Kentucky lawmakers push for $15 minimum wage (KY)

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by: Wave 3 News
August 20, 2019 at 9:53 PM EDT

(WAVE) – Pre-filed legislation would raise the minimum wage for workers in Kentucky.

Sen. Reggie Thomas, D-Lexington, and Rep. Kathy Hinkle, D-Louisa, filed Bill Request 132 and Bill Request 237, respectively.

The bills call for a large increase of the state’s minimum wage over the next seven years.

It would increase to $15 an hour by 2027.

“I have pushed to have this heard before,” Thomas said. “I’m not going to stop. Just because you have a first strike and second strike doesn’t mean you stop swinging.”

Added Hinkle: “It is time for us to step up to the plate and take care of our citizens, and that is what we are sent here to do.”

The General Assembly will take up the matter in January.

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Unlicensed subcontractor that installed sprinkler system kicked off Whiskey Row hotel project (KY)

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By JOE SONKA | August 6, 2019 4:35 pm

The Metro Department of Codes and Regulations issued a written warning on May 31 to a contractor working on the construction of a new twin hotel project on Whiskey Row downtown, declaring that it was violating state and city law by subcontracting an unlicensed company to install the hotels’ fire sprinkler system.

A spokeswoman from Louisville Forward also confirmed that the unlicensed subcontractor improperly installed the hotels’ sprinkler system, which was now being replaced by new contractors.

The 14-story twin hotels being constructed on First and Main streets are that of Hotel Distiland Moxy, a project of Indiana-based hospitality company White Lodging that is scheduled to open in November.

The Codes and Regulations administrative warning was sent to SimplexGrinnell – a fire sprinkler company that is a subsidiary of international giant Johnson Controls – which was the designated contractor permitted by the city to install the hotels’ sprinkler system, having received the proper licensing from the city and state.

However, the warning letter went on to state that the subcontractor hired by SimplexGrinnell to install the sprinkler system “did not hold any type of Kentucky Fire Sprinkler License,” adding that it is a violation of state law to have such a system worked on by someone other than the certificate holder.

The warning letter from Codes and Regulations executive administrator Paul Nicholson added that it was the department’s understanding that SimplexGrinnell “remedied the situation” and was now in compliance with the law, but warned that any further violations “may be subject to further action being taken, up to and concluding suspension of your current license with Metro Louisville.”

A Louisville Forward spokeswoman, Caitlin Bowling, confirmed to Insider Louisville that the unlicensed subcontractor was IMP Mechanical, a firm based in Fayetteville, Ga., and that some of its work on the fire sprinkler system was improper and had to be reinstalled.
Bowling said that Codes and Regulations is “making sure things are installed correctly and there are licensed workers,” adding that the department has been “working with the developers and contractors to make sure everything is in order.” She also stated that warnings are typically issued before formal citations for violating city and state codes, as it gives contractors an opportunity to rectify the problem.

Spokespersons for White Lodging, SimplexGrinnell and Johnson Controls have not yet replied to emailed questions for this article.

Thomasina Brown, a registered agent with IMP Mechanical, told Insider that she vigorously disagreed with the assertion of Codes and Regulations in the warning letter about the subcontractor having to be licensed in Kentucky, saying that since the company’s workers were independent contractors instead of employees, only Johnson Controls had to be licensed.

Todd Johnson, a local union organizer for the Road Sprinkler Fitters UA Local 669, told Insider that he and others warned state and city departments weeks before the Codes and Regulations letter in May, expressing concern about what he called untrained and uncertified workers improperly installing safety features at the behest of an unlicensed, out-of-state subcontractor.

In a May 15 letter to the Department of Housing, Building and Construction in Frankfort, the prominent Kentucky labor attorney Dave Suetholz wrote that IMP was committing “major code violations” that were under investigation by Metro Codes and Regulations after an informal complaint was submitted, asking the state department to assist in that effort.

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Construction workers walk off Omni Louisville site protesting wage discrepancy

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By CAITLIN BOWLING
May 24, 2017 12:53 pm

 

Some of the construction workers who are helping erect the more than $320 million Omni Louisville hotel and luxury apartments walked off the site this morning.

