MADISON, WI (WTAQ) – Private contractors for public works projects would no longer be guaranteed a prevailing wage, under a bill introduced Wednesday by Wisconsin Assembly Republicans.
The measure has been referred to the Assembly’s labor committee.
It would end a requirement that laborers, mechanics, truck drivers, and others who work on state and local highway and public works’ projects be paid the same amounts as similar projects.
The purpose was to keep companies from holding wages artificially low, so they could under-bid competitors for government projects. Local governments are already barred from setting their own prevailing wages.
The bill’s chief sponsor, Assembly Republican Rob Hutton of Brookfield, recently wrote that prevailing wage laws are essentially “wage fixing” — and those wages should be determined by the open market.
A spokesman for Senate Democratic Minority Leader Jennifer Shilling calls the bill misguided, and it would hurt small businesses and working families.
(Story courtesy of Wheeler News Service)