Washington, D.C. - A pioneering new study released today by Cornell University's Industrial and Labor Relations School (ILR) finds that Project Labor Agreements (PLAs) are expanding job opportunities for veterans, women, minorities, and local residents.

The report, "Community Workforce Provisions: A Tool for Building Middle Class Careers" is available here.

The study, funded by a grant from American Rights at Work Education Fund, demonstrates that public and private construction projects across the United States are increasingly implementing community workforce agreements (CWAs) to ensure that all Americans have a path to a brighter economic future. With unemployment still hovering at nine percent, these workforce development provisions are effective tools for maximizing the benefits of job creation strategies and creating prosperous career training paths for communities that need them most.

In fact, if the $105 billion dedicated to construction projects in Obama's jobs plan were spent on projects with CWAs identical to one of the agreements profiled in this report, approximately 525,000 good jobs could be created-including 114,000 paid apprenticeships. As many as 70,000 workers of color could fill those apprentice slots, along with thousands of women, veterans, and low-income residents.

American Rights at Work Executive Director Kimberly Freeman Brown said the report underscores the need for elected officials to expand the adoption of PLAs across the country.

"Despite creating good jobs that benefit all Americans, PLAs continue to get assailed by special interests who embrace a 'race to the bottom' business model," said Freeman Brown. "As growing income inequality cripples our local communities, and our military veterans are rewarded for their service with a trip to the unemployment line, we can't afford to let attacks on a critical economic development tool like PLAs succeed." 

The report is co-authored by Maria Figueroa, Labor and Industry Research Director at Cornell's ILR School; Jeff Grabelsky, Construction Industry Program Director at Cornell's ILR School; and Ryan Lamare, Research Associate at Cornell's ILR School.
 

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