659 N.Y.S.2d 672 | N.Y. App. Div. | 1997
Judgment unanimously reversed on the law without costs, motion denied, petition granted in part and judgment granted in accordance with the following Memorandum: Respondent City of Oswego (City), in soliciting bids for a sewer separation and renovation project (East Side Sewer Separation & Rehabilitation Project—Phase 2), required the successful bidder to comply with a project labor agreement (PLA). After the City issued its specifications, petitioners commenced this CPLR article 78 proceeding seeking a declaration that the PLA was unlawful, as well as injunctive relief. Supreme Court dismissed the petition, concluding that the PLA was properly included in the bidding specifications for the project. We reverse.
PLAs "are neither absolutely prohibited nor absolutely permitted in public construction projects” (Matter of New York State Ch., Inc., Associated Gen. Contrs. v New York State Thruway Auth., 88 NY2d 56, 65). In response to a challenge that a PLA violates the State’s competitive bidding laws, the municipality must show "more than a rational basis” for the necessity of the PLA (Matter of New York State Ch., Inc., Associated Gen. Contrs. v New York State Thruway Auth., supra, at 69). The municipality "bears the burden of showing that the decision to enter into the PLA had as its purpose and likely effect the advancement of the interests embodied in the competitive bidding statutes” (Matter of New York State Ch., Inc., Associated Gen. Contrs. v New York State Thruway Auth., supra, at 69). A PLA may not be justified simply by the desire of a municipality "for labor stability so that the work will be completed on time” (Matter of New York State Ch., Inc., Associated Gen. Contrs. v New York State Thruway Auth., supra, at 75).
We agree with petitioners that the City failed to make the requisite showing to justify the use of a PLA on this project.