Preserving Our Pay

The past several years have brought more public attention to the role of the worker and, in many cases, we have also seen a power shift from the wealthy to the working class. Waves of unionization attempts are happening across the country, and workers are demanding better treatment.

And, of course, better treatment means better pay. Perhaps because of the power shift from the wealthy to the working class, there’s less talk about minimum wage, and more talk about living wages. The difference is significant. Minimum wage is a poverty wage, the lowest amount allowed to be paid to a worker as determined by law. In most parts of the country, the Federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour couldn’t even be called a survival wage. So of course, when the power is with the wealthy, the conversation is usually framed around the minimum wage – “how little can I get away with paying a desperate workforce?”

When the power is with the workers, however, the conversation is framed around a living wage. A living wage aligns with the promise of this country, the amount an individual or family would need to lift themselves out of poverty and create an avenue to the middle class. That path is at the heart of what our Union is all about.

These are not new concepts for Union Laborers – we have, in many states, Prevailing Wage laws, and at the Federal level there is the Davis-Bacon Act to protect base pay for Laborers. But this is not the case in ALL states. And furthermore, these protections are not guaranteed but coming under fire as these issues gain more attention. It’s important we understand the laws and why they provide important protections for all workers.

What is it?

The Davis–Bacon Act (1931) is a United States Federal law that establishes the requirement for paying the local prevailing wages on public works projects for construction workers. “Local” is considered the county in which the work is performed (so, the prevailing rate in a rural county is different from the rate in an urban county). It applies to “contractors and subcontractors performing on federally funded or assisted contracts in excess of $2,000 for the construction, alteration, or repair (including painting and decorating) of public buildings or public works.”

Federal Davis-Bacon law sets a wage floor for federal construction projects that prevents government spending from undermining local wages and living standards. Thirty-two states also have “Little Davis Bacon Acts” or state prevailing wage laws that apply to local government and state-funded construction projects.

Prevailing wage laws ensure that all contractors bidding on public construction projects will pay family-supporting wages, and that these projects will be built to the highest standards by skilled, safe, well-trained construction craftspeople. The projects built under the Davis-Bacon Act have stood the test of time while enabling generations of craftspeople to build better, stronger lives for themselves and their families.

The Davis-Bacon Act applies to all states, even if they don’t have prevailing wage laws for state-funded projects, and applies to almost all projects funded with Federal dollars.

Corporate interests and their (often) anti-Union advocates claim that Prevailing Wage/Davis-Bacon increases taxpayer costs, but numerous studies have shown it does not. Many studies show that, in fact, most of the work performed under Federal Davis-Bacon rules and State Prevailing Wage laws is more productive and of higher quality than those that are not. The truth is, many employers who oppose prevailing wages do so because they want to cut workers’ paychecks and pocket the pay-cuts as profits.

What is the current administration doing?

The Biden Administration and the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) is committed to enforcing prevailing wage laws and ensuring that workers are not short-changed of their hard-earned pay.

On October 23, 2023, the DOL updated regulations that implement the Davis-Bacon Act to better reflect the needs of workers on federal construction investments.

“Modernizing the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts is key to making sure that the jobs being created under the Biden-Harris administration’s Investing in America agenda are good jobs, and that workers get the fair wages and benefits they deserve …,” said Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su. “This updated rule will create pathways to the middle class for more families and help level the playing field for high-road employers because companies who exploit their workers, or who don’t pay workers fairly, should never have a competitive advantage” (emphasis added).

The fight is not over

Not surprisingly, not everyone is pleased. While the current administration is strengthening these laws and there is public support for increasing worker protections, many political leaders and groups want to take this power away and return it to the corporations and upper class. Conservatives and political think tanks will try to point to Prevailing Wage as a driver of inflated taxes, as a driver of the infrastructure deficit, and as a key component of government waste.

These bad political actors are even so brazen as to suggest that these policies hurt non-union employers, by “forcing them” to pay their workers enough to live, enough to support their families, enough to plan for retirement and help their children pursue their dreams.

Make no mistake, corporations and the billionaire class want to hold on to every dime they can, and they are prepared to fight for those dimes with every resource and nonsense argument at their disposal.

As LIUNA General President Brent Booker says in a recent video about Prevailing Wage, in the history of our Union nothing has been handed to us – “It’s up to us to continue the fight.”