Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, February 25, 1995 TAG: 9502280004
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-9 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ROBERT H. MYERS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
It's the height of hypocrisy for Will and other radical conservatives to suggest that this act is discriminatory against minorities. They aren't exactly stalwart supporters of civil rights or affirmative action. The act is supported by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People as well as Native American, Latino and women's groups because opportunities for minorities are made possible through apprenticeship and training programs.
Let's look beyond that, though, to what the act actually is and does. It's a prevailing-wage law, and is determined by an area survey of the Department of Labor for each construction craft. It is not automatically the union scale as Will asserts. In fact, in nearly three out of four communities, the prevailing wages aren't based on union wages and benefits at all.
In the Roanoke area, for example, the Davis-Bacon determination for carpenters is $8.62 an hour (plus 63 cents for fringes); for electricians, $8.40 an hour (plus 89 cents fringes); laborers, $5.59 an hour. These are only a few trades' wage rates, but the point is that they aren't close to union scale for journeymen craftsmen. In fact, some of the wage rates are hopelessly low, a discouragement to anyone who otherwise might be attracted to the construction industry.
Even when the rates are as much as or close to union scale, unscrupulous contractors find ways around the determinations. Knowing there's little or no penalty for violating the act (in the remote chance they're caught), they make their lower-classified workers do the recognized tasks of higher-paid journeymen. It's a common practice, for example, to find workers hired as laborers at the laborers' scale doing the work of carpenters, ironworkers, pipe fitters and even electricians with no additional compensation.
Davis-Bacon doesn't need to be repealed; it needs to be strengthened. In fact, local and state governments should protect their working citizens' standard of living by having their own version of the Davis-Bacon law. It would protect a community's standard of living from cutthroat, out-of-state, low-wage labor, and enrich our economy by maintaining the purchasing power of residents who keep local, small businesses thriving. It would also stop the drain of skilled craftsmen that's currently taking place. Young people won't be attracted to the construction industry as it exists now with long hours at mediocre pay, benefits and little, if any, training outside union programs.
While Will's purported savings are the result of statistical manipulations, we know firsthand what will happen if Davis-Bacon is repealed. Over 20 years, 12 states have repealed local prevailing wage laws resulting in:
A severe and rapid decline in workers' wages and benefits.
Reduced or eliminated apprenticeship-training opportunities.
A decline in the availability of skilled workers.
An increase in deaths and injuries on construction sites.
I'm often puzzled by our political leaders who try to sell their area to business by selling out their working citizens. Are we supposed to be proud as a region to entice a prospective employer with a work force that doesn't expect good wages and benefits?
At least the Davis-Bacon Act takes steps to protect one segment of the blue-collar work force by maintaining a base standard. Repeal of Davis-Bacon would be a mistake, and all construction workers, union and nonunion alike, would suffer as a result.
Robert H. Myers is president of Southwestern Virginia Building and Construction Trades Council, AFL-CIO, in Roanoke.
by CNB