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local construction projects to some degree. Since 2011,22 states enacted measures following the <br /> Obama administration's pro-PLA policy. Roughly eight states have enacted measures <br /> encouraging the use of PLAs on a case-by-case basis. <br /> PLAs in Washington State <br /> The Boston Harbor decision opened the door for PLAs on public construction projects throughout <br /> the country, including Washington State. As noted above, one of the first and most significant <br /> projects built under a PLA was the construction of the original Grand Coulee Dam structure in <br /> the 1930s. <br /> Many Washington state public agencies have adopted Community Workforce Agreements <br /> (CWAs) that contain the same elements of PLAs. As the CWA for the recently completed 520 <br /> Floating Bridge project states, "[the] term Community Workforce Agreement(CWA)reflects the <br /> scope of a traditional Project Labor Agreement (PLA) with the added focus of hiring <br /> disadvantaged workers."27 <br /> Government agencies in western Washington have utilized PLAs and CWAs for several large <br /> projects. The Washington State Department of Transportation required a CWA on the Highway <br /> 99 Tunnel project under Seattle in addition to the 520 Floating Bridge project. The Central Puget <br /> Sound Regional Transit Authority's (Sound Transit's) Sounder Commuter and Link Light Rail <br /> Projects, as part of the $50 billion expansion plan includes a PLA.28 <br /> The Highway 99 Tunnel project provides a cautionary tale on the benefits that supporters of PLAs <br /> claim, specifically the promise that PLAs help builders avoid work stoppages due to strikes and <br /> that PLAs keep projects on time. A strike began when the "International Union of Operating <br /> Engineers Local 302,which includes crane operators,surveyors,road pavers,mechanics and other <br /> 27 Pacifica Northwest Regional Council of Carpenters,For Members,On the Job,Project Labor Agreements, <br /> https://www.nwcarpenters.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/WSDOT-520-Bridge-Replacement-SBT-C WA.pdf <br /> 28 Sound Transit,About Transit Sound,Project Labor Agreement,(accessed October 2018), <br /> https://www.soundtransit.org/About-Sound-Transit/Doing-business-with-us/Proi ect-Labor-Agreement. <br /> The Anticompetitive Effects of Project Labor Agreements on Public Construction in Washington State 12 <br />