Congress upholds prevailing wage
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Every now and then, a vote comes up in our nation's capitol that measures support for the Davis-Bacon Act, which is the single most important law affecting construction worker wages.

The most recent vote took place on March 9, when an amendment failed to strip Davis-Bacon/prevailing wage provisions from a $14 billion clean water construction bill. The vote on the House amendment was defeated 280-140, and included support from 50 Republicans.

"The anti-worker amendment was defeated soundly because a bi-partisan majority of Representatives clearly recognized that prevailing wage protections rightfully belong in this legislation," said AFL-CIO Building Trades Department President Edward Sullivan. "We are hopeful that this is just the first of many victories for American workers in this new pro-worker Congress."

The attempt was made to add the anti-prevailing wage amendment to H.R. 720, the Water Quality Financing Act of 2007. It's a $14 billion reauthorization bill that will fund tens of thousands of construction jobs on projects that will improve water quality in the U.S.

Even with complete Republican control of Congress and the presidency earlier this decade, the federal prevailing wage law was never seriously threatened. As evidenced by the clean water amendment vote, a significant bloc of Republican lawmakers have seen the value of prevailing wage in upholding pay standards for construction workers.

"We are hopeful that this is just the first of many victories for American workers in this new pro-worker Congress," Sullivan said.

Solid gains for worker wages
The average hourly wage/benefit rate for all union construction workers is $42.64 as of Jan. 1, 2007, according to the Construction Labor Research Council via the Construction Labor Report.

Last year, wages and benefits in the organized construction sector rose 4.2 percent for all trades - a rate which is historically on the high end and "marked a reversal of three years of declines in the rate of escalation," according to the report. Wage/benefit settlements in the next two years are also expected to be in that higher end. Those rates reflect average increases of $1.85 each year.

Hikes expected in material costs
Washington, D.C. - While building trades labor prices go up (see above), construction material costs are taking a hike, too.

The March 15 Producer Price Index from the U.S. government showed construction materials and components only rose 0.1 percent in February. But Ken Simonson, chief economist for the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC), said earlier this month that steel and diesel fuel costs are among the "notable price increases" that have taken place since that report was released.

For example, he said by April 1, structural and reinforcing steel are expected to increase by nearly 40 percent compared to the beginning of the year.

"These steel increases are roughly as extreme as in early 2004, the year that kicked off a three-year binge of materials cost escalation," Simonson said. "This year, as in 2004, price hikes for other materials, such as diesel fuel and asphalt, are going to hit construction especially hard."