1K Residents Petition Against Parsippany's Controversial Labor Agreement

PARSIPPANY, NJ — A Township Council member will submit a petition Wednesday calling for the repeal of Parsippany's controversial project-labor-agreement ordinance. The petition exceeded 1,000 signatures, according to Justin Musella, the township's only elected official to vote against the measure.

Musella plans to submit the petition at the next council meeting, he told Patch. The meeting is set for 6:30 p.m. Wednesday inside Town Hall's Council Chambers.

The council voted 4-1 on Oct. 19 to pass the ordinance favoring project labor agreements (PLAs). The arrangement means that municipal public-works projects costing at least $5 million must have a pre-established collective bargaining agreement. This gives certain unionized workforces advantages in obtaining contracts for these projects. Read more: Controversial Labor Agreement Passes In Parsippany

Supporters have said such agreements help guarantee skilled labor and eliminate delays that can arise from labor conflicts or worker shortages. But critics, including Musella and many residents, say such arrangements will drive up costs for the township trying to work its way out of budgetary woes, while putting small and minority-owned businesses at a disadvantage.

Musella uploaded the online petition Nov. 21 in an effort to get the ordinance repealed. The petition received bipartisan support from residents, he says. The first-term council member has said he isn't anti-union, but he's concerned about how the ordinance will impact taxpayers.

"Parsippany is already in the midst of an over taxation crisis, combined with serious structural problems in our finances," Musella said in a statement. "I made an oath from day one to fight to keep Parsippany affordable and enable residents to stay here and not flee our town. It is encouraging to see the groundswell of support for this effort, and I look forward to presenting these petition signatures to the Township Council."

The PLA ordinance received support from several local labor unions — members of which were among those who packed several contentious meetings centered around debating the measure.

Mayor James Barberio also supported the ordinance. He and every council member are Republicans, but Musella strayed from his colleagues on the issue.

"From the beginning (I) tried in vain to get a thorough understanding of why Parsippany had to be first town in Morris County to do this," Musella said at Oct. 19's meeting. "But the (Barberio) administration provided no answers or supporting evidence."

Barberio responded with the following: "You know what, I wasn’t going to waste the time. Because it was a way out, that’s all it was. It was to reduce (the project labor agreement)."

In April 2021, Gov. Phil Murphy signed a bill into law that expanded the range of projects covered by the agreements. Under the law, municipal governments can now require that workers get hired through designated labor unions for major projects with price tags of at least $5 million.

Montclair and Toms River are among New Jersey's towns that have adopted project labor agreements.