Jefferson Review

"Your Liberty is Our Interest"

Home /  Archives / Links / Quotes / Book Reviews / Advertise /Contact us / Subscribe / Calendar

LABOR FREEDOM: Santa Claus for Kentucky workers

Bluegrass Institute for Public Policy Solutions

Kentucky families will be hunting for bargains all over town this holiday season. They want the biggest bang for their buck and the best gifts for everyone on their list at the lowest cost. That way they can buy more things for more people and stay within their budgets.

That’s sound policy for Kentucky’s families. Unfortunately, state government isn’t doing the same thing.

By maintaining a prevailing wage law, Kentucky ensures that public projects will cost a lot more than necessary. Prevailing wage laws require common local wages to be paid for work done on all state projects.

However, the process used to determine this pay scale guarantees that the reported wage will nearly always be identical to union wages. Research by the Kentucky Legislative Research Commission indicates that the determined prevailing wage is consistently above wages paid on comparable private sector projects.

Forcing contractors to pay higher-than-normal wages eliminates any pricing advantage for non-union firms. It practically ensures that union shops get the lion’s share of state contracts.

Proponents say prevailing wage laws keep contractors from underbidding competitors by underpaying their employees. The truth is – the law amounts to nothing more than a subsidy for unions.

By supporting this benefit program for labor unions, Kentucky is making public school buildings more expensive to build. If contractors could price their labor at levels of their own choosing, more schools could be built for lower prices.

Prevailing wage laws cover projects like roads, schools and state office buildings. By eliminating this prevailing wage requirement, our state would save millions of dollars every year.

Kentucky families would never willingly pay more than necessary for their holiday gifts. They know better, and they hate wasting their hard-earned money. Our elected representatives should practice the same discretion.

Sources:

“An analysis of Kentucky’s prevailing wage laws and procedures,” Kentucky Legislative Research Commission

Kentucky Revised Statute 337.530

Weather (Louisville) / Mapquest /  White Pages / Business Search / CNN / Dictionary / E-card / MSN