Hot on the heels of a months-long Cloquet debate, Carlton County is taking its turn to determine whether its own Project Labor Agreement (PLA) — dating back to 2013 — for county construction projects should be dropped or amended.

The county’s PLA calls for public construction projects to be completed by workers that are members of a union. The Carlton County PLA only affects projects estimated to be bid for more than $175,000. Unlike Cloquet, the county PLA doesn’t apply to private construction, only publicly funded projects. All county construction projects have a prevailing wage...