Artificial wages
Service on a governor’s prevailing-wage task force revealed a different picture than that presented by Fowler Mayor Pro-Tem Daniel Parra’s recent op-ed.
Mr. Parra proposes that prevailing-wage regulations promote local economic growth and employment.
The prevailing-wage regulation pertains to projects using taxpayer funds, requiring payment of the highest specific wage rate paid to the most individuals in the locality. But under the regulation, Fresno is frequently defined as part of the San Francisco Bay Area. Because union contracts establish a single wage rate for multiple workers, the union rate in the Bay Area becomes the mandated Fresno area prevailing wage, even if the individuals covered by the union contract are but a small percentage of similar Fresno area workers.
The wage required on Fresno area projects is rarely ever Fresno’s prevailing wage, but rather an imported, artificial wage. This reduces the dollars available for local public projects and distorts the local labor market, creating a two-tier system of workers and compensation.
As originally intended, the prevailing-wage program helped address important local labor equities. Today’s regulation appears primarily designed to benefit a few at the expense of many.
Harvey D. Harrison, Fresno
This story was originally published May 28, 2015 at 9:32 AM with the headline "Artificial wages."