north metro

Prevailing wage laws simply force contractors to compete with skill and productivity rather than by how little they can pay their employees. I think we can all agree that Minnesota is better off keeping local contractors and local workers busy working on Minnesota projects. It all has to do with fairness. The prevailing wage is set and now go ahead and compete. Who can do the job the best... not the cheapest.

Who appointed the Teamster President to the Met Council? Let's have the fox guard the hen house. It's crazy...God Bless the County Commissioners for doing the right thing and tousing out prevailing wage. Now if only Hennepin County and the City of Minneapolis could get it's act together maybe we could start turning our public finances from running in the red to black. While we're at it let's turn Minnesota into a Right to Work state. Let's have the word "Liberty" actually mean something and throw out the bankrupt system of union extortion, that might still fly in Sicily but this is America, the home of the FREE!

I guess the union doesn't know the prevailing wage no longer prevails. I know, I'm a union contractor. I lose jobs to non union every day. I can't compete on many jobs because I'm paying union wage It might seem like I'm going against myself, but I remember the unions getting at least $2 an hour increase every year for many years . In good times the unions get raises that are big, and thats all good. But when things tank concessions are imposssible to get. So contractors are left to compete companies that pay their employees much less. Being from anoka county I applaud the commisioners decision.

I work for a mom and pop, non union, painting company. It should be noted here that these "prevailing wages" are typically inflated and absurdly high for the quality of work you're getting in return. We pay our foremen around $25/hr, while a general union taper, as in the worker at one of the lowest available painting tasks, asks us for at least $28/hrcplus full medical and dental insurance in job apps. The unions want to know why they're losing work, they should look no further than their own over priced labor force, and their thug bosses at the top getting paid dues to shift paperwork and intimidate legitimate small businesses.

I live in Anoka County and I know this decision by the Anoka County Board was a good one overall for everyone in the county. Now, EVERYONE who works in the construction business can compete for jobs, not just union contractors. "Prevailing wage" is only computed using union wages on similar projects and adds 30-40% to the cost of any job. It also locks out non-union contractors. I applaud the Anoka County commissioners for deciding to be FAIR TO ALL CONTRACTORS AND WORKERS, and not limiting competition.

The argument that prevailing wage and union workers produce better quality work and are more productive is a LIE told by unions. I know plenty of non-union workers who do better work, faster than their "take your time" union counterparts, who get paid high wages for less work. I was a union carpenter for 14 years and was told often to slow down, save work for tomorrow.

I guess what their saying is that the workers are getting to rich so cut their wages back. I don't know any wealthy workers, just middle class workers. If this is all about saving money on projects will there be verified cuts in profits allowed to operators of these businesses or does the "savings" all come out of the pockets of the middle class?

Climategate- what are you talking about? I worked for a non-union construction firm for years and we bid on and recieved plenty of work that paid prevailing wage. Anyone is allowed to bid on and recieve the work, they are just required to pay a specified wage.

I live in Anoka County and I know this decision by the Anoka County Board was a good one overall for everyone in the county. "Prevailing wage" is only computed using union wages on similar projects and adds 30-40% to the cost of any job.

I live in Anoka County and am chagrined as we watch what was a forward-thinking, progressive County Board transformed into a backward-looking, regressive bunch. One which brings the mentality that hitching posts in front of the Government Center -- the "good, old days" -- is just fine.