IN THE MATTER OF NEW YORK STATE CHAPTER, INC., ASSOCIATED GENERAL CONTRACTORS
OF AMERICA, ET AL., APPELLANTS, v. NEW YORK STATE THRUWAY AUTHORITY, &C.,
RESPONDENT, LOCAL 40, INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF BRIDGE, STRUCTURAL AND
ORNAMENTAL IRON WORKERS, AFL-CIO, ET AL., INTERVENORS- RESPONDENTS.
IN THE MATTER OF GENERAL BUILDING CONTRACTORS OF NEW YORK STATE, INC., ET
AL., APPELLANTS, v. DORMITORY AUTHORITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK ET AL.,
RESPONDENTS.
88 N.Y.2d 56, 666 N.E.2d 185, 643 N.Y.S.2d 480, (1996).
March 28, 1996
3 No. 25(1996 NY Int. 57)
3 No. 26(1996 NY Int. 57)
Decided March 28, 1996
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This opinion is uncorrected and subject to revision before publication
in the New York Reports.
No. 25:
Robert H. Basso, for Appellants.
Robert W. Kopp, for Respondent.
Submitted by Edward J. Groarke for Local 40, intervenor-respondent.
Patrick E. Brown for NYS Building and Construction Trades Council,
intervenor- respondent.
Associated General Contractors of America, Inc.;
Building and Construction Trades Department, AFL-CIO, amici curiae.
No. 26:
Anthony J. Adams, Jr., for Appellants.
Bradford W. Coupe, for Respondents.
Associated Builders and Contractors, Inc.;
Building and Construction Trades Department, AFL-CIO, amici curiae.
KAYE, CHIEF JUDGE:
Can public authorities governed by New York's competitive bidding
laws lawfully adopt pre-bid specifications known as Project Labor
Agreements (PLAs) for construction projects? We conclude that PLAs are
neither absolutely prohibited nor absolutely permitted in public
construction contracts. A PLA will be sustained for a particular
project where the record supporting the determination to enter into
such an agreement establishes that the PLA was justified by the
interests underlying the competitive bidding laws. Here, that burden
SNIPPETS:
IN THE MATTER OF NEW YORK STATE CHAPTER, INC., ASSOCIATED GENERAL CONTRACTORS
OF AMERICA, ET AL., APPELLANTS, v.
Robert W. Kopp, for Respondent.
Associated General Contractors of America, Inc.; Building and Construction Trades Department,
Can public authorities governed by New York's competitive bidding laws lawfully adopt pre-bid
A PLA will be sustained for a particular project where the record supporting the
that burden was satisfied by the Thruway Authority but not the Dormitory Authority
a PLA is a pre-bid contract between a construction project owner and a labor union
A PLA thus generally requires all bidders on the project to hire workers through the union
Trades Council v Associated Builders & Contractors, Inc., 507 US, 113 SCt 1190).
Recognizing the uniqueness of the construction industry, Congress in 1959 amended the
While Boston Harbor stimulated local and state interest in PLAs, that decision held only that
In Gerzof v Sweeney (16 NY2d 206), for example, we reviewed a bid specification of the Board
This Court held that the specification violated General Municipal Law § 103, which provided
Thus, it is manifest from Gerzof that New York's competitive bidding statutes do not compel
Respondent Thruway Authority is a public benefit corporation created by a special act of the
In that connection the Authority had charge of a major construction project to improve the
The agreement incorporates the local collective bargaining agreements of the signatory unions
Among its larger projects is the modernization of the Roswell Park Cancer Institute for the
Not unlike the Thruway Authority PLA, DASNY's PLA made local collective bargaining agreements
hired from the union job referral system).
And as we noted in Schulz v State of New York public benefit corporations were devised by the
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