| A case study of the USS-POSCO Modernization A CA study prepared in 1989 for the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors reveals the impact of hiring out-of-area workers on the local economy. The study shows that BE&K paid low wages, provided no health insurance, increased unemployment costs, and increased school costs for the out of area workers children. If your area is considering using a non-union employer on a major project, this study will open the eyes of the politicians. |
| IRS Fails to Penalize Employers that file W-2's with Inaccurate Social Security Numbers According to a report by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Audit, 93 of the most egregious non-compliant employers filed over 876,000 W-2 forms with incorrect Social Security Numbers. IRS failed to penalize these employers between $26 and $29.7 million and let the statue of limitations run out. |
| Congressional Black Caucus statement to Mark Golden-Producer of ABC’s 20/20 (December 1995). |
A written response to the ABC’s news magazine “20/20” program which suggested the elimination of the Davis-Bacon Act. The letter signed by all the Caucus members encouraged the strengthening of the Act and made clear that the Act has historically “bridged the wage gap” for disadvantaged sectors of our society and protects equity and stability for all American workers.
| “Congressional Budget Office Estimate on Davis-Bacon Repeal is Flawed”, Steven Allen et al, (May 1993). |
Evaluation of the erroneous data used by the Congressional Budget Office to estimate increased construction cost as a result of the Davis-Bacon Act.
| “Results of a Multivariate Regression Analysis of Construction Workers Incomes with a Focus on the Implementation of Prevailing Wage Policies”, Peter Philips, University of Utah (February 1996). |
Economic study shows that when a worker moves into a state without a strong prevailing wage law, a workers income can actually be lowered by as much as 10 percent.
| “Prevailing Wage Laws and School Construction Costs: an Analysis of Public School Construction in Maryland and the Mid-Atlantic States”, Mark J. Prus, State University of New York, Cortland (January 1996). |
This study done at the request of the Prince George’s County Council of MD confirms that there is no measurable or statistically significant increase in construction costs associated with prevailing wage regulations.
| “The Impact of Skills Development and Fair Wage Policy on Construction Costs in British Columbia”, Roslyn Kunin et al, Roslyn Kunin & Associates, Vancouver, B.C. (May 1997). |
Study concludes that productivity increases with use of higher skilled workers would offset increased wages.
| “The Effect of Skills Development and Fair Wage Policy on Public Construction Costs”, Mark J. Prus, State University of New York, Cortland (No date provided). |
The study found that the Fair Wage and Skills Development Policy mandated on March 30, 1992 in British Columbia did not raise total construction costs in a statistically significant sense.
| “Delaware’s Prevailing Wage Law, Its History, Purpose and Effect”, Peter Philips, University of Utah (May 1998). |
This study emphasizes the clear and present benefits to prevailing wage regulations: collective bargaining, training, health insurance, pensions, high skilled jobs for women and minorities, and concludes by stating that keeping prevailing wage regulations in Delaware is a solid way government policy can help insure that Delaware’s construction industry continues down a high-skilled, high-wage development path. The study examines school construction costs of over 3,200 elementary, middle, and high schools.
| “Attacking Prevailing Wages”, Cockshaw’s Construction Labor News+Opinion, Vol. 29, No. 3, Newtown Square, PA (March 1999). |
An article on the latest attack on prevailing wages in Michigan with graphics on the average per square foot costs for new schools before, during and after prevailing wage laws were suspended.
| “Prevailing Wage Laws and the California Economy”, Michael Reich, University of California, Berkeley (February 1996). |
A study on the effect of changing the method of determining “prevailing wages” in California concludes that the state’s cost savings estimates are flawed and those changes will have an adverse impact on tax revenues, minorities, and productivity.
| “Prevailing Wage Laws in Construction: The Cost of Repeal to Wisconsin”, Dale Belman and Paula B. Voos, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee (October 1995). |
The evidence reviewed in this study indicates that the Davis-Bacon Act and Wisconsin’s prevailing wage laws are beneficial to the State of Wisconsin because: elimination of prevailing wage laws would cost the state more in tax revenue than it would save in construction costs; wage standards result in lower maintenance costs by ensuring construction quality, a decrease in over-runs and contractor stability; a strong system of apprenticeship training provides access to high-skill work for young people and minorities; and, the competitive bidding process is not used to undermine community wage levels and living standards.
| “The Effects for California Construction Workers from Changing the Method of Calculating Prevailing Fringe Benefits”, Jeffery S. Petersen, University of California, Berkeley (No date provided). |
This paper assesses the effect of the proposed change in the calculation of prevailing rate of fringe benefits from the current model system to a “switching” method utilizing surveys and suggests that the result will be that when the union rate for fringes does not prevail, union contractors will be at a significant disadvantage for bidding public works jobs, and both public and private union jobs will see a severe reduction in health and retirement benefits.
| “The Davis-Bacon Act: A Response to the CATO Institute’s Attack”, (No date provided), AFL-CIO, Building and Construction Trades Department. |
This report refutes the CATO Institute’s claim that Davis-Bacon was a “Jim Crow” law enacted to exclude blacks from federal construction projects.
| “Apprentice Training in Kentucky: A Comparison of Union and Non-Union Programs in the Building Trades”, Wm. J. Londrigan and Joseph B. Wise III, Kentucky AFL-CIO (March 1997) |
Study shows that 82% of all building trades apprenticeship programs registered in KY were non-union. Yet 69% of all apprentices were in union programs which were more diverse in race and gender than non-union programs.
| “Construction Safety and Health Research: Five Years of Progress and Proposals for the Future”, Cincinnati, Ohio (April 1996), The Center to Protect Workers’ Rights. |
Since the inception of federally funded program to research and develop construction safety and health, new knowledge has been found on safety and health risks to workers and how to prevent them, and an agenda for building a new “safety culture” throughout the industry has been developed, yet more work remains to be done since more deaths and serious injuries in construction continue to occur than in any other industrial sector.
| “Health Care and Pension Benefits for Construction Workers: The Rate of Prevailing Wage Laws”, Jeffery S. Petersen, University of California, Berkeley (May 1997). |
This study examines the time period 1982-1992 to examine the effect of the repeal of state prevailing wage laws on employee benefits, concluding that states repealing the law experience an immediate decline in health care and pension benefits that are directly attributable to the loss of the prevailing wage law.
| National Commission of Employment Policy, Chair, Dr. Anthony P. Carnevale, “The Davis-Bacon Act: A Closer Look”, statement presented to the United States Senate Labor and Human Resources Committee on S.141 (February 1995). |
This statement reviews how repeal of the Davis-Bacon Act would be contrary to the interests of construction workers, the construction industry, and living standards in the country, and instead of repeal suggests reform.
| Mechanical Electrical Sheetmetal Alliance, “Prevailing Wage Laws” (February 1995). |
This paper discusses the fact that state and federal governments have the potential to use government monopoly bargaining power to depress local, state and national wage rates and benefits as well as disrupt prevailing working conditions and rules, and delves into key facts for local, state and federal prevailing wage statutes, as well as the positive effects of prevailing wage laws.
| National Alliance for Fair Contracting, “Public Sector Construction and the Underground Economy”, Washington, D.C. (No date provided). |
This document can be used to assist in passing prevailing wage laws, fight repeal of state laws, and aid in greater enforcement of existing laws. Provides example legislative amendments.
| National Alliance for Fair Contracting, “Wages, Productivity and Highway Construction Costs”, Washington, D.C. (No date provided). |