Lancaster Development, Inc., (LDI) scored a victory against project labor agreements (PLAs) when a county judge in Albany, N.Y., tossed out a PLA required in a $70 million New York State Department of Transportation (DOT) contract and said it has to be re-bid.
State Supreme Court Justice Joseph Teresi knocked down the PLA, Associated Builders and Contractors noted, “Because DOT failed to demonstrate that this PLA decision advances the interests of this state’s competitive bidding statutes."
The project involved reconstruction and replacement of a bridge on a stretch of highway in Orange County, N.Y., about 50 miles north-northwest of New York City. The state had not required a PLA when it was advertised.
LDI’s bid, which had no PLA, was more than $4.5 million lower than the next-lowest bid. DOT rejected it, and LDI contested the decision and sued.
“Lancaster was the low bidder on this project, but its bid was rejected because we refused to adopt the PLA attached to the work during the bid process,” ABC quoted Mark Galasso, president of LDI, as telling the organization. “It has been a long road getting to this point, but we are vindicated, and the taxpayers will be the ultimate beneficiaries of this decision.”
The Albany Times-Union said the case had “some political overtones – Assemblyman Peter Lopez spoke out in favor of the non-union firm in his district, Lancaster Development.”
