Back at the beginning of the pipeline project most of the construction companies brought workers up from the southern states to work at very low rates of pay. The State of Alaska stepped in and mandated that all workers had to be paid at the prevailing rate. Since it was no longer economical to import labor (and pay for transportation) local workers were finally able to compete for the high-paying jobs.
Those laws are still in effect.
Thanks for that information. Didn’t know about that.