Building & Constr. Trades Council v. Associated Builders & Contractors of Mass./R. I., Inc., 507 U.S. 218, 5 (1993)

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222

BUILDING & CONSTR. TRADES COUNCIL v. ASSOCIATED BUILDERS & CONTRACTORS OF MASS. /R. I., INC.

Opinion of the Court

sions compelling them to become union members within seven days of their employment; the primary use of BCTC's hiring halls to supply the project's craft labor force; a 10-year no-strike commitment; and a requirement that all contractors and subcontractors agree to be bound by the Agreement. 935 F. 2d, at 348. See generally MWRA Pet. App. 107a (full text of Agreement). MWRA's board of directors approved and adopted the Agreement in May 1989 and directed that Bid Specification 13.1 be incorporated into its solicitation of bids for work on the project.1 935 F. 2d, at 347. Bid Specification 13.1 provides in pertinent part:

"[E]ach successful bidder and any and all levels of sub-contractors, as a condition of being awarded a contract or subcontract, will agree to abide by the provisions of the Boston Harbor Wastewater Treatment Facilities Project Labor Agreement as executed and effective May 22, 1989, by and between Kaiser . . . on behalf of [MWRA] and [BCTC] . . . and will be bound by the provisions of that agreement in the same manner as any other provision of the contract." MWRA Pet. App. 141a-142a.

In March 1990, a contractors' association not a party to this litigation filed a charge with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) contending that the Agreement violated the NLRA. The NLRB General Counsel refused to issue a complaint, finding: (1) that the Agreement is a valid prehire agreement under § 8(f) of the NLRA, 29 U. S. C. § 158(f), which authorizes such agreements in the construction indus-1 Massachusetts competitive-bidding laws require MWRA to state its preference for a contract term, such as a project labor agreement, in the form of a bid specification. These laws, which MWRA's Enabling Act explicitly incorporates, see Mass. Gen. Laws Ann., ch. 92 App., § 1-8(g) (1993) (incorporating Mass. Gen. Laws §§ 30:39M, and 149:44A to 149:44H), require that the competitive-bidding process be carried out by the awarding authority. See Modern Continental Constr. Co. v. Lowell, 391 Mass. 829, 836, 465 N. E. 2d 1173, 1177-1178 (1984).

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