Why Not Double the Prevailing Wage?

Michigan Capitol Confidential ^ | 1/26/2015 | Jarrett Skorup

[MichCapCon]

Michigan’s prevailing wage law sets an arbitrary mandate for what public entities (like schools) have to pay for construction projects.

Top Republicans in Lansing rightly want to eliminate these mandates, as the Mackinac Center has recommended for years. This is estimated to save taxpayers more than $200 million per year.

Democrats disagree with the proposed changes.

"It's extremely disappointing that the first priority of Republicans is to lower wages and have people work for less," said House Minority Leader Tim Greimel, D-Auburn Hills. "It's just another example of Republicans' relentless push for cheap labor."

But if government can set an arbitrary rate that raises wages with no harm to taxpayers or public schools that have to pay for them, why doesn’t the state double the prevailing wage rate?

The reason is that there are real costs to Michigan’s prevailing wage policy. Because of it, taxpayers get fewer government services than they would otherwise. Eliminating this extra cost would mean taxpayers could get that new school and afford new laptops for students. Or taxpayers could finance a new city hall and fill hundreds of potholes.

Michigan residents don’t set arbitrary rates on what they are going to pay for projects they have done on their own homes. Schools and local governments shouldn’t be forced to either.

[gwjack]

I’ve got an idea; Let’s double everyone’s income. Then those on minimum wage will have twice as much (in theory) without hurting others. W/sarc

[Raycpa]

Perhaps the higher cost saves money by deterring large government building projects.

[mykroar]

I say triple it. I’m nicer than you.

[Yosemitest]

Minimum-wage increase proposals are NOT about minimum wages.
It's about UNION wages (read government employees mostly) and UNION DUES.
Like "Artie" on another thread wrote.

"but my theory is that
this is one of the foundations of single payer.
Down the road, as single payer replaces ObamaCare,
all healthcare workers will become in essence government employees.
Think about how many thousands of new, dues paying union members will magically become part of the SEIU.

Barry had sealed this deal with Andy Stern years ago.
Barry promised Andy and the SEIU thousands of new members,
Andy says
great,
this is the wage structure we need
so we can pay the slush fund.
Gotta pay a living wage to all of the new union members
so dues can be extracted
and kickbacks to the dems can be made.
It’s convoluted
but what dem scheme isn’t,
especially when large sums of cash are involved?"

So read the following:

Union Support Of Minimum Wage Hike Is Self-Interested

Mary Kay Henry, president of the Service Employees International Union, ... was quick to emphasize that her organization's support of a more-than-twofold increase in the minimum wage was "not about growing unions."

This may be true — but it's also undeniable that such a move would have a profound impact on growing union paychecks, even if those unions don't count a single minimum-wage employee in their ranks.

The fine print can be found in union contracts. Each year, the Department of Labor's Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS) releases a number of union collective bargaining agreements (CBAs).

Unsurprisingly, many CBAs available in the OLMS database LINK union salaries and wage rates to the federal minimum wage. There are a number of methods that unions use to accomplish this end. The two most popular appear to be setting baseline union wages as a percentage above the minimum wage, and mandating a flat wage at a set level above the minimum wage.

One example is a series of CBAs signed with the Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees (UNITE). Their contracts mandated that
"(w)henever the federal legal minimum wage is increased, minimum wage (in the agreement) shall be increased so that each will be at least fifteen (15%) percent higher than such legal minimum wage."

There's also an SEIU local's contract, which ordered that
"(t)he minimum hourly wage rates shall exceed any statutory applicable minimum wage rate by 50 cents."

Some unions have also arranged contracts where the employer MUST renegotiate their contracts in case of a minimum-wage hike, NO MATTER HOW LONG is left on the pact's life span.

The possibility for abuse here is staggering:
Unions with average wages WELL ABOVE the minimum wage CAN INSERT such clauses into their contracts, FORCING negotiations in industries not otherwise affected by a wage hike.

Given the limited number of CBAs available in the OLMS database, it's impossible to determine just how widespread this practice is.

But at least one union has trumpeted this arrangement as "one of the many advantages of being a union member."

Earlier this year on its blog, the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union proudly boasted that "oftentimes, union contracts ARE TRIGGERED TO IMPLEMENT WAGE HIKES IN CASE OF MINIMUM WAGE INCREASES."

This is a stunning admission of SELF-INTERESTt for an organization that's actively PUSHING minimum-wage hikes at both the state and federal levels of government.

It also raises questions about unions' growing use of nonunion "worker centers" like the Restaurant Opportunities Center, OUR Walmart, Fast Food Forward and other organizations that have made headlines in recent months.

These groups advocate many policies that would affect those businesses that pay a minimum wage — restaurants, retailers, etc. — and a minimum-wage hike is often the FIRST demand that these union front groups make. This only casts further suspicion on the motives of the labor unions funding these groups.

No matter how you look at it, the benefits that these unions stand to reap from a minimum-wage hike should raise questions about their real motives — and whether they're only manipulating the debate over fast-food wages for their own benefit.

Berman is the executive director at the Center for Union Facts.

[Vince Ferrer]

Double it. Then eliminate the income tax and replace it with a sales tax. That will keep the illegals out.

[Rodamala]

QUADRUPLE IT... I AM NICER.

[17th Miss Regt]

There may be a lot of truth to that.

[17th Miss Regt]

There may be a lot of truth to that.

[Fzob]

What they should do is to keep the prevailing wage laws but at a lower wage, keeping in line with the true market wages that have been lowered by the pathetic Obama economy.

[Sasparilla]

Unions like to see increases in minimum wage and prevailing wage because their pay is indexed on those. When they go up, so does union pay. Its a no brainer for them.

[Mastador1]

Actually it’s the unions that want the prevailing wage across America, that way non union companies have a harder time competing on government jobs because they have to pay their employees wages approximating union scale. I loved it when our company got prevailing wage jobs but because we were a small outfit we couldn’t compete with large unionized contractors.

[PGR88]

I would like to make everyone’s wage above average.

[gusty]

Since prevailing wages are for government work, guess who gets to pay for all the largesse, yes, the sucker taxpayer. I’m in construction, for the same work, Private schools pay a fraction of what the public schools pay

[TonyM]

Now matter what anyone else suggest I say why not double that. Then I can pay off my mortgage and all credit debt with my next paycheck.

[5th MEB]

To hell with that. Give ME all the money and let the lazy and stupid die of hunger in the cold and the dark.

[caddie]

Why not halve the prevailing minimum wage?

Kids today can't add.

They have no work ethic whatsoever.

All they do is complain.

They take off work to be hung over, pregnant, high, and malinger back pain, etc.

They want Saturdays off.

They are too bratty to deal with customers in a service setting.

In other words, they don't deliver like minimum wage kids of the years 1850-1950.

And bosses of today have to wet-nurse and diaper them until they are productive employees.

Seems more fair to me to halve the prevailing minimum wage.