Author: Crystal Yates

The AGC Labor and Employment Law Council (LELC) hosted its 40th Annual Construction Labor Law Symposium on May 7–8, 2025, at in Washington, D.C. The event brought together construction labor attorneys and labor relations professionals from across the country for two days of learning and networking. This year’s agenda tackled timely and complex issues, including the evolving legacy of the Biden-era National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), strategies for managing strikes in construction, a primer on multiemployer bargaining, and multiemployer benefit challenges accompanying travelers and audits. Sessions also addressed pressing enforcement topics such as immigration worksite raids and OSHA compliance, as…

AGC of America recently urged the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions to report favorably to the full Senate the nominations of Andrew Rogers to serve as the Administrator of the Wage and Hour Division at the U.S. Department of Labor and Andrea R. Lucas to fill a Republican seat on the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Both Mr. Rogers and Mrs. Lucas have extensive employment law expertise and substantive knowledge of the various matters under the purview of the Division and Commission. The Wage and Hour Division enforces the Fair Labor Standards Act, the Migrant and…

A long-awaited signal of the Trump administration’s position on Pres. Biden’s executive order requiring the use of project labor agreements (PLAs) on large-scale federal construction projects has finally arrived. In a June 12, 2025, memo to the heads of all executive departments and agencies, the executive director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) stated, “For clarity, the Trump Administration supports the use of PLAs when those agreements are practicable and cost effective, and blanket deviations prohibiting the use of PLAs are precluded.” The memo affirms that Pres. Biden’s Executive Order 14063 on PLAs remains in effect, along with…

Order Likely to Lead to More Project-Specific Exceptions and Bid Protests North America’s Building Trades Unions (NABTU) sought and was recently granted a preliminary injunction reinstating the requirement to use a project labor agreement (PLA) on large-scale government construction projects of the Department of Defense (DOD) and General Services Administration (GSA). DOD and GSA each issued memos waiving the PLA mandate imposed by President Biden via an executive order (EO) and regulation. Specifically, the DOD memo announced a class deviation from following the mandate on all DOD projects, and the GSA memo announced a class exception from following the mandate…

The U.S. Supreme Court recently allowed the Trump administration to move forward with ending Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for about 350,000 Venezuelans who were granted it in 2023. This decision does not affect the 250,000 Venezuelans who received TPS in 2021—they may still stay and work in the U.S. for now. As a result of the ruling: The Court did not rule on the merits of the administration’s actions, but its ruling allows the policy change to take effect – and for affected Venezuelans to be deported – while the litigation progresses. For more information, contact Jim Young at youngj@agc.org or (202) 547-0133 or Claiborne Guy at claiborne.guy@agc.org or 703-837-5382.

Summary In 2022, the State of New York passed the Construction Industry Wage Theft Statute, New York Labor Law § 198-e (the “Wage Theft Statute”). It includes authorizing suits against contractors to recover any employee wages and benefits unpaid by their subcontractors. In 2023, a union benefit fund sued a general contractor under the Wage Theft Statute, seeking payment of nearly three million dollars resulting from the subcontractor’s failure to remit benefit fund contributions pursuant to its collective bargaining agreement. On April 29, 2025, a U.S. District Court ruled that the Wage Theft Law cannot authorize such a suit. The court…

Recent advocacy and opportunities for member feedback Over the last month, AGC has responded to the proposed reissuance of the stormwater permit for industrial activities and continued to provide feedback on necessary changes to the definition of waters of the United States (WOTUS). AGC is also seeking real-life examples of compliance costs related to water permitting and mitigation on projects. Member Feedback Needed AGC’s advocacy efforts on behalf of the construction industry are bolstered by real-life experiences and examples provided by its members. Your examples will help in future opportunities to provide feedback on WOTUS, wetlands/stream mitigation, and a forthcoming…

On May 19, AGC responded to a proposal to rescind the definition of “harm” in the regulations implementing the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The definition of harm, although long-standing, was added to the initial regulations to include habitat modification—expanding and broadening the reach of the ESA. Contractors routinely take measures to avoid and minimize interactions with protected wildlife as a key part of environmental permitting and approvals for projects. “Harm” is one of the prohibited activities under the ESA collectively referred to as “take” that also include harass, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture, or collect. The ESA obligates contractors…

There is a new twist on issues revolving around tariffs potentially impacting general contractors. AGC members Chris Denny, Vice President and Associate General Counsel of Turner Construction Company, and Bob Lizza, Chief Legal Officer, Consigli Construction Co., Inc., highlighted recent developments that could have serious implications for the construction industry. At a recent meeting in Washington, D.C., there was a discussion about growing federal enforcement efforts that contractors should not ignore. It has been publicly reported that the U.S. Department of Justice intends to “aggressively” enforce the False Claims Act (FCA), as Deputy Assistant Attorney General Michael Granston said in…

Deadline to Submit and Certify Reports is June 24, 2025 The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) on May 20, 2025, announced the opening of the 2024 EEO-1 Component 1 data collection. In a message to EEO-1 Component 1 filers, EEOC Acting Chair Andrea Lucas provided general guidance and reaffirmed the agency’s commitment to protecting the civil rights of all Americans. Consistent with the administration’s earlier statements supporting merit-based decision-making and views of diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, Lucas cautioned: As you report data on your employees’ race, ethnicity, and sex, I want to take this opportunity to remind you of…