Anchorage Daily News

JUNEAU -- A building contractors' association is suing the city of Juneau over the way it doles out construction contracts.

The Associated Builders and Contractors of Alaska contends the city's method is unfair.

The issue centers on the city's project labor agreement for an estimated $14 million in renovations planned for Harborview Elementary School.

Bids are due Wednesday and require that contractors agree to certain labor practices, including hiring only union tradesmen.

According to court records filed last week, such labor agreements serve no legitimate public purpose and they favor union contractors over nonunion contractors.

Bill Shattenberg, owner of Anchor Electric, is listed as a plaintiff. He said his company won't participate in any project labor agreements with the city. Doing so, he said, would force the electricians on those projects to join unions and decrease their take-home pay.

Shattenberg said a project labor agreement would force him to increase his overall bid by 20 percent. That added cost to nonunion shops like his, he said, limits the number of contractors that can make reasonable bids.

"PLAs limit competition, that's the problem," Shattenberg said. "And it excludes local companies ... and their employees from working on city projects."

The city has used project labor agreements on eight construction projects since 1996, according to city attorney John Hartle.

The Assembly passed a nonbinding resolution in March supporting project labor agreements on city construction projects. And head city engineer Roger Healy has made project labor agreements part of five future city construction jobs.

Project labor agreements were necessary because of the large amount of work required over a short period of time, Healy said.

"It is imperative to the success of all projects that uniform work rules and wages apply to all projects to avoid piracy of workers between projects," Healy wrote in a memo to the city manager and attorney. "PLAs ... will help to assure a steady supply of competent labor for all projects."

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