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Editorial: Wages are low enough (IN)

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

Kokomo Tribune
Oct 13, 2019

Many of us are earning what we made last year, maybe even the year before that.

By many measures the economy is improving: the unemployment rate continues to edge down to historic levels while job growth is up. But one stubborn indicator of recovery remains stagnant: Wages in the U.S. have been low and relatively flat since 2009.

Workers’ share of corporate income has plummeted dismally in the past 25 years, according to the Economic Policy Institute, a nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank dedicated to economic policy discussions. The Great Recession, from 2007 through 2012, put significant downward pressure on pay.

Yet in 2015, the Indiana Legislature ended the common construction wage. The Republican-led initiative did away with a state law setting the minimum wage that contractors working on public projects must pay.

Supporters suggested the local boards that determine the wage were artificially inflating wages and said elimination of the provision would lower project costs and save taxpayer money.

A study released only last year indicates the opposite is true.

A Midwest Economic Policy Institute study released in January 2018 said repeal of the prevailing-wage law in Indiana “has failed to produce any taxpayer savings on school construction projects and has had a negative effect on wages, job growth, productivity and other economic and industry indicators.”

The study, which included the work of Colorado State University-Pueblo economics professor Kevin Duncan, found:

* An 8.5% drop in wages in blue-collar construction jobs.

* A 15.1% drop in wages for the lowest-paid construction workers.

* A 5.3% slower rate of productivity compared to neighboring Midwest states with prevailing wage laws.

* A 1.5% slower rate of job growth in public works than neighboring Midwest states.

(Read More)

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RESULTS OF THE REPEAL – DID IT WORK? (IN)

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

Nick Dmitrovich
October 12, 2018

A few weeks ago, Indiana passed the third anniversary mark since state legislators repealed the common construction wage law. Back in July of 2015, when the repeal went into effect, the intent was to provide financial relief for taxpayer-funded projects by reducing costs associated with construction wages.

At the time, former Governor Mike Pence, a major supporter of the repeal, said that “wages on public projects should be set by the marketplace and not by government bureaucracy.” During the campaign to get the repeal passed, supporters said the bill would help “cash-strapped” schools and other institutions keep project costs down.

So, now that a few years have gone by and data has had the chance to be developed, the big question is: Did it work? Did the repeal save public institutions the money it was supposed to?

Earlier this year, a report from the Midwest Economic Policy Institute (MEPI) straightforwardly titled “Effects of Repealing Common Construction Wage in Indiana” detailed the types of changes the repeal brought about across ten different construction market attributes. MEPI specializes in infrastructure investment and construction industry research.

To put it plainly, their report was a brutal look at the decision’s shortcomings and the damage its done to the construction industry.

“Repeal of common construction wage has led to a host of negative impacts on workers and the construction industry – including lower wages and more income inequality – while failing to deliver any meaningful cost savings or increased bid competition promised by those in favor of repeal,” researchers wrote.

Let’s take a look at the ten construction outcomes that researchers studied and how they have been impacted.

Construction Wages

Right off the bat, it’s fairly plain to see the people most impacted by the repeal are Indiana construction workers themselves, and vicariously their families. Just how much? A straight-up loss of 8.5 percent, even accounting for all the various factors that affect a person’s hourly wage (such as age, race, union membership, and other factors).
This wasn’t just a fact reflected in this report alone, it was actually predicted in additional research reports published at various times before and after the repeal went into effect (MEPI, Manzo, Bruno, Littlehale, et. al)

(Read More)

Weakening Prevailing Wage Hurts Local Contractors (IN)

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

A case study from Southern Indiana demonstrates how weakening prevailing wage negatively impacts local contractors and local workers.

Published by Frank Manzo IV
JUNE 15, 2016

Out-of-state contractors benefited after Indiana weakened its prevailing wage law, according to a new Economic Commentary from the Midwest Economic Policy Institute.

Despite an emerging academic consensus that shows state prevailing wage laws have no discernible impact on project costs, lawmakers in Indiana weakened the state’s law – called Common Construction Wage – between 2012 and 2015. In 2013, the threshold for coverage was increased from $250,000 to $350,000, meaning that workers were no longer paid a prevailing wage rate on projects costing between $250,000 and $349,999.

Prior to raising its contract threshold to $350,000, hourly earnings for construction workers in Indiana were similar to all neighboring states except Kentucky. Economic research suggests that out-of-state contractors with lower-paid workers will flood the public construction market after a prevailing wage law is weakened. If true, the greatest threat to Indiana contractors would come from across its southern border in Kentucky, where construction workers earned $5 less per hour on average in July 2012.

(Read More)

The CCW is Common Sense Construction

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

Today, the Midwest Economic Policy Institute released Common Sense Construction: The Economic Impacts of  Indiana’s Common Construction Wage with the University of Illinois School of Labor and Employment Relations and Smart Cities Prevail. The report finds that Indiana’s Common Construction Wage (CCW) promotes positive labor market outcomes for both construction workers and contractors.

Ten facts about the Indiana CCW:

1. The Common Construction Wage keeps Hoosier jobs local. (For more, see pages 5 and 11-13)

2. The Common Construction Wage does not increase total construction costs for public projects. (Pg. 4)

3. The Common Construction Wage promotes an upwardly-mobile, high-road economy for working families. (Pg. 5-8)

4. The Common Construction Wage supports almost 2,000 non-construction jobs and nearly $250 million in total worker income throughout the state. (Pg. 13-14)

5. The Common Construction Wage boosts the Indiana economy by about $700 million. (Pg. 13)

6. The Common Construction Wage increases tax revenues for all levels of government. (Pg. 15)

7. The Common Construction Wage fosters safer workplaces for Indiana construction workers. (Pg. 15-16)

8. The Common Construction Wage increases the benefits package paid to workers by around 20 percent. (Pg. 17)

9. The Common Construction Wage produces a highly-skilled, highly-productive workforce. (Pg. 18-19)

10. The Common Construction Wage does not favor union contractors over nonunion contractors. (Pg. 19-21)

(Copy of Report)

YouTube Video: Common Construction Wage Works!