The Kingston school board struck a blow for local taxpayers last month when it voted against requiring a project labor agreement (PLA) on a school renovation project. While local union leaders slammed the move as “fiscally irresponsible,” the board’s 5-4 vote was a big win for taxpayers and sets an example for other communities facing a similar choice.

PLAs are deals that typically require most workers on a job belong to a union, thereby disqualifying those contractors whose employees do not. By voting not to take the PLA route, the Kingston school board left contractors free to choose whether to enter into such an agreement–ensuring the district will have a bigger pool of bidders with more competition and giving both union and non-union companies a chance to compete.

While some unions have made claims to the contrary, a 2006 Beacon Hill Institute study of school construction projects in New York found that PLAs increased costs by 20 percent. Requiring them –and excluding a sizable group of local contractors in the process–isn’t a recipe for getting the taxpayers the most for their money.

The Hudson Valley Building and Construction Trades Council, claiming instead that forced PLAs could decrease costs, took to the pages of the Daily Freeman this week to slam the five members, saying they were “throwing away your hard earned money, and don’t support local labor.”

Some board members reportedly felt pressured by union representatives. From the Daily Freeman’s report:

Several board members said meetings with union representatives included threats that inflatable rats would accompany pickets if the district did not sign an agreement.

“Most of these union leaders were very, very intimidating,” Michael said.

Coston agreed that union leaders took a strong approach when meeting with committee members.

“The people we met with said or did what I … took as a threat,” he said. “They said that they would picket.”

While PLAs may require hiring to go through local union halls, by no measure do they guarantee that work will go to local people; in fact, workers can come from anywhere in the country–provided they’re paying dues to the local union. All the while, local workers who aren’t paying dues, and the businesses that employ them, are disqualified from jobs in their own community.

Albany may soon have the opportunity to prevent situations like this one: while the measure hasn’t been reintroduced in the 2015, a bill sponsored by Senator Mike Ranzenhofer and Assemblyman Robin Schimminger would make the use of PLAs by public employers strictly optional, saving taxpayer money while enfranchising the workers and businesses now being turned away.