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

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

Democrats in Suffolk have since joined the fight to get answers.

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, union leaders used the public forum to question the bid process and whether Renu met the county's prevailing wage and apprenticeship requirements.

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 C ounty 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.

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 in 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 agreement 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.

He said Renu's workforce is "primarily non-union."

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 programs are like “workforce development” and provide a savings to the county because apprentices are allowed to be paid below prevailing wage as they learn on the job.

The unions took their objections to the steps of the Department of Public Works on a Friday afternoon, holding a news conference attended by more than 50 union workers and Democratic elected officials from the county and state.

Babylon Town Supervisor Rich Schaffer, chair of the Suffolk County Democratic Committee, said his town had previously used the county’s contract with Austin through a procurement tool called "piggybacking."

“Every time they’ve been on a major job for us, they got it done quickly, efficiently,” he said. 

Schaffer said Babylon will put out its own bid rather than piggybacking and he’s going to encourage the other nine towns to do the same in his role as chair of the Suffolk County Supervisors Association.

Vincent Alu, business manager and secretary-treasurer for General Building Laborers Local 66 in Melville, called Schaffer’s pledge a “significant” move.

“That’s putting money where your mouth is,” he said.

Alu previously told lawmakers that an estimated 40 laborers will be out of work.

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

 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, but did confirm receiving the letters after he requested a letter of recommendation he could use to show prospective clients. 

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

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 terminating Austin Drywall’s contract.

At Friday’s news conference, Legis. Greg Doroski (D-Mattituck) said Bartha responded to the caucus’ letter  but “there still are a lot of questions that need to be answered.” He said lawmakers are scheduling a meeting for next week where they hope to gain more answers after Bartha’s response said the contract change will save the county money.

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 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."