bill-would-allow-cities-counties-to-opt-out-of-prevailing-wage

City officials: Getting tax breaks on your project? Pay prevailing wage (MO)

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

February 07, 2020

ST. LOUIS (KMOX) — St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson has signed an ordinance guaranteeing a prevailing wage for workers on all projects in that receive City of St. Louis incentives.

Krewson says the idea is to avoid developers who get tax breaks and then try to hire workers on the cheap.

“We want to make sure if the city is investing in a project, that the workers are treated fairly and the contractors are treated fairly,” Krewson told KMOX. …

“This is very important to our construction workers on city tax incentivized projects — they’ll be getting a fair wage and benefits on any of these projects,” said Alderwoman Sarah Martin, who sponsored the ordinance.

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Nassau legislators unanimously back Albany prevailing wage effort (NY)

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

In a bipartisan move, the county’s lawmakers endorse efforts to pay union wages and benefits to construction workers on building projects that receive tax breaks.

By James T. Madore
Updated May 24, 2019 7:45 PM

The Nassau County Legislature has unanimously backed a move in Albany to pay union wages and benefits to construction workers on building projects that receive tax breaks.

The endorsement comes as supporters and opponents of the higher rate, known as the prevailing wage, attempt to reach a compromise before the State Legislature ends its regular session on June 19.

The endorsement also is a rare show of bipartisanship in Mineola and provides a boost to unions that say real estate developers should be compelled to pay the prevailing wage on projects that win taxpayer aid from state or local governments.

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The prevailing wage bill “will ensure that the taxpayer-funded subsidies we are using to spur development also create strong, middle-class jobs for Long Island construction workers,” the Nassau lawmakers said in a May 8 letter to state Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins (D-Yonkers).

“It’s no secret that Long Island is an expensive place to live, and in Nassau County, the wages this legislation will codify give construction workers a quality of life they wouldn’t otherwise have,” states the letter signed by Presiding Officer Richard J. Nicolello (R-New Hyde Park), Minority Leader Kevan Abrahams (D-Freeport) and 17 other county lawmakers.

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Under current state law the prevailing wage must be paid to all workers, union and nonunion, on government-funded public-works projects such as roads, mass transit and schools. But that wage rate is not required for those employed on private construction projects aided by industrial development agencies or the state.

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