Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's administration earlier this month began to survey union contractors about what they pay employees in an attempt to set a prevailing wage for state contracts moving forward.
The survey sent by the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity wage and hour division asked unions to provide information on prevailing wage and fringe benefits that were in place 60 days prior to survey completion.
The survey asks the unionized groups to list rates by employee classification and geographic areas and to provide copies of the collective bargaining agreement in which those rates were set.
The emailed survey appears to be the first concrete action the Whitmer administration has taken to implement the prevailing wage policy she announced Oct. 7 — a signal the governor is "really going to put this in play," said Jimmy Greene, president for Associated Builders and Contractors of Michigan, which represents most non-union contractors in Michigan.
The group has been watching how the policy is implemented as it mulls possible legal action to challenge the policy.
"We really know what the cost of construction is now," Greene said. "But you implement prevailing wage and you’re right back to artificially inflated costs.”
The same survey process was used to establish prevailing wage for decades prior to the law's repeal in 2018, said Jason Moon, a spokesman for the Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity. It was sent Nov. 4 to the president of the Michigan...
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