In size alone, the Edith Green-Wendell Wyatt Federal Building project in Portland would be unusual: it's a remodel estimated to cost $125 million.

But this project also marks the return of project labor agreements in federal contracting. Under the agreements, labor organizations set terms, including a ban on strikes and other stoppages, for the project.

The agreements have been controversial, and administrations dating back to the first George Bush have, alternately, banned or encouraged them in federal contracts. But their return under the Obama administration could signal a middle ground, some opponents of the agreements say.

As contractors prepare bids for Thursday's bid deadline, they'll be working on two different cost estimates: one that includes a project labor agreement and one that doesn't. That sort of side-by-side comparison puts the value of the agreements on trial, said John Killin, local chapter president of the Associated Builders and Contractors, a project labor agreement opponent.