Ruling today on Islip apprenticeship plan

A showdown between organized labor and nonunion contractors in Islip comes to a head Tuesday morning when a state judge is slated to rule if the town can proceed with a 2 p.m. public hearing on a proposal that would require state-approved apprenticeship programs for construction of large-scale developments.

Supreme Court Justice Jerry Garguilo Monday heard arguments in a bid for a temporary restraining order against the town by a Suffolk electrical contractors trade group and two Islip electricians who want to stop Tuesday's public hearing.

Plaintiff attorney Garrett Swenson of Brookhaven argued Islip was deficient in its public notification for the hearing and that to consider adopting the apprenticeship requirement exceeded its authority. Town attorney Alicia O'Conner told the judge the town had followed the proper notification process and that Islip was empowered under state law to enact local laws. Under the doctrine of separation of powers, the court could not prevent the town board from fulfilling its legislative duty, she said. Garguilo said he will release his decision at 9:45 a.m. today.

Such local laws exist already in Huntington, Brookhaven, Oyster Bay and Long Beach, but in Islip the issue has become a proxy in a bigger battle between Heartland Town Square developer Gerry Wolkoff and unions that claim he is trying to drive down labor costs by not paying benefits to workers.

Democrats hold a 3-2 edge on the town board until Jan. 1, when a new Republican/Conservative board takes over. Incoming Republicans have said they want consideration of the law held until they take over. Outgoing Democrats Gene Parrington and Supervisor Phil Nolan have indicated their support of the bill. But fellow Democrat John Edwards, the son of a steamfitter turned successful fire sprinkler consultant in New York City, has yet to disclose where he stands.

Wolkoff, who said he is marshaling dozens from the Brentwood community where his megacity is slated to be built to attend Tuesday's public hearing, has said the proposed law is bad policy and that he doubts it has the votes to pass. But he said Monday the matter shouldn't have gone to court. "I think the public process should be permitted to go ahead," he said.

"I'm vehemently opposed to it," Wolkoff said about the proposed law, adding that he'll sue the town if it passes.

Wolkoff and other construction industry representatives, including the Long Island Builders Institute, maintain the law is anti-competitive, will increase construction costs, chase development away and hurt jobs.

The Nassau/Suffolk Building and Construction Trades Council, which represents most construction trade unions on Long Island, also intends to have dozens of people at the hearing -- including veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan -- to speak in favor of apprenticeship programs as enhancing worker safety, ensuring good-paying local jobs and keeping development money reinvested in the local economy.Monday, the project manager at one of the biggest projects under construction on Long Island -- Houston-based Sysco Corp's 400,000-square-foot warehouse and distribution center opposite the Central Islip train station, which broke ground in spring -- said apprenticeship programs brought advantages for contractors, not just unions. The project is being built by Aurora Contractors using union labor, with 1,000 local jobs during the year of construction.

"The advantages are that you get better quality work and you can control the work schedule because there's more of a reliable, steady supply of a properly-trained workforce," said Barney Reilly, project manager for Ronkonkoma-based Aurora, hired by Sysco.