The case for raising construction industry wages was made a little more strenuously last month in an analysis of nationwide pay trends from 1991-2000.

Information released by the Construction Labor Research Council shows that with inflation taken into account, wages and fringe benefits in the nation's unionized construction rose just $1.12 an hour during that 10-year period.

In 1991 in the U.S, the average unionized construction workers' wages and fringes amounted to $24.51 per hour. Fast forward to 2000, where the actual average wage and fringe level had risen to $32.33 per hour. However, when you factor in an average annual increase of 2.6 percent in the cost of living during that decade, the average construction union member earned only slightly more than Hardhats earned in 1991.

"All the data presented in this article leads to one conclusion: construction pay falls behind industries with which it competes for badly needed workers," said Cockshaw's Newsletter, an impartial industry observer. "That's why both the union and open shop sectors must urgently address a critical question: How do you expect to attract and retain qualified workers when pay and benefits neither match key competitive industries - nor adequately compensate for difficult working conditions?"

Workers in the U.S. manufacturing industry are paid an average of 69 cents more per hour than construction workers - and those employees enjoy paid vacation, sick time and holidays. Michigan's unionized construction workers are ahead of the game when it comes to pay increases. According to the research council, the first year of collectively bargained contracts covering Michigan's unionized construction workers averaged an increase of 4.3 percent, or $1.39 per hour in 2000 - 6 cents per hour more than any other state. On top of that, Michigan's unionized Hardhats also received second-year average wage increases of $1.45 per hour, or 4.2 percent, again tops in the nation.

On average, Michigan construction workers' collective bargaining contracts beat out the national averages by two-tenths of a percent for both 2000 and 2001.