Laborers Local No. 942 v. Lampkin
| Citation | 956 P.2d 422 |
| Decision Date | 20 March 1998 |
| Docket Number | S-7662,A,Nos. S-7651,S-7765 and S-7775,AFL-CI,s. S-7651 |
| Parties | 157 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2985, 126 Ed. Law Rep. 437, 22 Employee Benefits Cas. 1334 LABORERS LOCAL # 942, Appellant, v. Deborah LAMPKIN, Cole Lusk, Karl Hnilika, Daniel McGrath, Kris Strayer, Cody Engle, Ronald Ashcraft, Melvin Lindquist, Bruce Pardy, Dick Eickman, Jeffrey J. Bouton, Ellis M. Chapman, Dwight C. Hjorth, Raymond L. Hobson, David Johnson, Darrin C. Koloski, Brian Luoma, John J. Matykowski, Michael K. Nichols, Matt Seekatz, Eric A. Stewart, Scott Walker, Scott Watson, Gordon L. Windburn, Andrew J. Workman, Anthony H. Fazio, Brett A. McLean, Chris H. Sharpe, David D. Stewart, Jason Chalstrom, Jeffrey E. Hatt, John Blankenship II, Martin M. Snavely, Richard W. Pace, Steve W. Eldridge, Tim Beckley, William L. Slayden, Scott D. Anderson, David Corbin, Jerry Winkelman, Todd Bary, Joseph Voorhees, Richard L. Engebretson, Edward J. Mayer, Roger Stone, Vincent Groff, Martin Theis, Dwane A. Viers, Mark A. Long, Glenn Rush, Rod Nissen, Richard Ham, Roger K. Marshall, Scott A. Sluka, John Nau, Shawn Orourke, Arthur A. Armstrong, David Armstrong, Donald Culver, John Janssen, Thomas Hawkins, Gregory Bish, Eldon Wartes, Mark Wartes, J.F. (Stoney) Stolberg, Osborne Construction Co., Samson Electric, Inc., Slayden Plumbing & Heating, Inc., and Voorhees Concrete Cutting Specialists, Inc., Appellees. FAIRBANKS BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION TRADES COUNCIL,ppellant, v. Deborah LAMPKIN, Cole Lusk, Karl Hnilika, Daniel McGrath, Kris Strayer, Cody Engle, Ronald Ashcraft, Melvin Lindquist, Bruce Pardy, Dick Eickman, Jeffrey J. Bouton, Ellis M. Chapman, Dwight C. Hjorth, Raymond L. Hobson, David Johnson, Darrin C. Koloski, Brian Luoma, John J. Matykowski, Michael K. Nichols, Matt Seekatz, Eric A. Stewart, Scott Walker, Scott Watson, Gordon L. Windburn, Andrew J. Workman, Anthony H. Fazio, Brett A. McLean, Chris H. Sharpe, David D. Stewart, Jason Chalstrom, Jeffrey E. Hatt, John Blankenship II, Martin M. Snavely, Richard W. Pace, Steve W. Eldridge, Tim Beckley, William L. Slayden, Scott D |
| Court | Supreme Court of Alaska (US) |
Kevin Dougherty, Anchorage, for Appellant Laborers Local # 942 and Appellant Fairbanks Building and Construction Trades Council, AFL-CIO.
Ardith Lynch, Borough Attorney, and A. Rene Broker, Assistant Borough Attorney, Fairbanks, and Robert B. Groseclose, Cook, Schuhmann & Groseclose, Fairbanks, for Appellant/Cross-Appellee Fairbanks North Star Borough.
Donna C. Willard, Law Offices of Donna C. Willard, Anchorage, for Appellees/Cross-Appellants Deborah Lampkin et al.
Before COMPTON, C.J., and MATTHEWS, EASTAUGH, FABE and BRYNER, JJ.
