The Third District Court of Appeals handed American workers a victory with their ruling in the case of Louisiana Forestry Association v. Secretary, U.S. Department of Labor. The court found that the Department of Labor’s wage regulation methodology is valid pertaining to H-2b visas, meaning the Department of Homeland Security must rely on the Labor Department’s decisions about the number of American workers available for a job.
The Kentucky State Building and Construction Trades Council has commissioned a new study considering the effects of repealing Kentucky’s prevailing wage law. See below for a full copy of the report by Prof. Philips, University of Utah.
Pressure from increasing state budget deficits, as well as debt from underfunded pensions, have caused critics to call for the repeal of Illinois’ prevailing wage law for government construction projects.
However, according to new research co-authored by a University labor expert, Illinois’ prevailing wage law creates many positive economic and social impacts, and repealing it would not result in any considerable savings for taxpayers or the state.
“We have a strong prevailing wage law in Illinois,” said Robert Bruno, professor of labor and employment relations. “It’s better than most states in that it assures public projects are done efficiently and on time with the best results possible.”
Across the country, states and localities can respond to the President’s call to action and grow wages, create jobs, and reduce income inequality in at least one sector: the construction industry. Today, the Illinois Economic Policy Institute (ILEPI) is pleased to release a new study co-authored with Professor Robert Bruno, a labor expert at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, on labor market institutions in the construction industry.
The study, Which Labor Market Institutions Reduce Income Inequality? Labor Unions, Prevailing Wage Laws, and Right-to-Work Laws in the Construction Industry, finds that prevailing wage laws did a good job matching common construction rates with the actual market price of labor, increasing worker incomes by just 1.2 percent. On the other hand, they have no negative effect on the total incomes of contractor CEOs. Prevailing wage laws, the data show, reduce income inequality between the highest earners and the lowest earners of the construction industry by 45.1 percent.
ELWOOD, Ill., Aug. 29, 2013 /PRNewswire/ — The Village of Elwood has asked a judge to require CenterPoint Properties to provide documentation to determine if the developer is in compliance with state law in paying workers a prevailing wage.
Although state law and the Tax Incremental Finance (TIF) agreement between the Village and CenterPoint require that it pay prevailing wages, CenterPoint has refused to reveal any payroll documents that would confirm that workers are receiving prevailing wages at its Deer Run Industrial Park development, which is the focus of a TIF.
Today’s court filing is the most recent development in an ongoing dispute, which prompted the Village to take legal action earlier this year after CenterPoint failed to provide information on how it spent $110 million in Village taxpayer dollars for the redevelopment of the 1,820-acre site at the former Joliet Arsenal.
California Labor Commissioner Julie Su has cited a Sacramento landscaping company with $665,000 in wage theft violations over a three-year period.
Sanctions against Michael Mello, owner of Green Valley Landscaping Services, include minimum wage violations of $338,175 for more than 40 employees, $169,088 in unpaid overtime and $157,500 for failure to provide itemized wage statements as required by California law.
By Mark Breslin
Editor’s Note: Senate Bill 7 is co-authored by Sen. Anthony Cannella, R-Ceres, but opposed by leaders of the charter cities in his district, including Modesto and Merced. It was passed by the Senate 28-10 in late May. Last week it was approved by the Assembly Labor and Employment Committee and now it is now in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.As the CEO of United Contractors, I represent hundreds of bottom line, hard-nosed, results-oriented, and fiscally conservative business leaders and CEOs. We support paying prevailing wages because we know what we are getting for our money. Specifically, we know that we are getting highly talented professionals who will get the job done on time and on budget.
At the same time, we are proud that we are creating local jobs – all while modernizing and expanding California’s infrastructure.
By KAREN LEE ZINER
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE – For six years, Enrique Sarceno worked on a garbage truck, emptying 30-gallon barrels on a municipal route in Franklin, Mass. At day’s end, Sarceno would strip off his rank-smelling clothes and head for the shower.
He thought the money was good – $17 an hour. But when the former American Waste Services company, in Raynham, hired him, Sarceno knew nothing of the Massachusetts prevailing wage law under which he would have been paid at least $5 more per hour.
Saying this was only a “minor setback,” City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and other members vowed Tuesday they would appeal a court ruling that struck down the “prevailing wage” law.
“Make no mistake, we will appeal and we will be victorious in our efforts,” Quinn said surrounded by members of Local 32BJ SEIU, which represents property service workers in the city.