Massachusetts: Big Labor 2, Anndover Kids 0
According to the Eagle Tribune Online:
When it comes to a showdown between kids and labor unions, the administration of Gov. Deval Patrick knows where its loyalties are: with the unions, of course.
The state Department of Labor and Workforce Development last week refused to reconsider an earlier decision requiring the Andover Youth Foundation to pay prevailing wages when it builds the town's long-awaited youth center. Youth center supporters say decision is likely to add about 25 percent to the cost of the project, already pegged at $6 million to $7 million. The increased costs mean the project is on hold while the youth foundation members meet with selectmen to try to hash out a new contract.
The prevailing wage law requires the payment of state-set wages to workers on public projects. The wages are based on union labor rates in the area.
The question at issue here is: Does the privately financed youth center qualify as a "public project?"
Under the administration of former Gov. Paul Cellucci, the state had ruled that the Andover Youth Foundation would not have to pay prevailing wages on its plan to build a youth center on Greenwood Road...click to continue.
