Prevailing Wage
Prevailing wage is the hourly rate, plus benefits, required by law to be paid for each trade or occupation while performing work on state-funded construction projects.
These projects can be highways, roads, wastewater treatment plants, JOBZ projects, public utilities, schools, parks and recreation improvements, or any other construction project funded in part or whole by state funds.
Minnesota's prevailing wage law (Minnesota Statutes 177.41 through 177.44) requires employees working on state-funded construction projects or other projects covered by law be paid wage rates comparable to wages paid for similar work in the area where the project is located.
Prevailing wage -- definitions of construction types
For purposes of wage rate determinations, the following definitions apply.
Commercial construction
"Commercial construction" means all building construction projects exclusive of residential construction.
Examples include: building construction for schools and universities; prisons, correctional facilities; office buildings; churches; warehouses; stores and shopping centers; restaurants; gas stations; etc.
Site work and parking/paving is considered commercial construction, for the purpose of prevailing wage, if included with the building contract. Parking ramps or parking lots for bus or light rail, in conjunction with terminals, is considered commercial construction.
Highway and heavy construction
"Highway and heavy construction" means all construction projects which are similar in nature to those projects based upon bids as provided under Minnesota Statutes, section 161.32 for the construction or maintenance of highways or other public works and includes roads, highways, streets, airport runways, bridges, power plants, dams, and utilities.
Examples include: waste water treatment plants; communication towers; solar or wind farms; wind towers; transmission towers; radio towers; coal, electric, gas, or other energy plants; athletic stadiums and fields; park shelters, playgrounds, and trails; parking lots and ramps (when not in conjunction with a commercial building contract). Site work for future or unplanned development is considered Highway/Heavy construction.
Residential construction or agricultural construction
"Residential construction or agricultural construction" means all construction, remodeling, or repairing of single or two family homes and structures appurtenant thereto including agricultural or farming buildings appurtenant to private farm residences when utilized to carry on primary farming operations.
For more information
Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry
Prevailing Wage unit
443 Lafayette Road N.
St. Paul, MN 55155
Phone: (651) 284-5091
E-mail: dli.prevwage@state.mn.us
A total of 31 states and the District of Columbia have prevailing wage laws. Such laws go back as far as 1891. The federal Davis-Bacon Act, on which many state laws are patterned, was signed into law in 1931.
A total of 31 states and the District of Columbia have prevailing wage laws. Such laws go back as far as 1891. The federal Davis-Bacon Act, on which many state laws are patterned, was signed into law in 1931.
Prevailing wage laws are based on the principle that taxpayer money should not be used to undercut the standard of living in a local community.
The Davis-Bacon Act, in fact, was drafted by a Republican Congressman and Republican senator, and signed by a Republican president, specifically for that purpose. It is designed to prevent unscrupulous contractors from winning bids by importing low-wage labor from outside the community.
Minnesota's law dates back only to 1973. The last major evaluation of its effectiveness was conducted in 1998 by the Department of Labor and Industry. That study, during the administration of Republican governor Arne Carlson, concluded: "…Not only is the prevailing wage legislation doing what it was intended to do, but absent such a provision, the effects are harmful to the industry and local economy."
Reprinted from an article by Michael Kuchta
Picket lines go up again February 24, 6:30AM
Submitted by JohnSee on Mon, 02/27/2012 - 9:08amOpposition is swelling against the use of underpaid workers who are erecting steel that will frame a Walmart Supercenter in Lakeville.
