By Jordan Grice
Updated 4:06 pm EST, Wednesday, December 19, 2018
Bridgeport officials and developers of the new concert amphitheater are saying wage disputes over the project were due to miscommunication.
“Although it was never specified, the Harbor Yard Amphitheater, HYA, renovation was always intended to be a prevailing wage project,” said developer Howard Saffan in an email to Hearst Connecticut Media.
Tensions among construction workers building the amphitheater – the closed minor league baseball park – have apparently subsided, following confirmation that construction of the venue will, now, adhere to state law.
The Department of Labor notified the city’s economic development department this month that the project violated prevailing wage laws.
The prevailing wage statute requires contractors involved in big-ticket construction or renovations involving public funding use an assigned wage rate and DOL certified payroll for their workers.
A letter from state labor officials claimed that the contracting agency of the project – which according to the project contract is Saffan-failed to request a prevailing wage pay rate schedule or include it in the bid specifications.