City of Passaic, NJ Chapter 7 Contracts

[HISTORY: Adopted by the City Council of the City of Passaic as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where applicable.]

Article I Fair and Open Contract Awards

[Adopted 3-7-2006 by Ord. No. 1685-06]

§ 7-1 Policy.

The City Council seeks to establish a policy for the award of contracts over $17,500 within the City of Passaic. This policy shall govern the Council, all departments, boards, agencies, subdivisions, commissions or independent authorities within the City of Passaic. These entities shall utilize a fair and open process for all contracts over $17,500 which are for professional services or other contracts not required to bid under N.J.S.A. 40A:11-5 et seq.

§ 7-2 Process of awarding contracts.

All contracts subject to the fair and open process shall follow these procedures:

A. The award of the contracts shall be publicly advertised either in the City official newspaper or on the City website, with notice of the City's intent to award a contract, with at least 10 days' notice prior to the acceptance of proposals.

B. In public solicitation of proposals, it shall set forth the qualifications the City Council or any of its boards, departments, agencies, subdivisions, commissions or independent authorities seek with regard to this contract.

C. The basis for an award of the contract shall be disclosed in writing prior to the solicitation of the contract.

D. The proposals received by the City Council, board, authority, department, subdivision, commissions or agency shall be publicly opened and announced.

E. The City Council, board, authority, department, subdivision, commission or agency of the City shall, by resolution, award the contract at a public meeting.

Article II Labor Agreements for Public Works Construction Projects

[Adopted 10-27-2009 by Ord. No. 1807-09]

§ 7-3 Definitions.

As used in this article, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:

APPRENTICESHIP PROGRAM

A registered apprenticeship program, providing to each trainee combined classroom and on-the-job training under the direct and close supervision of a highly skilled worker in an occupation recognized as an apprenticeable trade, registered by the Bureau of Apprenticeship and Training of the U.S. Department of Labor, and meeting the standards established by the Bureau, or registered by a state apprenticeship agency recognized by the Bureau.

LABOR ORGANIZATION

With respect to contracted work on a public works project, an organization which represents, for purposes of collective bargaining, employees involved in the performance of public works contracts and eligible to be paid prevailing wages under the New Jersey Prevailing Wage Act, P.L. 1963, c. 150 (N.J.S.A. 34:11-56.25 et seq.) and has the present ability to refer, provide or represent sufficient numbers of qualified employees to perform the contracted work in a manner consistent with the provisions of this act and any plan mutually agreed upon by the labor organization and the City.

PROJECT LABOR AGREEMENT

A form of prehire collective bargaining agreement covering terms and conditions of a specific project.

PUBLIC ENTITY

The state, any of its political subdivisions, any authority created by the Legislature and any instrumentality or agency of the state or of any of its political subdivisions.

PUBLIC WORKS PROJECT

Any public works project for the construction, reconstruction, demolition or renovation of buildings at the public expense, other than pumping stations or water or sewage treatment plants, for which:

A. It is required by law that workers be paid the prevailing wage determined by the Commissioner of Labor pursuant to the provisions of the New Jersey Prevailing Wage Act, P.L. 1963, c. 150 (N.J.S.A. 34:11-56.25 et seq.); and

B. The public entity estimates that the total cost of the project, exclusive of any land acquisition costs, will equal or exceed $5,000,000.

§ 7-4 Determination of use of project labor agreements.

A. For public works projects, when the estimated cost is $5,000,000, exclusive of any land acquisition, the Mayor and Business Administrator shall determine if a project labor agreement shall be used. They shall determine if:

(1) The Business Administrator shall negotiate in good faith for a project labor agreement with one or more labor organizations or condition the award of a contract to a construction manager to negotiate in good faith a project labor agreement with one or more labor organizations; and

(2) The use of a project labor agreement negotiated in this manner does not unduly restrict competition, and any bidder for the public works project refusing to agree to abide by the conditions of the project labor agreement or the requirement to negotiate a project labor agreement shall not be regarded as a responsible bidder.

B. If the Mayor and Business Administrator shall determine that the use of a project labor agreement would unduly restrict competition for any specific project then that determination shall be brought to the City Council for their review.

§ 7-5 Project labor agreement provisions.

A. The terms of a project labor agreement negotiated pursuant to this article shall be binding on all contractors and subcontractors working on the specific public works project.

B. The project labor agreement may include a provision to permit contractors and subcontractors working on the public works project to retain a percentage of their current workforce and provisions that the successful bidder and any subcontractor of the bidder may not be a party to a labor agreement with the labor organizations other than for the specific public works project.

C. Each project labor agreement shall:

(1) Advance the interests of the public entity, including the interests in cost, efficiency, quality, timeliness, skilled labor force and safety;

(2) Contain guarantees against strikes, lockouts or other similar actions;

(3) Set forth effective, immediate and mutually binding procedures for resolving jurisdictional and labor disputes arising before the completion of the work;

(4) Be made binding on all contractors and subcontractors on the public works project through the inclusion of appropriate bid specifications in all relevant bid documents;

(5) Require that each contractor and subcontractor working on the public works project have an apprenticeship program;

(6) Fully conform to all statutes, regulations, executive orders and applicable local ordinances regarding the implementation of set-aside goals for women- and minority-owned businesses, the obligation to comply with which shall be expressly provided in the project labor agreement;

(7) Include a publicly available plan regarding the shares of employment and apprenticeship positions in the public works project for minority group members and women which is in full conformance with the requirements of all applicable statutes, regulations, executive orders and local ordinances and is mutually agreed upon by the participating labor organizations and the City, which will own the facilities which are built, altered or repaired under the public works project, provided that any shares mutually agreed upon pursuant to this subsection shall equal or exceed the requirements of other statutes, regulations, executive orders or local ordinances;

(8) Require the labor unions involved in the labor union agreement for the public works project to provide whatever resources may be needed to prepare for apprenticeship a number of women and minority members sufficient to enable compliance with the agreed-upon plan and provide that the use of those resources be administered jointly by the participating labor organizations and the City or community-based organizations selected by the City; and

(9) Require the participating labor organizations to monitor, or arrange to have a state agency monitor, the amount and share of work done on the project by minority group members and women and the progression of minority group members and women into apprentice and journey worker positions and require the participating labor organizations to make public, or have the state agency make public, all records of monitoring conducted pursuant to this subsection.[1]

[1] Editor's Note: Former Article III, Awarding of Public Contracts, adopted 2-22-2011 by Ord. No. 1857-10, consisting of §§7-6 through 7-15, which immediately followed this subsection, was repealed 6-23-2015 by Ord. No. 2016-15. This ordinance also stated that, "… the state’s comprehensive political campaign reform legislation codified at N.J.S.A. § 19:44A-1 et seq. be and is hereby adopted by the City Council of the City of Passaic."