CHARLESTON, W.Va. – At least 100 West Virginia contracting companies have written to state senators opposing the repeal of the state's prevailing wage law, according to state lawmakers.

Many of the letters say the law keeps local contractors on a level playing field with out-of-state firms.

John Strickland, president of the Maynard C. Smith Construction Co. of Kanawha City, says the prevailing wage has given West Virginia contractors space to develop a skilled and productive workforce.

He says without it there's nothing to stop outside companies from bringing in out-of-state, minimum-wage workers – and undercutting 300 to 400 local businesses.

"Local contractors and a road contractor from out of state will compete, and we won't be on a level playing field,” he points out. “So the local contractor will loose that project."

Supporters of repeal say it could reduce building costs on public projects – although several studies have found it would actually lower quality and raise costs in the long run.

The Senate is likely to vote on the measure this week.

Some of the letters argue that the state would lose more in lower income tax revenue and higher public assistance costs than it could hope to gain in reduced construction costs.

One separate study projected as much as $80 million a year in lost taxes.

Another found the wage enough to keep many from relying on programs such as food stamps.

Dan Tennant, sales manager for Kalkreuth Roofing, the nation's sixth-largest roofing company, says he applauds state lawmakers for trying to save taxpayer money.

But he says an Ohio County journeymen roofer only makes $28 an hour under the prevailing wage – more like $18 an hour once you count down time.

"No one's getting rich in the trades,” he maintains. “If they're careful with their money, they can make a nice living. But the important thing to know is none of them are on public assistance."

A report by the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy found if you include quality and productivity, prevailing-wage work here costs less than non-prevailing wage work in neighboring states.

And Tennant says that's actually why Ohio is moving to put a prevailing wage more in place, just as West Virginia is considering its repeal.

"One of the things driving Ohio's decision to allow Prevailing Wage was the poor quality of the schools that were being built," he states.





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Women of color working in health care are the most likely to lose out on wages they have earned because employers fail to pay what they owe, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

Investigations have found 80% of violations affect home-care aides, nursing aides and licensed practical nurses, especially women working in Black, Hispanic and Asian communities.

Joseph Callihan, wage and hour investigator for the U.S. Department of Labor, said the most common violations are a failure to pay overtime or federal minimum wages, or misclassifying employees as independent contractors.

"These cases can be either complaint-driven cases or they can be target-driven," Callihan explained. "Where we know this industry is problematic, and we will go ahead and do a directed investigation."

Earlier this month, the Labor Department recovered $1.2 million in back wages for 599 home health care workers at three employers in Texas and one in Louisiana. In Texas, the department found the employers' pay practices violated the Fair Labor Standards Act and calculated 400 employees were owed $841,000 in overtime back wages.

The three Texas employers found to have violated laws were located in Laredo, Pharr and San Juan. Callihan noted an employer's failure to pay is not always intentional, and can be because they do not know the rules, even though the Labor Department provides "fact sheets."

"There's generally overtime violations in the industry, where they could be paying straight time for overtime, or they could be backing into the overtime rates," Callihan added.

Since 2021, the federal agency has completed more than 1,600 investigations, and recovered almost $29 million in back wages and damages for nearly 25,000 workers, with employer fines totaling more than $1 million.

A new proposal from the U-S Department of Labor would clearly define what it means to be an independent contractor. Currently, the Department of Labor's definition refers to independent contractors as, "workers who, as a matter of economic reality, are not economically dependent on their employer for work and are in business for themselves."

A new definition would more clearly distinguish between them and regular employees, who are covered by more federal labor protections.

Jack Fiorito, a distinguished professor at Florida State University, explained what the new definition would do.

"The Department of Labor is saying, in effect, there are too many instances where people are, for all practical purposes, employees," Fiorito said, "but are being excluded from these laws because they're technically considered, according to the contracting party, they're considered independent contractors."

Fiorito said some opposition has come from employers who do not see themselves as such. Others are worried the gig economy would decay since independent contractors would be classified as employees, meaning they would not be making as much money. November 28 is the deadline to submit comments to the Department of Labor about the proposal.

Rapid growth in the recent decade of gig-economy companies that utilize independent contractors has made this rule necessary. But, there could be some big challenges ahead. Fiorito said one of the big ones is that the recent elections will impact whether this proposal comes to fruition.

"If they could do something before the next Congress takes office, that's about another month or so, that would probably be their only chance to do it, really. Because I think the new Congress with a Republican majority in the House is probably going to be looking to roll back any such regulations that the Department of Labor might be considering rather than expanding those," Fiorito said.

He remains uncertain as to whether the new Congress will stall on this issue or come together on it. The new rule would have sweeping implications if enacted. According to the Department of Labor estimates, there are about 22.1-million independent contractors across the nation.

On Nebraska's ballot initiative to increase the state's minimum wage by $1.50 per year between 2023 and 2026, 60% of Nebraska midterm voters said "yes," which means the Nebraska minimum wage will reach $15 an hour by 2026.

Ken Smith, economic justice program director for Nebraska Appleseed, one of 27 groups behind the Raise the Wage Nebraska coalition, acknowledged not everyone is pleased with the win. Smith said although some people feel a period of high inflation is a bad time to raise wages, coalition members believe the opposite is true.

"Our perspective is that if the cost of food and shelter and health care and child care is going up, it is a reason to ensure that Nebraskans are paid a living wage," Smith contended.

Smith pointed out history does not support the concern raising the minimum wage will hurt businesses. He cited Nebraska's experience after the 2014 minimum-wage increase and the experiences of neighboring states, and thinks the positive impact higher wages can have on businesses is one of the reasons some people voted for the initiative.

"And, in fact, it's largely been to the economic benefit of states and cities that have raised the minimum wage," Smith asserted "It's good for businesses, just as it's good for workers, and that's one of the reasons why so many people came out to support this issue in November."

Nearly 300 business owners and executives went on record in favor of the increase.

Another argument the coalition heard was small-town Nebraskans should not need the same minimum wage as workers in the metropolitan areas. Smith pointed to an MIT cost-of-living calculator, which supports the statewide increase.

"And it shows that across the state by 2026, when our wages are now scheduled to hit $15 per hour, that would be a base minimum wage that's needed in every single county across the state," Smith outlined.

The minimum wage applies to tipped workers as well. At the end of a pay period, a tipped employee's guaranteed minimum of $2.13 an hour plus their tips, must add up to at least the minimum hourly wage, or the employer must make up the difference. Smith explained the coalition is aware it does not always happen, and could be addressed separately in the future.