Roughly 100 workers who have been installing metal studs and hanging drywall at the Omni claim that they are being paid roughly $20 less an hour compared with other construction workers on the job, WDRB News first reported.

Marco Cruz, one of the workers who walked off the construction site, told Insider that he is not so much upset that they are making less than other workers as he is troubled by the fact that they were told they’d earn $24 an hour but are only receiving $17 to $20 an hour.

“I saw that that’s not right,” he said. “We feel like they are taking advantage of us.”

Louisville labor attorney Dave Suetholz told Insider in a phone interview that the construction workers, most of whom are Hispanic immigrants, were told that their wages were lowered because Gov. Matt Bevin repealed Kentucky’s prevailing wage statute this year.

Suetholz, an attorney with Kircher, Suetholz & Associates PSC, argued that construction on the Omni “started before the repeal of the prevailing wage,” making the argument invalid.

“Their employer has lied to them,” he said. “It’s all immigrant workers. They are the only ones being paid lower rates. …Just on the face, it looks very bad.”

The prevailing wage law required construction workers to be paid a wage and receive benefits comparable to what workers receive on average construction sites in the area. It applied to public construction projects, according to an article by Stites & Harbison attorney Joseph L. Hardesty.

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Ky. Legislative update (KY)

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By State Rep. Chris Harris
JANUARY 9, 2017

I fought hard during this first week of the 2017 session of the Kentucky General Assembly to protect the interests of Kentucky’s working families against a rising tide of wealthy corporate interests, but in the end, our best efforts were blocked by the new ruling majority in the Kentucky House of Representatives. This week will go down in Kentucky history as one of the most damaging to working people.

Never before in modern times has a legislative session been used to do so much harm in so little time with so few opportunities for public input or debate. No time was wasted by Republican majorities in the House and the Senate to repeal prevailing wage standards in the construction of public projects and to enact what I call “right to work for less” legislation. These measures – affecting thousands of working families in Kentucky, both union and non-union – passed despite our strong objections and repeated attempts to slow the process long enough to let the voices of the people be heard during the legislative process.

Numerous studies and overwhelming data show workers’ wages go down when so-called “right to work” legislation, is passed. There’s a long list of other ills associated with right to work states – less health insurance coverage, poor workplace safety records, and less per capita spending on education, to name a few.

Repealing prevailing wage standards also lowers wages for building and tradesmen, like electricians, pipe fitters, plumbers, and steamfitters employed in public construction projects. These repeals also negatively affect the quality of construction and encourage out-of-state, fly-by-night contractors with employees of questionable training, skills and citizenship.

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Union members say lawmakers launching ‘attack on the working people’ (KY)

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BY JOHN CHEVES AND JACK BRAMMER
JANUARY 7, 2017 10:19 AM

FRANKFORT – Angry labor union members on Saturday said they don’t know how they became public enemy No. 1 in Kentucky’s 2017 legislative session.

Hundreds of workers in boots and heavy coats poured onto every public floor of the state Capitol to loudly protest final passage of three bills that they say will weaken unions and reduce construction workers’ wages.

“It’s an attack on the working people,” said Chris Kendall, 44, a member of Local 184 of the Plumbers and Steamfitters Union in Paducah.

“It’s almost like we’re the enemy somehow, that it’s the politicians against us,” Kendall said. “And all we’re trying to do is earn an honest day’s wage.”

Said Bruce Rowe, a Pike County truck driver who belongs to Local 14581 of United Steelworkers, “This will just be awful for our communities. Once you cut our pay, your tax base goes down, and we’ve got less money to spend at Wal-Mart and buying cars and getting groceries for our families and shoes for our kids.”

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Productivity slides without prevailing wage laws Larry L. Roberts

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BY LARRY L. ROBERTS
DECEMBER 30, 2016 12:36 PM

Recently, Kentucky Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Dave Adkisson penned a column with his Christmas wish list of low-road pro-business issues he expects the GOP to address in the 2017 General Assembly.

While I am not surprised by Adkisson’s support for repeal of Kentucky’s prevailing-wage law, I am surprised he relied upon a flawed draft report to substantiate repeal of something as important to the economy as prevailing wage.

