Idaho Building & Constr. Trades Council v. Inland Pac. Chapter of Assoc’d Builders & Contractors

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Plaintiffs, two Idaho unions, filed suit to enjoin Idaho's "Fairness in Contracting Act," Idaho Code 44-2012(2)–(4), as preempted by the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), 29 U.S.C. 151 et seq. The court concluded that it is well settled that most of the conduct prohibited by Idaho’s statute is protected by the NLRA; as to the balance of the prohibited conduct — namely, the use of job targeting funds derived in part from wages earned on federal projects governed by the Davis-Bacon Act, 40 U.S.C. 3141 et seq. — Idaho’s proposed enforcement of federal rules governing wages on federal projects, including criminal penalties more onerous than the federal statute’s own civil and administrative enforcement provisions, is likely preempted by Davis-Bacon itself; and, in any event, the decisions of the NLRB make clear that the distribution of funds derived in part from Davis-Bacon wages is at least arguably protected by the NLRA, and so preempted under one strain of NLRA preemption law. Accordingly, the court affirmed in relevant part. View "Idaho Building & Constr. Trades Council v. Inland Pac. Chapter of Assoc'd Builders & Contractors" on Justia Law