Universal Communications Systems, Inc. v. Smith, 16038
| Decision Date | 29 October 1986 |
| Docket Number | No. 16038,16038 |
| Citation | 104 N.M. 754,726 P.2d 1384,1986 NMSC 76 |
| Parties | , 27 Wage & Hour Cas. (BNA) 1567, 105 Lab.Cas. P 55,657, 35 Ed. Law Rep. 583 UNIVERSAL COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEMS, INC., Petitioner-Appellee, v. Frank B. SMITH, Labor Commissioner of the State of New Mexico, and Labor and Industrial Commission of the State of New Mexico, Respondents-Appellants. |
| Court | New Mexico Supreme Court |
The University of New Mexico contracted with Universal Communications Systems (UCS), as the lowest bidder, to install a replacement telecommunications system on the university campus. New Mexico Labor and Industrial Commissioner (Commissioner) found that UCS had failed to comply with a wage determination and directed UNM as the contracting agency to withhold the sum of $173,596.84. UCS appealed the Commissioner's certification to the New Mexico Labor and Industrial Commission sitting as the appeal board. The Commission affirmed the Commissioner's findings. UCS filed a petition in district court to review the Commission's decision and the district court reversed. The Commissioner appeals to this Court and we affirm.
In their contract with UNM, UCS agreed "to design, engineer, have manufactured, furnish and install a communications system" and to abide by the Public Works Minimum Wage Act, NMSA 1978, Section 13-4-11 through -17 (Repl.Pamp.1985) (Act), as it applies to the work to be performed. Before the project was started, the Commissioner submitted wage determinations for the various classifications of employees. Upon review of the payroll submitted by UCS and through on-site investigations, during the time the work was being performed, the Commissioner determined that some employees of UCS who were paid as unskilled laborers were performing work done by "telephone installers." And some employees who were paid as "telephone installers" were performing work done by "telephone technicians" as defined by the Commissioner. Based upon this review, the Commissioner certified to UNM that UCS had paid its employees in violation of the Act. The Commissioner then directed UNM to withhold the sum of $173,596.84 from UCS. UCS contends that the project is not governed by the Act and the Commissioner's wage determination would not apply.
The issue we address is whether the Act and specifically Section 13-4-11 would apply to the contract between UNM and UCS. Section 13-4-11 states that:
[E]very contract in excess of twenty thousand dollars ($20,000.00), to which the state or any political subdivision thereof is a party, for construction, alteration, demolition or repair, or any combination of these, including painting and decorating of public buildings, ... shall contain a provision stating the minimum wages to be paid various classes of laborers and mechanics which shall be based upon the wages that will be determined by the chief of the labor and industrial bureau....
The question for the Court to determine is whether the installation of telecommunications system at UNM falls under the definition of "construction, alteration, demolition, or repair, or any combination of these, including painting and decorating."
This Act is very similar to the federal Davis-Bacon Act, 40 U.S.C. Sec. 276a et seq. (1982). The purpose of the wage statute is to ensure that employees of contractors working on state and federal projects are protected from substandard earnings. Walsh v. Schlecht, 429 U.S. 401, 411, 97 S.Ct. 679, 686, 50 L.Ed.2d 641 (1977). Statutes such as...
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