The report he referenced was not adopted by the Kentucky legislature’s Program Review and Investigations Committee at its Dec. 16, 2014 meeting for a variety of reasons. The report was not an accounting of construction costs; it was a back-of-the-envelope hypothetical calculation about wages – and wages only.

There was no consideration of whether or not projects were completed on time. There was no consideration of cost overruns. There was no consideration of productivity of low-wage contractors and there was no consideration of downstream maintenance cost.

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Prevailing Wage Repeal Would Hurt Kentucky’s Economy

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Repealing Kentucky’s prevailing wage law would weaken the state’s economy, according to a new study.

Eliminating prevailing wage would cause a pay cut for middle-class workers, qualify more workers for public assistance, slash apprenticeship training, and result in more of Kentucky’s tax dollars going to out-of-state or foreign contractors. Veterans, who populate construction trades at a higher rate than non-veterans, would be particularly impacted if Kentucky were to repeal its prevailing wage standards.

DECEMBER 16, 2016

The report was authored by economics professor Kevin Duncan, PhD and Frank Manzo IV, MPP- Policy Director of the Midwest Economic Policy Institute, a division of the Illinois Economic Policy Institute.

Full Report: The Economic, Fiscal, and Social Effects of Kentucky’s Prevailing Wage Law.

Fact Sheet #1: One-page summary of the report.

Fact Sheet #2: One-page summary – version 2.

The preponderance of peer-reviewed economic research finds that prevailing wage laws do not increase construction costs, including three-fourths of all studies over the past two decades. This finding directly disputes the claims of those who advocate for repealing Kentucky’s 76-year-old prevailing wage law. Unfortunately, some prevailing wage opponents are either really bad at math, or they expect the people of Kentucky to work for poverty-level wages.

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Prevailing wage repeal a con job | Frank Manzo IV

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Frank Manzo IV, Guest Contributor
7:46 a.m. EST December 19, 2016

The dictionary defines a “con job” as an act of “swindling or duping” to get one’s way.

Kentucky voted overwhelmingly to elect Donald Trump President, along with historic GOP majorities in both houses of the Legislature. To win, Trump and Kentucky Republicans campaigned on a lot of promises–including to “create jobs,” and “lift the wages” of working people.

Early next month, the Kentucky Legislature is expected to do just the opposite, by repealing the state’s prevailing wage law.

Prevailing Wage is the minimum wage for skilled construction work on state-funded projects. There are over 82,000 Kentuckians working in occupations affected by its state prevailing wage-carpentry, plumbing, electrical, pavers, roofers, painters and more. A repeal of prevailing wage would be a state-mandated pay cut for these workers.

Recent research by the Midwest Economic Policy Institute and renown Economist Dr. Kevin Duncan shows that prevailing wage repeal will cost 1800 of these workers their jobs, drive almost 6,000 into poverty and onto public assistance, cost another 6,000 their employer-sponsored health insurance, and will eliminate pension plans for another 10,000 workers. And because lower wages translates to lower spending by workers in their communities, prevailing wage repeal will cost Kentucky another 1100 jobs across other economic sectors.

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Weakening Prevailing Wage Hurts Local Contractors (IN)

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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.

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Judge blocks Bevin’s executive order abolishing commission

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JUNE 8, 2016 5:09 PM
The Associated Press

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) – A Kentucky judge has issued a temporary injunction blocking Gov. Matt Bevin’s executive order that abolished the Workers’ Compensation Nominating Commission and recreated a new one.

The Lexington Herald-Leader reports Franklin Circuit Judge Phillip Shepherd issued the order Wednesday and said it will remain in effect until he issues a final ruling.

Bevin’s press secretary, Amanda Stamper, said the governor’s office believes the ruling is wrong and is considering legal options, including possible appeal.

The commission nominates administrative law judges to be appointed by the governor and who decide if and how much employers have to pay workers who were hurt on the job. Last month Bevin abolished that commission, rewrote the law that governed it and then re-created it with new members, all by executive order.

Two labor unions and four injured workers filed a lawsuit challenging the move.

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