Union representatives urge board to require union contractors for planned solar-panel removal; board confirms prevailing wage requirements

During public comment at the Piscataway Township Board of Education meeting, Ed Soulfield of the Middlesex County Building Trades urged the board to keep union contractors on a proposed removal of roughly 1,450 solar panels at the high school. Soulfield told the board that panels are ‘‘hot’’ — carrying 20–60 volts from the moment they are unpacked — and argued that nonunion low bidders lacked training and safety practices for that work.

Board members asked administration whether Echo Electric, a contractor named by the public commenter, had bid or was performing work on the project. District staff stated Echo Electric did not appear on the bid list and confirmed that the board’s bid documents require contractors to comply with New Jersey prevailing-wage rules and classification requirements. The administration also noted that the resolution to award a contract for solar-panel decommissioning was on the board agenda for consideration.

Why it matters: The exchange highlights safety and procurement concerns as the district proceeds with a substantial decommissioning project. Prevailing-wage compliance, contractor qualifications and how bids are evaluated have implications for worker safety, project cost and local labor-market outcomes.

Board action: Administrators said the bidding package requires prevailing-wage compliance; the board took votes later in the agenda on listed motions and contracts. No immediate contractor substitution or reversal of the procurement process was recorded in the public session.

Representative quotes from the public-comment period included Soulfield’s warning that inexperienced crews ‘‘have no training, no safety equipment’’ and his description of energized panels. Board members and staff said they would rely on bid requirements and prevailing-wage rules when evaluating the award.