Tuesday, October 28, 2003
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Labor leader seeking changes

Johnson to file prevailing wages proposal Friday

Terry Johnson Labor commissioner will hold workshops on prevailing wages

Since he took office four years ago, Labor Commissioner Terry Johnson believes he has helped defuse "powder keg" issues over prevailing wages that contractors are required to pay for public works.

However, he's preparing to hold hearings on some of the same issues because he wants to make some temporary regulations permanent and fine-tune many of them.

Johnson described public works as possibly Nevada's second-biggest industry behind gaming. Public works has about $1.2 billion in expenditures yearly, probably more per person than in any other state because of Nevada's rapid growth.

"You can't have a billion-dollar industry that you lets run amok subject to the whims of the day," Johnson said.

The public works industry was in turmoil when he became labor commissioner in 1999, he said.

"By the time we got here, this thing was a powder keg ready to blow up," Johnson said.

Johnson said he will address his rules for contractors and what they pay workers for public contracts from city, county, school districts and the state. He also will review rules for public agencies themselves.

Prevailing wage laws, like the one in Nevada, require that workers on public works construction programs receive a minimum wage based on the prevailing practices in the community's construction industry.

As an example, Johnson mentioned fining the Lyon County school district $3,000 in July for failing to include prevailing wages in a project contract and other contract deficiencies.

The Lyon County case was not unusual. "It's something I'm quite frankly very tired of," Johnson said.

Johnson even fined the State Public Works Board $2,500 but waived the fine when the board agreed to do a better job of monitoring its contracts.

He noted that Clark County school district failed to file an amendment to prevailing wages for a contract at Vail Pittman Elementary School. Universal Electric then failed to comply with the amendment, but Johnson said the school contract omission didn't excuse Universal from following the prevailing wages as amended.

Johnson ordered the contractor to pay workers the prevailing wages, and a state District Court upheld his decision. In April, however, Universal appealed to the Nevada Supreme Court, where the case is pending.

Another contentious issue is whether labor unions should be allowed to file complaints against contractors who employ nonunion workers.

"I've got to make sure that this is not harassment or trying to organize a nonunion company," Johnson said.

However, in other cases, contractors employ undocumented workers who will not complain about compensation below prevailing wages. Johnson doesn't wish the lack of complaints from undocumented workers to allow this situation to prevent a review of a contractors' practices.

"I have to weigh this. I can't have these workers agree to substandard wages," he said. "I can't allow that to take place, because it cheats other employees."

Johnson also wants to make sure all contractors pay prevailing wages so some don't have unfair advantages.

"I have to keep that playing field level," Johnson said. Contractors that concentrate on finding cheapest labor are more likely to miss deadlines and do shoddy work than others, he said.

On Friday, Johnson plans to file new prevailing wages. He is confident the wages cited are correct based on a survey of the community.

He will hold a public workshop on proposed prevailing wages rules in Las Vegas at 10 a.m. Nov. 4 at the Sawyer Building, 555 E. Washington Ave., Room 4401. A similar workshop is slated for 10 a.m. Thursday at 788 Fairview Drive in Carson City.