SAN DIEGO -- The San Diego County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved an ordinance that will outlaw Project Labor Agreements (PLA) for county-funded construction projects.

PLAs are contracts that give exclusive negotiating rights for construction jobs to one organization, and PLAs can differ from project to project.

"Every agreement is different," said Evan McLaughlin of the San Diego Labor Council. "Just like your agreement with your boss is going to be different than my agreement with my boss."

The decision is considered a victory for non-union contractors who feel they've been excluded from bidding on construction projects in the past.

"When you exclude them or make it more costly for them to compete, that harms taxpayers and it harms workers as well," said Eric Christen of the Coalition for Fair Employment in Construction.

Supervisor Bill Horn made a motion to put the ordinance to a countywide vote June 8. He received no support, partly because a ballot measure would cost the county approximately $100,000. Instead, the board took it upon themselves to enact the ordinance themselves.

Horn told 10News more than 85 percent of construction workers in San Diego County do not belong to a union. "To exclude 85 percent of the labor force from bidding on contracts, to me, that's not right," Horn said.

McLaughlin said the county has never signed a PLA. Even if it did, McLaughlin said Project Labor Agreements do not outlaw non-union contractors from bidding.

Christen disagreed, and said, "In that language it explicitly, implicitly excludes non-union workers from being able to work on them."

The Board of Supervisors aren't the only ones tackling Project Labor Agreements, as voters in Chula Vista and Oceanside will vote this June to outlaw PLAs in their cities.

San Diegans could vote on a similar measure in November.