WASHINGTON -- Construction unions, stung by unfriendly presidential actions and internal dissension, vowed Monday to overturn a White House order that bars them from negotiating terms for federally financed projects, a wire service reports.

Unveiling plans to fight the order in Congress and in court, AFL-CIO Building-Construction Trades Department President Edward Sullivan expressed a sense of betrayal at President Bush's move against so-called project labor agreements.

"Quite frankly, it made me as angry as I have ever been, because the executive order targets the very segment of the labor movement that tries the hardest to avoid party labels and to support Republican candidates who support us and our families," Sullivan said.

Bush issued four orders on Feb. 17, including one that effectively prohibits project labor agreements, which are negotiated agreements between unions and builders that set wages and benefits for all workers and companies -- including those that are nonunion -- on a given federally paid construction project. As part of the deal, the unions agree not to strike.

Sullivan said the Building-Construction Trades Department is preparing to file suit to overturn the Bush order on project labor agreements. He said it also plans to unveil legislation in Congress Tuesday that would guarantee contractors and state and local governments the right to enter into such agreements.

"This will make the federal government 'neutral' on future projects, as President Bush has said he wants it to be," he told the department's annual legislative conference.

Some Republican governors have spoken favorably of the agreements and 33 Republican members of the House, many of whom were endorsed by the AFL-CIO last November, wrote Bush last month to disagree with his decision and defend the agreements.

The four White House orders were among several steps taken by Bush in his relatively young presidency that have all but squelched any hope for decent relations with the labor leaders, who strongly supported his Democratic opponent, Al Gore, but offered to try to find common ground after the election.

Bush's actions include signing a bill that killed a Clinton administration rule aimed at preventing repetitive motion injuries at work and suspending a rule that required federal procurement officers to consider companies' compliance records on labor and environmental laws when awarding contracts.