September 6, 2005
Carpenters' Union Oppose Prevailing Wage
The State Building Trades is attempting to close a loophole that would allow developers to use the public's money for solar construction without paying prevailing wages.
The ambiguity exists because Senate Bill 1 (Murray) will mandate money to be transferred to the developer from a Solar Trust Fund established by the PUC and the California Energy Commission. The Solar Trust Fund will be funded through fees paid by all Californians based on their electricity usage.
The Carpenters' union has taken the extraordinary position of opposing prevailing wage and urging all Assembly Members to demand that the prevailing wage requirements be stripped out of SB 1.
Since 1937, prevailing wage has been required when construction is paid for in whole or part out of public funds.
Following is a statement by the Carpenters' lobbyist, Danny Curtin, sent to all Assembly Members:
"On behalf of the California Conference of Carpenters I urge you, in the strongest possible terms, to amend SB 1 by removing, not revising the so-called Labor amendments regarding 1) prevailing wage; 2) restricting solar installation to specific license categories, and; 3) superfluous Business Code language.
1) Requiring prevailing wages on any non-public use of MSRI Trust Funds is not a protection of prevailing wages; it is an improper use of government regulatory power that expands prevailing wage into the private sector construction marketplace. This is a major public policy shift with tremendous ramifications that go far beyond SB 1. In addition, this amendment was not discussed in policy committee. To attach a prevailing wage amendment of this magnitude to a critical environmental energy bill, especially without public review, is a mockery."