PROVIDENCE, RI — The Rhode Island Supreme Court recently announced its decision to uphold a lower court decision, which struck down a union-only project labor agreement (PLA) on a $73 million University of Rhode Island project.
Relying on rulings in New York and Massachusetts, the court said, “It is our opinion that before adopting a PLA, an awarding authority must carry out an objective, reasoned evaluation that has incorporated reviewable criteria in order to fulfill the goals and purposes of the state purchases act, given a PLA’s anti-competitive effect. … An objective, reasoned evaluation is necessary to dispel any suggestion of caprice or arbitrariness in imposing this type of contract.”