The
Davis-Bacon Act, at both the federal and state levels, was designed to outlaw
wage exploitation in public construction contracts by preventing the
undercutting of local standards.
Because
public works contracts go to the lowest bidder, lawmakers decided it was in the
best interest of the government and working families to make sure tax dollars
are not spent on fly-by-night contractors that pay substandard wages to obtain
contracts. So “prevailing wage”
standards are set by scientific surveys of actual wages paid in local
communities, and anyone awarded a government contract must pay at least those
prevailing wages.
Critics say they are outdated Depression-era laws that force the government to pay more than is necessary. But those who would throw out or weaken prevailing wage laws have failed to succeed. A 1996 vote on whether the federal Davis-Bacon Act should be repealed, failed 60 to 40 in the Republican-controlled U.S. Senate.
Legislative History
1987 - HB 95 removed the “turn-key” loophole
where some agencies avoided paying prevailing wages by “leasing” a project
until it had been completely built, then the key was turned over to the agency.
It passed the House and Senate, and was signed into law.
o 1989 -
SSB 5822, said to “reform” state prevailing wage laws, actually gutted
them completely. Although it passed out of committee, it never came to a vote in the
Republican-controlled Senate.
o 1990 - SSB 6168 would have undercut legitimate
apprenticeship programs by allowing prevailing wage exemptions for
“apprentices” who weren’t registered with the Washington State Apprenticeship
and Training Council. It passed the Senate on a party-line vote,
but died in committee in the House.
o
1993 - HB 1219 put some teeth into state prevailing wage laws by creating a
dedicated fund for their enforcement. The bill passed and was signed into law.
o
1994 - HB 2388 barred contractors with a history of repeat violations of
prevailing wage laws from participating in public works for five years.The bill was passed and was signed into law.
o
1995 - HB 1010 touted as “regulatory reform” threatened to remove or restrict
the state’s ability to enforce prevailing wage laws. The bill passed both houses,
but the governor vetoed the prevailing-wage sections.
Facts & Figures
Construction
workers averaged about $578 a week, or $30,058 a year in 1995 if they are fortunate enough to work 50
weeks a year - a rarity in construction.
Critics
claim Davis-Bacon results in discriminatory hiring practices and lower wages
would create more opportunities for minorities and women. But a University of Utah study of nine
states that repealed their Davis-Bacon laws showed a major decrease in minority
enrollment for apprenticeship programs, from 20% to 12.5%. The NAACP and other civil rights groups have
expressed unequivocal support for Davis-Bacon.
The
same study of those nine states showed a 15% increase in serious injuries after
Little Davis-Bacon repeal and an increase of 12% in lost work days.
After
Utah repealed its Little Davis-Bacon law in 1981, cost overruns on state
financed roads tripled over the next decade.
A
Federal Highway Administration study comparing the total costs of building
public highways in 26 states over a 14-year period found:
Higher
wages translate into higher productivity and lower costs. High-wage states with Davis-Bacon laws
(average wage $17.65 per hour) built highways for 18% less than low-wage states
(averaging $9.76 an hour).
Low-wage
states required many more labor hours to build a mile of highway. That pushed the cost per mile to $1.4
million, compared with $1.1 million in high-wage states.
When
our tax dollars are spent on public construction, family-wage jobs should be
maintained or created, and superior work should be expected.
“Low-balling”
contractors that pay substandard wages are more likely to have less-experienced
or poorly trained workers (and often ship them in from out-of-state). We should not reward them with public
contracts.
There
is no evidence that prevailing wage laws result in higher costs for the
government, in fact studies show they save
money.
Local
32 will aggressively oppose attempts to weaken our state’s “Little Davis-Bacon”
law or to exempt certain public projects from prevailing wage standards. When contractors compete on the basis of
skill and productivity, we all benefit. When they compete to have the lowest
wages or labor standards, we all lose.
This Position Paper was produced by the Political Action Committee
of UA Local 32.
Send all Questions and/or Comments to Wayne Stedman,
UA32PAC Chair by clicking on this link.