Furious unions accuse Suffolk of unfairly handing longtime county contract for Austin Drywall to Renu Contracting

The leaders of several building trade unions accused Suffolk County of canceling a longstanding general contracting services contract and awarding a new contract through a questionable bidding process to a company whose owner has political ties.

The county’s Department of Public Works issued a “formal Thirty Day Notice of Termination for Convenience” on Jan. 23 to Bohemia-based Austin Drywall Corp., which has used union laborers, painters and carpenters to perform work across various county buildings for nearly two decades.

Union workers packed the Suffolk County Legislature's general meeting Tuesday to object to the contract set to be awarded to Copiague-based Renu Contracting & Restoration. While the legislature has no role in the contract, the union leaders used the public forum to question the bid process and whether Renu met prevailing wage and apprenticeship requirements as set by county code.

Some accused the county of a conflict of interest since Renu’s principal and owner, Michael VanDenburg, was appointed in 2024 to the Suffolk County Planning Commission by County Executive Edward P. Romaine, a Republican.

VanDenburg has also been a frequent political donor to GOP committees in Suffolk, according to campaign finance records. He did not immediately respond to messages left at his office Tuesday.

The county did not respond to specific questions from Newsday on why Austin's contract was canceled and instead sent a statement attributed to Charles Bartha, commissioner of the Department of Public Works, who said the contract “was put out to bid on accordance with the provisions of New York State and Suffolk County law.”

He added: “The bids were carefully scrutinized, and contract was awarded to the lowest responsible bidder, as the law requires. Nothing about the award should be construed as a negative as to the quality of any other bidder.”

Josh Slaughter, Long Island political coordinator for the Mason Tenders District Council, a union of 5,000 construction laborers, described the contract as an "on-call contract" that allowed the county quick access to laborers for repair work without needing a bid process. 

"It is a massive, broad contract," he said in an interview.

He was unsure of the total value, which can vary year to year based on how much work the county seeks, but estimated it was in the millions of dollars.

He said he believes Renu received “preferential treatment” to receive a bid that was below prevailing wage, a mandatory minimum hourly rate used for public projects. And he said the county appeared to ease apprenticeship program requirements to accommodate Renu.

Suffolk County requires contractors with contracts that exceed $250,000 to have a registered apprenticeship program approved by the New York State Department of Labor. Slaughter said the program’s are like “workforce development” and provide a savings to the county because apprentices are allowed to be paid under prevailing wage as they learn on the job.

Ray Festa with District Council 9 of the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades at Tuesday's meeting said he believes Renu would be required to subcontract drywall taping, which would not make them the lowest bidder, according to his analysis.

Dave Lievre, who works in labor management for Bricklayers & Allied Craftworkers Local 1, said in an interview that while the Austin Drywall contract was a “fairly small” percentage of their work, he worried about the ripple effect of the county easing apprenticeship language in contracts. He estimated his union’s work totaled about $500,000.

The prevailing wage for July 1, 2025, through June 30, 2026, varies from $54.56 for a painter, $64.23 for a glazier and $41.95 for a laborer, plus supplemental benefits, according to the New York State Department of Labor.

Vincent Alu, business manager and secretary treasurer for General Building Laborers’ Local 66 in Melville, told lawmakers Tuesday he was “incredibly disappointed” in the decision. At the legislature’s Public Works committee on Friday, he said an estimated 40 laborers will be out of work. 

William Hardy, who runs Austin, received letters of appreciation in 2025 from Romaine, then-Presiding Officer Kevin McCaffrey and Michael Monaghan, the chief deputy commissioner for the Department of Public Works. The letters praised work done at the Board of Elections building, the Department of Public Works headquarters, the legislature building and county executive’s office.

“Your team demonstrated the highest level of professionalism, attention to detail and commitment to excellence throughout the project,” Romaine wrote in an April 9 letter.

Hardy declined to comment when reached by phone Tuesday.

Presiding Officer Anthony Piccirillo (R-Holtsville) told Newsday after Tuesday’s meeting the legislature has no role in the contract, but does have “oversight authority to make sure all the rules that have been in place for years are followed.”

“From what I understand everything’s on the up and up,” he said, adding that he had not been provided a reason for the contract termination. 

The legislature’s Democratic caucus sent a letter Tuesday to Bartha inquiring about the timing of the bid, apprenticeship and prevailing wage requirements, the cost to taxpayers for rebidding and the reasoning for Austin Drywall’s terminated contract.

Austin's contract ends Feb. 22, at which point the contract with Renu is scheduled to begin for one year with extensions up to five years, according to contracts posted on the county website.

Ryan Stanton, executive director of the Long Island Federation of Labor, urged the lawmakers to use their oversight authority to “get some answers.”

“There’s a mistake that’s been made — deliberate, intentional unintentional, I don’t know and I’m not here to judge,” he said. “What I’m here to say is there are a lot of outstanding questions.”

By Joe Werkmeister

joe.werkmeister@newsday.com

Joe Werkmeister joined Newsday in 2022 and covers Suffolk County government and politics. He is a graduate of St. Bonaventure University and previously worked as the editor of two North Fork community newspapers.

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