Inflation drags U.S. wage gains
U.S. wages took a significant hike last year for some small groups of workers - including construction - but overall picked up only slightly for the vast majority of others, according to the U.S. Department of Labor's 2004 National Compensation Survey wage survey.

The survey, released this month, found that the average hourly wage for American workers in July 2004 was $18.09, up 1.9 percent from $17.75 in July 2003. However, those gains were wiped out by inflation, which advanced 3 percent during that time. The survey reported wages across 450 occupations and 81 million workers.

Organized labor and its think tank, the Economic Policy Institute, have for years been complaining that "American workers need a raise" because of small wage hikes and inflation in other areas, especially health care.

Viewed over a long time period - 1997-2004 - overall hourly wages for American workers increased 19.9 percent. But compare that next to the 17.7 percent inflation rate during that period, and real wages only advanced slightly.

A Sept. 15 article in the Wall Street Journal highlighted the disparity, first pointing out that wage gains outpaced inflation in the late 1990s. But "now that inflation has picked up and employers are holding the line on wages, 'workers are getting squeezed,'" said Jim Glassman, an economist at J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., to the Journal.

Brick masons were at the top of the list of wage increases between 1997 and 2004: they saw their pay increase a whopping 44.9 percent during that period.

In 2004, the average union wage was $22.18 per hour. The average nonunion wage: $17.21.

Safety added in to U.S. road bill
"We should soon see a boost in contract and job opportunities for signatory employers and our members," says Laborers General President Terence M. O'Sullivan, responding to President Bush's Aug. 11 signing of the long-awaited federal highway bill. "And, we are pleased to see that Congress made a special effort in the bill to strengthen work zone safety as well."

The $286.4 billion act funds all major transportation projects in the United States through fiscal year 2009. Its passage was delayed for a full year as Congress confronted the federal deficit and debated how to respond. About 79 percent of the new funding goes to highway projects, and 18.5 percent goes to transit.

About 2.5 percent is for safety issues and research. The budget for work zone safety training grants is set at $5 million per year and will address:

1. training construction craft workers on the prevention of injuries and fatalities in highway construction
2. developing guidelines for the prevention of work zone injuries and fatalities
3. training state and local government transportation officials and others that implement work zone injury prevention guidelines

"More importantly," said O'Sullivan, "for the first time, the legislation requires the use of 'proper temporary traffic control devices' to improve safety in work zones. This should limit work zone crashes and help control injuries."