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By Jennifer Mann
The Patriot Ledger
Posted Nov 19, 2008
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QUINCY —
A group that represents the state’s nonunion contractors has filed a complaint against the city with the state Ethics Commission.
The group, Merit Construction Alliance, is saying there is a conflict of interest in having two union representatives sit on a city committee that monitors compliance with the union-friendly Responsible Employer Ordinance.
The committee recently issued a report that was unfavorable to a nonunion contractor on the Quincy High School project, despite an earlier review by the city that found the contractor was in compliance with the ordinance.
“It’s clear that the city is stacking the decks against open-shop contractors in a kangaroo court, which is set up to do nothing but give unions an unfair advantage,” said Ronald Cogliano, president of the nonunion group.
The ordinance requires that contractors for the city adhere to a variety of provisions, such as paying prevailing wages and providing medical insurance to workers, and allowing unions to meet the lowest bid submitted by nonunion operations.
The city council set up the committee in September, at the behest of Mayor Thomas Koch. Koch and the council jointly selected members of the committee, which. in addition to three city officials, includes the two business managers of Local 424 of the Carpenters Union and Local 133 of the Laborers Union.
One of the committee’s first orders of business was investigating D’Agostino Associates Inc. of Newton, which has a $5.8 million masonry contract on the high school project. It had received a complaint from the Laborers New England Region Organizing Fund, which represents unions.
The committee determined D’Agostino failed to meet the ordinance requirements with its apprenticeship program, in not having enough apprentices relative to journeymen.
“It’s in their vested interest to see this contractor go away, and yet representatives of the unions sit on the committee?” Cogliano said. “We’re not advocating for any one contractor. This is a matter of due process, or lack thereof.”
In March, the state attorney general rejected a bid protest lodged by union contractor Empire Masonry, which challenged D’Agostino’s low-bid status. In her ruling, Assistant Attorney General Deborah Anderson noted Quincy had “fully investigated these prevailing wage and classification matters through its city solicitor and concluded that D’Agostino was still a responsible bidder and in compliance with the (responsible-employer ordinance).”
The lawsuit, if successful, would have driven up the cost of the high school project by thousands of dollars.
When asked about the ethics complaint, City Solicitor James Timmins said he doesn’t see a conflict of interest in having union representatives on the committee.
“The unions are organized and they put a lot of time and effort into making sure there is compliance to the laws,” he said, adding the city would be happy to have representatives of nonunion contractors on the committee as well.
Timmins said through all of the court battles over the masonry contract, “every step of the way the city was defending the position that they were the low bidder.
“The union understood that and they just want to make sure they are also in REO compliance,” he said.
The Worcester Telegram & Gazette reports that federal authorities are looking into MCA's assertions that the city violated federal law by accepting money to build the Union Station Parking Garage while the project has a PLA. Except under special circumstances, federal law prohibits federal funding of any projects with a PLA.
Worcester City Councilor Rick Rushton publicy admits taxpayers will pay more to have the PLA on the Union Station Parking Garage. Click the link to listen to the interview on the Jordan Levy Show.
The Merit Construction Alliance points out the heavy burden PLAs place on taxpayers and municipal budgets, as well as the discriminatory nature of the special interest measure in an op-ed piece in the Worcester Telegram & Gazette.
Check out the Telegram & Gazette editorial supporting MCA’s position that the PLA on the Union Station parking garage is nothing more than special interest favoritism at taxpayer expense.
Read how a Project Labor Agreement on the construction of a public parking garage in the City of Worcester is costing local, state and federal taxpayers millions of extra dollars:
"Garage Mahal: Project labor agreements seen as factor" - Worcester Telegram & Gazette
Click the link below to read the MCA's op-ed piece, which appeared in the Boston Globe, urging communities to apply the principles of fair and open competition on school construction.