For a second consecutive Friday, action was taken near where the store is being built -- only this time brothers and sisters from many trade unions joined in a "Solidarity March" against the exploitation of the workers who are being paid substandard wages by subcontractor A.M.E. Construction of Wayzata. Read more »
Ironworkers rise up to expose untrained, underpaid workers at Lakeville Walmart site
Submitted by JohnSee on Fri, 02/17/2012 - 6:46amMore than 200 Iron Workers and supporters conducted an area standard picket at a construction site in Lakeville Friday, to call attention to the fact that unskilled and underpaid workers are erecting the steel for a Walmart Supercenter. Read more »
St. Croix River Crossing: Not an albatross, a necessity
Submitted by JohnSee on Thu, 01/12/2012 - 4:28pmAn opinion piece by Minnesota State Building and Construction Trades' President Harry Melander appeared in the January 12 issue of the Minneapolis StarTribune. An excerpt of "St. Croix River Crossing: Not an albatross, a necessity" is reprinted here. Read the entire editorial at StarTribune.com. Read more »
MPLS BUILDING TRADES GET VERBAL COMMITMENT FROM CALIFORNIA CONTRACTOR TO USE LOCAL UNION LABOR FOR MEDLINE PROJECT
Submitted by JohnSee on Mon, 11/28/2011 - 4:31pmAn October 19 protest by Minneapolis Building Trades members questioning the use of out-of-state, non-union labor for the Medline project in Rogers has produced a result.
A representative of the California-based contractor, Panattoni Construction, Inc., spoke on the phone November 7 with Dan McConnell, business manager of the Minneapolis Building and Construction Trades Council.
Robert Murray, the Panattoni representative, said he was working to direct any new contracts at the $15 million Medline distribution center in Rogers to local union contractors, McConnell reported. Read more »
Building Trades protest non-union construction associated with HCMC
Submitted by JohnSee on Wed, 10/19/2011 - 10:06pmMinneapolis Building Trades members are questioning how a facility associated with Hennepin County Medical Center – one of Minnesota’s leading publicly operated health institutions – can be built by a California company using non-union, out-of-state workers. Union members protested Wednesday at the site of the nearly completed, $15 million distribution center in an industrial park in Rogers. They carried signs and chanted, “Minnesota jobs for Minnesota workers!” Read more »
Judge mulls lawsuit over Idaho anti-union laws
Submitted by Tony DeAngelis on Thu, 06/30/2011 - 12:35pmBy REBECCA BOONE - Associated Press
The first law prohibits so called "project labor agreements" that require contractors to forge pacts with unionized workers as a condition of winning a government construction job. The second new law prohibits unions from using dues to subsidize member wages to help union-shop contractors win projects. The subsidies, known as job targeting programs, can reduce a union contractor's overall costs and allow it to submit a more competitive bid. Read more »
Prevailing Wisdom for Prevailing Wage
Submitted by JohnSee on Fri, 04/29/2011 - 11:44amState Council President Harry Melander, President, MN Pipe Trades Crimmins, and Prof. John Remington, Labor Educaiton Service, are featured in this video by Tom Niemisto, MN 2020, about the benefits of prevailing wage. In the continuing attack on Minnesota’s middle class, conservatives are now targeting prevailing wage laws which ensure construction workers are fairly paid on state-funded projects. Read more »
Proposal to Change Prevailing Wage Law
Submitted by Larry Casey on Thu, 04/21/2011 - 2:57pmThe Minnesota State Building Trades Council would like a large number of members and officers to attend a hearing that could weaken the state Prevailing Wage Law. The hearing will take place on Tuesday, April 26 at 2:30 p.m. in the conference committee room of the State Office Building (SOB). For additional information please call your local union.
AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust Invests $50 Million to Renovate 1,300 Housing Units in Minnesota
Submitted by JohnSee on Thu, 02/24/2011 - 2:46pm
The AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust (HIT) announced a $50 million commitment of union pension capital to finance the substantial rehabilitation of the historic Riverside Plaza apartment complex. The investment will modernize the 1,303 housing units at the aging Minneapolis landmark, with work on the $123 million project expected to generate an estimated 635 union construction jobs. Read more »
Laborers' Looman named DOLI assistant commissioner
Submitted by JohnSee on Mon, 01/31/2011 - 10:02amMinnesota Commissioner of Labor and Industry Ken Peterson has appointed Jessica Looman to the position of assistant commissioner for construction codes and labor standards. Looman has worked for the past 10 years as general counsel for the Laborers District Council of Minnesota and North Dakota. There she worked on issues including collective bargaining, prevailing wage and unemployment insurance. Read more »