It's only going to get worse: States Consider Repealing Prevailing Wage Laws

[liberal N proud]

Amid strong Republican gains in statehouses nationwide in recent years, debates over "right-to-work" legislation have generally been the most prominent union-related issues.

Union-heavy states Indiana and Michigan enacted such laws, which prohibit requirements that workers join a union as a condition of employment, in 2012. Now, lawmakers in those states and a handful of others are considering overhauling or eliminating another labor-supported policy: prevailing wage laws.

Prevailing wage laws require laborers on public works projects to be paid at the average wage — including benefits and overtime — of workers within that particular area. The Davis-Bacon Act has mandated such standards on federal projects since 1931, and many of the 32 current state prevailing wage laws have been on the books for decades.

http://www.mbtmag.com/news/2015/01/states-consider-repealing-prevailing-wage-laws?et_cid=4382859&et_rid=652347563&type=headline

[BainsBane]

1. We have been told repeatedly it makes no difference wheter the GOP or Dems are in office

because the Democrats are just as bad. Tell that to the workers whose wages will be lowered through this. Not that the country club set will lose any sleep over it.

[shenmue]

2. I live in a state with a Republican governor

You bet they want to kill wages. It's already bad enough as it is: in lots of towns, it's hard to find a job that is not retail or service. Those are exactly the jobs where the wages are low and getting lower... and you don't have any other choice.

[Bandit]

3. In Pennsylvania Democrats control the Legislature but voted right with Republicans

to strip Public Service Unions of their Collective Bargaining rights.