Delaware’s wage laws are part of a broken process

A recent Delaware Voice, titled “Dispelling Misconceptions about Right to Work laws,” by State Representatives Michael Mulrooney and Edward Osienski, disregarded the facts of the prevailing wage issue.

No one opposes any worker from fair compensation for their skill and service. The current prevailing wage structure does not provide fair wages. The political rhetoric sounds good, the reality is something quite different. Here are facts from the Delaware Division of Labor.

First, is how the minimum wage is determined. A survey is sent to businesses annually to report their prevailing wage. Only a small percentage of businesses respond to the survey and wages can be inflated and not necessarily be reflective of what workers are actually paid. If you solicit bids for projects; two estimates are given, one with and one without prevailing wage. Therefore, at the same shop, on a state job a worker will be paid the prevailing wage, but on a private project that same worker would be paid their normal salary. The shop is paying the true prevailing wage on most projects; state jobs provide a bonus. Prevailing wage adds at least 30 percent to every state project.

Second, is the inequity of the prevailing wage. Wages are determined by county (New Castle, Kent and Sussex). Here are some examples, if you are an asbestos worker, on a state project in Kent County you would be paid $18.60/hour, but in Sussex you would be paid $40.43, as a boiler maker in Kent your wage is $30.73, in New Castle it is $71.87, a plumber is paid $74 in New Castle and $17 in Sussex.

Prevailing wage also varies drastically between the three state labor categories, building construction, highway construction and heavy construction. For example, depending on the county and category, the prevailing wages per hour for a bricklayer can range from $22 to $48, an electrical line worker, $21 to $63, an iron workers, $24 to $59, a millwright, $13 to $63, a piledriver $24 to $69 and a sheet metal worker $17 to $63.

As a glazier, in Kent the wage is $65.60, but in Sussex its $20.15 if the project is building construction. If the project is part of heavy construction, that same glazier is paid $16.96 in Kent and $11.49 in Sussex and. So what is the prevailing wage for a glazier? It can be anything from $11 to $65, how is this representative of a fair prevailing wage? Delaware is a small state geographically, what justifies this wide a range?

Third, the prevailing wage is inequitable between trades. A laborer’s prevailing wage in most categories is $40/hour, a more skilled tradesmen such as a plasterer has wages as low as $11 per hour, plumber, $17, a sprinkler fitter is $10, a roofer is $16, and a bricklayer is $14.50.

Another example of the impact prevailing wage has is for non-profits raising funds for capital projects. Many non-profit Friends groups try to help make up for the funding shortfalls ($100 million backlog for Delaware State Parks) at State and County Parks. Many of these projects are for Park safety and preservation of historic structures. For example, The Friends of Bellevue are in the process of raising funds for the repairs to the deteriorating Parsonage and Meeting House, with cost estimates of $150,000. They must add 30 percent to the project to cover prevailing wage, since this is required for any repairs in excess of $15,000. Friends gladly pay fair labor costs, but because labor in New Castle may be two to four times that of other counties, they can do far less.

This is not a party issue, Republican vs. Democrats, it is a broken process that we need to have our Representatives fix not defend. If the political allegiances will not allow this, perhaps a compromise to raise the threshold to $100,000 for repair work and $500,000 for new construction or at the very least, exempt non-profits from the statute.

The present prevailing wage system affects all Delawareans since most state projects are paid through your taxes. The prevailing wage calculation process is egregiously flawed. It is not a reflection of the true workforce wage market. It is unfair to the workers and to the taxpayers.

Wilma Yu is vice president of Yu Consultants Inc. and president of Friends of Bellevue State Park and a founding member of Friends of Delaware State Parks.