Robbie Hunter: Don’t mess with prevailing wage
State Building and Construction Trades Council President Robbie Hunter had a column posted today on the Los Angeles Daily News web site that punched back at recent anti-union commentaries that have criticized state and national prevailing wage laws.
“The idea behind the prevailing wage is to keep unscrupulous operators from low-bidding the legitimate competition to the detriment of the local workforce,” Robbie wrote. “The effect has been to allow blue-collar workers — 400,000 of whom are represented by the State Building and Construction Trades Council of California — to maintain their place in the American middle class.”
Robbie also defended Project Labor Agreements that have also come under attack by writers who say that they discriminate against nonunion contractors.
“Nonunion companies are more than welcome to compete for project labor agreements,” Robbie said. “Some of them, however, may not be able to meet PLA requirements for the higher-quality work that you get from the union workers who have completed four- or five-year state-approved apprenticeship programs.”