Connecticut’s prevailing construction wage laws are not only good for workers and their families but also are a support leg in the state’s goal to widen its technology economy.
The study, “Impact of Prevailing Wages on the Economy and Communities of Connecticut,” was conducted by labor and economic policy experts from the University of Utah.
The Connecticut Construction Labor Management Council sponsored the study, now being used to deflect critics who advocate dismantling prevailing wage statutes.
The authors examined the impact of prevailing wage laws on the cost of pubic construction as well as the short and long-term consequences of prevailing wage on Connecticut’s economy and workforce.
Co-author Peter Philips, chair of the economics department at the University of Utah, said the typical benefits are obvious to Connecticut and other states with guidelines in place to ensure construction workers earn a decent wage for their skills: home ownership; paying property and income taxes; access to affordable health benefits.
But one other benefit accrues to a state like Connecticut, Philip said, that covets widening its economy to embrace technology, including biotechnology and bioscience.
That is a prevailing construction wage promotes establishment of apprenticeship programs that teach new skills, such as welding specialty metals, necessary to build research laboratories, clean rooms and other technology infrastructure.
“It not only creates skills through apprenticeship programs, but it also provides the economic incentive to retain those skills,” he said.
In a statement about the study, the construction council said some opponents have advocated for weakening the law or imposing a moratorium on prevailing wage in Connecticut. The study, using recent Connecticut data found that weakening or suspending the state’s prevailing wage law would:Â
- Cost the state $214 million to $432 million annually in lost income through lower construction sector earnings and reduced demand for local products and services Â
- Cause the state to lose $15 million to $31 million annually through reduced income tax and sales tax revenues
- Not achieve the hypothetical lower costs of public construction
“With the difficult fiscal and budgetary situation in Connecticut, it is important to have current data and the hard facts about how prevailing wage laws affect Connecticut’s economy and communities,” said construction council co-chair Benedict Cozzi.
