Parsippany residents rail, workers cheer measure favoring union labor for big-ticket jobs

PARSIPPANY — Facing hundreds of union workers and a few impassioned residents in opposition, the township council on Tuesday approved an ordinance to require project labor agreements on municipal construction projects costing in excess of $5 million.

The 4-1 vote mirrored the ordinance's introduction on Oct. 11, when hundreds of union representatives and workers packed town hall to support PLAs, which largely require projects to be staffed by laborers hired through designated union offices. Councilman Justin Musella remained the only council member to oppose the measure.

Musella sided with residents and labor groups not favored by the ordinance, who cited state and national studies indicating PLAs drive up public expenses and shut out minority contractors less likely to have union connections. Advocates for the agreements say they lower costs by streamlining hiring and bidding, while guaranteeing that projects use skilled labor from local communities.

"I made an oath from Day 1 to fight to keep Parsippany affordable and enable to enable residents to stay here and not flee our town," Musella said prior to the vote. "With that said, I see no compelling reason to depart from our competitive bidding process that brings benefits to our taxpayers as it stands today."

Musella said he "tried in vain to get a thorough understanding of why Parsippany had to be the first town in Morris County to do this, but the administration provided no answers or supporting evidence for this."

Mayor James Barberio, who strongly supported the PLA ordinance, pushed back against Musella, his running mate in the 2021 election.

"I didn't ignore him, I just disagreed with him," Barberio said. "He did send some information to look over, but I wasn't going to waste the time, because it was a way out. That's all it was. It was to reduce it."

Councilman Paul Carifi Jr. outlined the opinion of the council majority, citing benefits for public projects that include higher-quality results from trained workers who operate under agreements that prohibit strikes, work slowdownsand other costly delays. PLAs would guarantee projects use documented workers who pay taxes, while non-union contractors may employ underpaid illegal workers to lower their bids, Carifi said.

Carifi added that public construction projects costing $5 million or more are rare, even in Parsippany. The town is the most populous in Morris County, with 56,000 residents and a $122 million capital budget this year.

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Mayor Barberio scoffed at suggestions that his support was bought by the unions that contributed to his campaign, saying he shared those funds equally with his running mates, Musella and Councilman Frank Neglia.

"When you contribute to me, all you get is good government," he said.

'Local jobs for local workers'

His support drew loud cheers from most of the approximately 200 people who attended the meeting, which was moved to Parsippany Hills High School in anticipation of a large crowd. Many wore union shirts and waved signs reading "Local Jobs for Local Workers"

Some of them gathered in the parking lot before the meeting around a truck with an Eastern Atlantic States Regional Council of Carpenters logo. A large video sign on the side of the truck displayed an image of Musella and a message: "Tell Justin Musella: Support Parsippany workers."

Several union-affiliated speakers during Tuesday's public comment period spoke in favor of the PLA ordinance, which includes a provision requiring construction managers to fill up to 20% of the workforce with Parsippany residents.

"I support the PLA legislation as both a union carpenter and as a resident of Parsippany," Kenneth Dukes said. "I like going to work knowing I'm going to be in a professional, clean environment. I'm going to give the contractor a full day's work in exchange for a fair wage and at the end of the day, I'm going to return to my family safe. PLAs being attached to these projects are the foundation in which this type of environment exists for tradesmen and women such as myself."

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Michael Pulsinelli, a business agent representing 3,200 men and women for the Parsippany-based International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers 102, said PLAs are nothing new.

"There's hundreds and hundreds of PLAs in New jersey, from Jersey City to Bayonne to South Jersey to North Jersey and it's been working for years," he said. "All the money goes back into communities where they are being executed."

Pulsinelli also held up a photo of Musella wearing an IBEW shirt. "Justin is against the PLA and he took money from just about every union in this room tonight," he said. "This is a disgrace."

Did unions 'silence discussion'?

Some residents, however, spoke out strongly against the ordinance.

"About 200 union workers traveled from all parts of the state in order to lobby on behalf of the ordinance," resident Bob Venezia said of the previous meeting. "Every non-union Parsippany resident that spoke was unanimous in their disapproval of the ordinance. I would also like to remind council members that your primary responsibility is to the residents of Parsippany and not non-resident union members who are solely looking out for their own monetary interests."

Added Hank Heller, a 51-year Parsippany resident, "It's fairly clear that this strong showing of union support is meant to perhaps overpower those who might not be in agreement and thereby silence discussion of an issue that is of great importance to this community."

Barberio praised Venezia and Heller for speaking in public while excoriating those he termed "keyboard warriors" who published letters on local websites criticizing the ordinance, the council majority and his administration.

"PLAs prompt the public interest, not special interests, by securing the best possible work for the taxpayer's money along with quality jobs for Parsippany residents through fair and open bidding," he said.

Other PLA critics, including Kevin Barry, director of construction for the United Service Workers Union/IUJAT in Hackensack, have said "They unfairly divide union groups into the haves − those certain hand-selected union groups who get the work − and the have-nots − the union workers left adrift with zero opportunity."

"Contrary to popular belief, PLAs don’t actually protect all members of organized labor, and they certainly don’t save the taxpayers’ money," Barry wrote in a 2021 USA TODAY Network op-ed.

William Westhoven is a local reporter for DailyRecord.com. For unlimited access to the most important news from your local community, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

Email: wwesthoven@dailyrecord.com 

Twitter: @wwesthoven

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This article originally appeared on Morristown Daily Record: Parsippany NJ adopts project labor agreement. What we know