New DuPage bid proposal angers some contractors

A group’s push to have DuPage County adopt “responsible bidder” requirements is raising the ire of several contractors who do work for the county.

The Indiana, Illinois and Iowa Foundation For Fair Contracting this week asked DuPage County Board members to adopt proposed standards that would help officials determine who is qualified to bid on county projects.

If the standards are added to DuPage’s procurement policy, companies bidding on county construction projects would need to provide a variety of information, including “evidence of participation in apprenticeship and training programs applicable to the work to be performed on the project which are approved by and registered with” the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Apprenticeship. The contractors also would be required to provide health care and comply with the Prevailing Wage Act.

“This is about ensuring that when you’re a steward of the taxpayers’ dollars and you’re paying for someone who claims to be an apprentice, that they are in a certified program,” said John Brining, executive director of Construction Industry Service Corp. “If not, then there’s no guarantees.”

But several contractors who do work for DuPage’s weatherization program said the proposed requirements would prevent companies with nonunion employees from getting contracts from the county.

“This would clearly eliminate all the small businesses from bidding,” said Lynne Austin, president of Wheaton-based Austin Homes. “The only ones who are going to be able to comply with this are the large businesses.”

Austin said her employees are highly trained and knowledgeable and have done quality work on the weatherization projects.

But Marc Poulos, executive director of the IIIFFC, says there’s “a big difference” between somebody who claims to be capable of doing the work and someone who has completed courses required by the U.S. Department of Labor.

Poulos insists training requirements aren’t discriminatory against small contractors. “It is the recognition that there are minimal standards that should be met in order for an individual contractor to be deemed responsible,” he said.

Marie Piraino, president of Chicago Network Development in Bloomingdale, disagreed. She said only large businesses could meet the suggested training requirements. And the county will end up paying more for its projects because of “prohibitive wages” to union workers.

“Sixty dollars an hour?” Piraino said. “I don’t know how that is an average wage for a carpenter.”

Piraino said her company already does quality work at “outstanding prices.” She doesn’t want to be forced to meet a list of requirements to get a county contract.

“I am not union,” she said. “I don’t want to be union. I’m a small business.”

While the county board won’t formally consider any changes to the procurement policy for a few months, there’s already mixed reactions to the IIIFFC’s proposal.

County board member Dirk Enger said it makes sense to ensure that workers hired by county contractors are certified to do their jobs. However, county board member Debra Olson said DuPage already has qualified contractors and standards for workmanship.

“Why would we change something that works well?” Olson said. “So that we can force our contractors to be union? That’s a completely unnecessary obligation that we would put on our weatherization program — or any program, any project that we do in DuPage County.”