In “The
razor blade in the apple” I ventured to dismiss Mr. Rauner’s proposal to exempt
local governments from the Prevailing Wage Act, which sets a locally controlled
floor for construction pay on taxpayer-funded projects as a way to lower local
government costs. I noted that construction is only a fraction of the cost of
public works, the cost of labor is only a fraction of the total cost of public
works construction and the difference between paying top local wages and paying
less than top is a fraction of labor costs of public works.
I am delighted to learn that some smart people agree
with me, thanks to this blog post by Curtis is a blogger for The Chicago Reporter. Black
cites recent comments by Frank Manzo of the Illinois Economic Policy
Institute, who makes the same point I did, and adds that because union
contractors typically bring more skilled workers and better equipment to the job,
they complete projects faster and thus actually save money compared to non-union
labor.
Links to Black’s article and to associated
papers on the topic are available here thanks
to Rich Miller at Capitol Fax.
This article appears in Jul 23-29, 2015.
