TALKING POLITICS Labor spars with Carcieri on courthouse pact BY IAN DONNIS

The Carcieri administration’s reconsideration of a project labor agreement for the construction of the new Kent County Court House in Warwick — after it was contacted by the Rhode Island chapter of Associated Builders and Contractors — has led a labor group to accuse the governor of being inconsistent when it comes to special interest influence at the State House. A Carcieri spokesman, however, says the administration is responding to legitimate concerns about the labor agreement.

The RI 21st Century Labor Management Partnership, which represents 17 construction trade unions, has gone on a media offensive, contacting the Phoenix and buying a half-page ad in the Providence Journal on Tuesday, January 13, to express its view that politics is unduly influencing whether the Warwick courthouse will be built with a project labor agreement.

A study committee composed of three state court workers and two state Department of Administration employees, which was chaired by a Providence College economics professor, recommended the project labor agreement (PLA) — a pact governing conditions for a building job. The administration then launched a review of the PLA after nonunion contractors, unhappy about the prospect of not being involved in the $52 million courthouse project, contacted the governor’s office. Central to the debate is whether the PLA would increase costs for building the courthouse and diminish competition. Nonunion contractors maintain that the agreement would hike costs by more than $3 million, but union officials and study committee members disagree.

"The disturbing part is this: the committee made the decision, they heard testimony from both sides, and now I think politics is being injected into the decision," says Gregory A. Mancini, the R1 21st Century Labor Management Partnership’s executive director. "I think it’s inconsistent," Mancini says, especially after the governor last week railed against special interest influence on Smith Hill while unveiling his proposal for a select commission to examine Rhode Island’s political culture.

Carcieri spokesman Jeff Neal last week told the ProJo the administration has "been meeting with both sides," and that the PLA remains under review. Mancini, however, says the administration has not met with any representatives of the building trades to discuss the issue, despite a call placed to the governor’s office by Ronald M. Coia, president of the Rhode Island Building Trades Council, since the study committee made its recommendation. "It appears the [PLA] is not going to move forward," he adds. "They’ve [the administration] already determined what the issue is, and how it’s going to resolve without talking with us."

Neal tells the Phoenix that Girard Visconti, a Department of Administration lawyer, has met with labor since the committee made its recommendation, but Visconti — as a member of the study committee that unanimously backed the PLA — is already on the same page as labor on this issue. Neal was unable to confirm that any other administration officials have recently met with labor to discuss the PLA. He says no decisions have yet been made on the pact.

Neal says the review of the PLA was launched because the agreement "would require nonunion contractors to pay into the union benefits system on top of paying benefits for their own employees. This would provide that specific group of contractors with double the costs of union contractors, making it very difficult for them to bid on this project."

Responding to Mancini’s charge that special interests are influencing the process, Neal says, "The administration has reopened consideration of the issue due to what we believe are legitimate concerns about how this PLA would increase costs and limit competition. The governor believes that there should be a level playing field for anyone who is qualified to bid on state contracts. The PLA, as recommended, would not provide that level playing field."