The Community College of Allegheny County (CCAC) recently decided to proceed with construction on its campus. In order to facilitate this project, CCAC entered into a project labor agreement (a PLA) with the Pittsburgh Regional Building and Construction Trades Council of Pittsburgh, AFL-CIO on Feb. 15, 2011. The Associated Builders Association of Western Pennsylvania (ABC) filed a lawsuit on behalf of multiple contractors who operate open shop in Western Pennsylvania seeking to enjoin the CCAC from enforcing the PLA. This suit is the latest in a long series of contentious disputes regarding the utilization of PLAs in the public sector.

In its complaint, the ABC alleges that the terms of the PLA effectively preclude nonunion workers and workers who belong to unions other than those affiliated with the Pittsburgh Regional Building Trades Council from performing construction work, and that the PLA compels workers to associate, join or pay dues to these unions as a condition of employment.