Hardhats" program).

"The Cornell report confirms and illuminates the 'untold story' of PLAs," said Mark H. Ayers, President of the Building and Construction Trades Department, AFL-CIO. "Not only are PLAs an effective project management tool that delivers 'on time, on budget' results for entities such as Toyota and WalMart, but they are extremely effective at providing job and career training opportunities for historically disadvantaged communities. The bottom line, as exemplified by this report, is that PLAs work!"

The Building and Construction Trades Department is an alliance of 13 national and international unions that collectively represent over 2 million skilled craft professionals in the United States and Canada.

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SOURCE Building and Construction Trades Department, AFL-CIO