February 3, 2012
From The Federation of Connecticut
Taxpayer Organizations, Inc.
Contact Susan Kniep, President
Website: http://ctact.org/
Email: fctopresident@aol.com
Telephone: 860-841-8032
CT high court upholds contractor’s anti-union challenge
The Federation
extends its appreciation and congratulations to Electrical Contractors, Inc, a Member of Associated Builders and Contractors (CT ABC)
Their success could ultimately lessen the impact of
contractor costs on state and municipal budgets and taxpayers, while providing
a greater opportunity for those seeking employment.
The State and the 169 municipalities throughout Connecticut should
consider the advice of Lelah Campo, President of CT
ABC, who in her Press Release below suggests that “While the ECI case remains
in the court system, CT ABC strongly advises all public owners to refrain from
signing a PLA for a public construction project in CT. The Supreme Court’s recent ruling raises
serious questions regarding the legality of PLA’s and
similar workforce agreements”.
According to the Hartford Business Journal article below, “The justices said Electrical Contractors is correct in claiming that PLAs are discriminatory and perpetuate
fraud, corruption and favoritism, and that
Electrical Contractors could challenge PLAs on the
grounds of the Connecticut Antitrust Act”.
We offer below the Press Release from
CT ABC, Lelah Campo’s 2009 Hartford
Courant Op Ed, and
the recent news article from the Hartford
Business Journal.
***************************
News Release From
Contact: Lelah
Campo, President, CT ABC
Phone: 860 529 5886, Email: Lelah@ctabc.org
CT Supreme Court Allows Challenge to
Project Labor Agreement
January 30, 2012 Rocky Hill, Connecticut: Associated Builders and
Contractors of Connecticut (CT ABC) has learned that the CT Supreme Court agreed with plaintiff and longtime CT ABC member Electrical
Contractors, Inc. (ECI) and has permitted ECI to challenge a project labor agreement (PLA) involving the
construction of two public schools in
Hartford.
On January 10, 2012, in a 6 to 1 decision, the
state's high court ruled that ECI had standing to challenge the pre-bid
specifications requiring the successful bidder on two state financed school
construction projects in Hartford
to be performed under the terms of a PLA. In essence, this decision, ECI
vs. Department of Education (SC 18525), upholds ECI's
refusal to sign and be bound by a PLA. It also means that ECI does
having standing, the right to prosecute its claim, that the PLA was in
violation of Connecticut’s public bidding statutes as well as the CT Antitrust
Act.
The opinion in this case, which was first
initiated in 2009, was officially issued by the Supreme Court on Jan. 17,
2012. Through the case’s journey through
the state court system, CT ABC was a strong supporter of ECI’s
legal effort. The case now has been
remanded to the trial court where the state’s Antitrust Act also will be
reviewed as to whether ECI can be awarded monetary damages due to the City’s
implementation of the PLA.
While the
ECI case remains in the court system, CT ABC strongly advises all public owners
to refrain from signing a PLA for a public construction project in CT. The Supreme Court’s recent ruling raises
serious questions regarding the legality of PLA’s and
similar workforce agreements.
Associated
Builders and Contractors (ABC) is a national association with 77 chapters
representing more than 23,000 merit shop construction and construction-related
firms with nearly two million employees. Associated Builders and Contractors of Connecticut (CT ABC), a Chapter of the national
Associated Builders and Contractors, is a membership organization comprised
Merit Shop member-firms in Connecticut.
Merit Shop contractors represent 80% of the construction labor in Connecticut. For more information about CT ABC, please
call (860) 529-5886 or go online to www.ctabc.org.
***************************
CT high court upholds contractor’s anti-union challenge
By Brad Kane bkane@HartfordBusiness.com Feb 2, 2012
http://www.hartfordbusiness.com/news22474.html
The Connecticut
Supreme Court has upheld a Hartford
electrical contractor's challenge of the state's requirements that union
workers be used on public construction projects, possibly hastening an end to
such requirements, authorities say.
Electrical Contractors Inc.
successfully bid on two Hartford
school construction projects, but the company challenged the inclusion of a
project labor agreement (PLA) on each project, saying it should not be forced
to use union labor on the jobs.
In ruling on Electrical Contractors'
lawsuit against PLAs, the lower court dismissed the
case, saying the plaintiff lacked standing to challenge the city and state's
union requirements.
The company appealed to the state
Supreme Court in 2009.
In its Jan. 17 decision, the high court
ruled 6-1 that Electrical Contractors could challenge, and ordered the case
back to the lower court to determine whether the plaintiff and its workers
should receive monetary awards for being subject to the PLA.
The justices said Electrical
Contractors is correct in claiming that PLAs are
discriminatory and perpetuate fraud, corruption and favoritism, and that
Electrical Contractors could challenge PLAs on the
grounds of the Connecticut Antitrust Act.
Citing the high court's strong wording,
the Connecticut Associated Builders & Contractors Inc. said Electrical
Contractors or another contractor may be successful in eliminating these union
requirements from all jobs.
"The decision seems to believe
that all PLAs are illegal," said Connecticut ABC
President Lelah Campo.
Campo said even if Electrical
Contractors isn't successful in winning monetary claims from the lower court,
Connecticut ABC plans to submit more legal challenges in the future to directly
have PLAs ruled illegal.
"For the most part, it shuts out
open shops, which are 83 percent of the industry," Campo said. "When
you shut out 83 percent of the industry, of course it drives up the cost."
Connecticut ABC is issuing notices to all owners of public projects that their PLAs could one day be illegal. Campo particularly called
out the $839-million renovation of the University
of Connecticut Health Center as part
of the Bioscience Connecticut
project, which will have a PLA.
Unions say Connecticut ABC is making much ado out of
nothing.
The Supreme Court decision only granted
Electrical Contractors standing to challenge PLAs and
did not outright rule PLAs are illegal, said Charles LeConche, business manager of the Connecticut Laborers'
District Council.
"The ruling means nothing. It
means they have standing," LeConche said.
LeConche said the Supreme Court justices were mostly appointed by Republican
governors, so the decision wasn't a surprise to the unions.
The case and PLA challenge still has to
play out in the lower courts. It could take six months or a year before the
lower court hears Electrical Contractors arguments on the case again.
"I wish them luck, but they are
not going to win," LeConche said. "The
future will dictate what the final ruling will be."