H. B. 4802
(By Delegates Overington, Blair and Trump)
[Introduced February 24, 2006; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by
adding thereto a new section, designated §5A-3-10b, relating
to prohibiting project labor agreements on state-funded
construction contracts.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended
by adding thereto a new section, designated §5A-3-10b, to read as
follows:
ARTICLE 3. PURCHASING DIVISION.
§5A-3-10b. Certain labor requirements not to be imposed on
contractor or subcontractor.
(a) The purpose of this section is to fulfill the state's
proprietary objectives in maintaining and promoting the economical,
nondiscriminatory, and efficient expenditures of public funds in
connection with publicly funded or assisted construction projects.
(b) It is further declared to be the policy of the State of
West Virginia that public works construction projects be awarded to and completed by contractors and subcontractors on a fair and
competitive basis.
(c) The director or other public authority, when engaged in
procuring products or services, awarding contracts, or overseeing
procurement or construction for public improvements, shall ensure
that bid specifications when issued by the director or other public
authority for the proposed public improvement, and any subsequent
contract or other agreement for the public improvement to which the
director or other public authority and a contractor or
subcontractor are direct parties, do not require a contractor or
subcontractor to do any of the following:
(1) Enter into agreements with any labor organization on the
public improvement;
(2) Enter into any agreement that requires the employees of
that contractor or subcontractor to do either of the following as
a condition of employment or continued employment:
(3) Become members of or affiliated with a labor organization;
(4) Pay dues or fees to a labor organization;
(5) Discriminate against bidders, offerors, contractors, or
subcontractors for entering or refusing to become or remain
signatories or otherwise adhere to agreements with one or more
labor organizations.
(d) Nothing in the previous subsections of this section may
prohibit employers or other parties covered by the National Labor
Relations Act from entering into agreements or engaging in any
other activity arguably protected by law, nor shall any aspect of the previous subsections of this section be interpreted in such a
way as to interfere with the labor relations.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to prohibit project labor
agreements on state-funded construction projects.
This section is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.