Public contracts: protests: joint labor-management committee.

Existing law generally requires public contracts to be awarded by competitive bidding pursuant to procedures set forth in the Public Contract Code, subject to certain exceptions. Existing law, whenever a contract for goods and services is not to be awarded to the lowest bidder, requires that the lowest bidder be notified 24 hours before the contract or purchase order is awarded to another bidder. Existing law, upon written request by any bidder, requires notice of the proposed award to be posted in a public place in the offices of the department at least 24 hours before the contract is awarded. Existing law, if a bidder files a specified protest with the department before the award is made, requires that the contract not be awarded until either the protest has been withdrawn or the department has made a final decision relative to the protest. This bill would additionally authorize a joint labor-management committee, as defined, to submit a written protest to a contract that is not to be awarded to the lowest bidder. If, prior to making the award, a joint labor-management committee files a protest with the department against the awarding of the contract on the ground that the lowest responsible bidder does not meet the specifications set forth under the definition of responsible, the bill would require that the contract not be awarded until either the protest has been withdrawn or the department has made a final decision relative to the protest.