(THE STATE OF WISCONSIN) - With Right-To-Work (For Less) in Their Rear View, Wisconsin Republicans are Winding Up to Repeal Prevailing Wage - the Law That Ensures Fair Pay for Construction Workers - and a Newly-Released Report From the Anti-Union Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) Group and the Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance (WTA) Could Factor Mightily in Their Wage-Crushing Campaign. 

The Report Suggests That in 2014 Wisconsin Could Have Saved $299 Million if the Prevailing Wage Was Determined in a Different Manner.  However, a Review of the Work From University of Utah Professor Peter Phillips Suggests the Report’s Findings are Dubious and Notes Most Studies Show Prevailing Wage Repeal Produces No Cost-Savings for Taxpayers.

Phillips Also Suggests the Basis of the Figures in the ABC-WTA Report is Faulty: They Argue the Prevailing Wage is Too High Because the Department of Workforce Development (DWD) Gets a High Percentage of Wage Survey Results From Union Shops, Despite a 25% Union Penetration Rate in Wisconsin.  Phillips says That Figure is Actually 57% When it Comes to Prevailing Wage-Centric Work.

The Bills in Question, Assembly Bill 32 and Senate Bill 49, are Predictably Disliked by Unions and Democrats Who View Them as Part of a Politically-Charged Attack On Middle Class Wages and Workers’ Rights. 

But Opposition is Not Reserved to the Left.

Life-Long Republican and Former President of the International Contractors Employers of BAC, Fred Kinateder, Explained the Reality of SB 49 in a Letter Beseeching Senator Paul Farrow to Oppose the Effort.  Kinateder says When he Started His Masonry Company he Decided to Go Union Because he Believed it Would Offer the Most Training and Benefits to His Employees.  But Now he Wonders if the Next Generation of Workers Will be Properly Trained: SB 49 is a Direct Assault On the Building Trades Unions and Therefore Our Training Programs.  This Anti-Union Hysteria is Not Going to Make Wisconsin a Better Place to Live.  Not Having a Trained Workforce is Not Going to Improve the Middle Class in Our State.  Labor and Management Have a System to Negotiate Our Labor Agreements and Administer Our Training Programs - and it Works.  Why Does the State Want to Undermine a System That Works?  I am 60 Years Old and I Have Been a Lifelong Republican.  I Have Seen Many Changes Over the Years, Not All of Them for the Better.  Passage of This Bill Would Certainly Be a Change for the Worse, But Worse Than That - I Would Find it Very Difficult to Ever Vote Republican Again.

Wisconsin Contractor Coalition Spokesman Steve Lyons Voiced His Opposition to AB 32 and Questioned the ABC-WTA Study as Well.  Lyons Addressed ABC Claims in an Earlier Op-Ed in Which They Reject the Safety Concerns Surrounding These Bills: To Put it in the Most Basic Terms, Trained Construction Workers are Safe Construction Workers.  The More Training and Expertise, the Safer the Work Environment.  Where Safety Matters, Training’s Essential. And Where Prevailing Wage Has Been Repealed, Training Drops to Dangerously Unsafe Levels. When Kansas Repealed its Prevailing Wage in 1987, Construction-Apprenticeship Training Fell by 38%.  When Colorado Repealed its Prevailing Wage in 1984, Construction-Apprenticeship Training Fell by 42%.

It’s Already Been Revealed the National Push to Repeal the Prevailing Wage is Being Led by Dark Money Think Tanks and ALEC Model Legislation.

These are Familiar Bedfellows of the ABC, So the Situation in Wisconsin Should Not Come as a Surprise.

However, it Should Spark Outrage.

Sadly, if Recent Events are Any Indication, the Will of the People Won’t be a Factor for Republican Decision-Makers in Dairy Land.

You Can Read This Labor News Story in its Entirety at: http://wepartypatriots.com/wp/2015/03/31/anti-union-assoc-builders-contractors-release-dubious-study-supporting-wi-prevailing-wage-repeal/