These consolidated appeals raise the issue of whether the Fairbanks North Star Borough's decision to require successful bidders on a construction project to enter into a project labor agreement with local labor unions violated the Alaska Constitution and the borough's procurement code. The superior court struck one provision of the agreement and enjoined enforcement of another under the state constitution, but upheld the remainder. We affirm in part and reverse in part, holding that no portion of the agreement violates the state constitution or the borough's procurement code.
In 1993 the Fairbanks North Star Borough (Borough) decided to renovate Lathrop High School (Lathrop High Project). The $20 million project in downtown Fairbanks, funded in part by an $8.6 million bond issue approved by Borough voters and in part by grants from the state, was the largest construction project ever undertaken by the Borough. The schedule for the project required that contractors complete a certain amount of work by the end of the summer of 1996, continue work during the school year without disrupting classes for about 1,400 students, and complete the project in the summer of 1997.
Before starting the bidding process, the Borough mayor, James Sampson, approached the Fairbanks Building and Construction Trades Council (Trades Council), an organization representing fourteen local craft unions, to investigate the possibility of a project labor agreement 1 (PLA) for the Lathrop High Project and another school project. After negotiations, the mayor and the Trades Council produced a PLA to be entered into by the unions and the successful bidders on the project. The Borough Assembly approved a resolution to "support[ ] the Borough Mayor in his use of a project labor agreement on [the] Lathrop High [Project]," 2 and the mayor issued an "Executive Order" authorizing the inclusion of the PLA as a bid specification in the Lathrop High Project. The bid specification provided:
The CONTRACTOR shall sign and comply with all terms and conditions of the Project Labor Agreement. The CONTRACTOR shall sign and return the Project Labor Agreement within ten (10) calendar days after receipt of Notice of Award. CONTRACTOR shall assure that all subcontractors also sign the Project Labor Agreement prior to their employment on the project and comply with all of its terms and conditions for the duration of the project.
Under the PLA, contractors retained their rights to "direct the working force" and control construction but recognized "the Unions as the sole and exclusive bargaining representatives with respect to rates of pay, hours and other conditions of employment." The PLA required the employer to be bound by the "job referral systems" contained in the "master agreements" between the particular unions and union employers (Hiring Hall Provision). The PLA stated that the
selection of applicants for referral to jobs shall be on a non-discriminatory basis and in accordance with the President's Executive Order 11246 and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, and shall not be based on, or in any way affected by, union membership, or the lack thereof. 3
The PLA further stated that these "job referral systems must be operated in accordance with federal and state law and the conditions set forth in the [PLA]." The employer retained the right under the PLA and the master agreements to reject any job applicant referred by the union upon "written notification or cause."
Employees under the PLA were required
to become members in good standing in the respective Unions within eight (8) days following the beginning of their employment or the effective date of this Agreement, whichever is later. Good standing shall be defined as the tendering of periodic dues and fees as uniformly required by the Unions.
The PLA also established grievance procedures, wages, hours, and working conditions and required employers to "make contributions to the established fringe benefit funds in the amounts designated by the appropriate Local Union" (Fringe Benefits Provision). The PLA eliminated shift differentials, double pay on Sundays, premium pay, and some paid holidays. It also permitted flexible scheduling. Finally, the PLA provided that there would "be no strikes, picketing, work stoppages, slowdowns or other disruptive activity against signatory contractors" during the term of the PLA.
The Borough issued its invitation for bids, including the specification requiring successful bidders to sign the PLA, on March 7, 1996. On April 1, 1996, Deborah Lampkin et al. (collectively, Lampkin), a group of non-union employees, taxpayers, and employers, filed a complaint against the Borough. The complaint alleged that the Borough's inclusion of the PLA bid specification violated the Alaska and United States Constitutions, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), and Borough and state procurement law. Along with the complaint, Lampkin filed a motion for a temporary restraining order and a consolidated trial on the preliminary injunction and the merits.
The superior court scheduled a hearing for April 5, 1996. Before the hearing, the Borough filed a notice of removal to federal court, and Laborers Local 942 and the Trades Council (collectively, Unions) filed motions to intervene. After considering Lampkin's amended complaint...
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