Council Member Starts Petition Against Parsippany's Project Labor Agreement Ordinance

Update: The article now contains a more recent signature total.

PARSIPPANY, NJ — The lone Parsippany Township Council member to vote against entering a controversial labor arrangement isn't backing down. Justin Musella introduced a petition to repeal the project labor agreement ordinance, which the governing body passed last month.

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.

After several packed, contentious meetings, the council voted 4-1 on Oct. 19 to pass the ordinance. Supporters have said the agreement helps guarantee skilled labor and eliminates 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.

Musella uploaded the petition Monday night, telling Patch that more than 300 people signed as of 4 p.m. Tuesday. The council member wants to obtain 1,000 signatures before making a case to the council and Mayor James Barberio to reverse course on the project labor agreement ordinance.

"I do not hold an anti-union position," Musella wrote on the petition. "In fact, like some of you in town, many of my family members are hard-working, talented, and skilled union members. However, I have a financial responsibility to the taxpayer and from the beginning tried in vain to get a thorough understanding of why Parsippany had to be first town in Morris County to do this but the administration provided no answers or supporting evidence."

A spokesperson for the township didn't return comment to Patch in time for initial publication.

Parsippany's mayor and all five council members are Republicans. So with Musella's opposition, the ordinance unearthed some division between GOP officials.

Musella has stated that project labor agreements delay projects and drive up taxpayer costs, pointing to studies from the New Jersey Department of Labor and The Beacon Hill Institute for Public Policy Research.

"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)."

Gov. Phil Murphy signed a bill into law last year 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.