Workers Fight Back as Nevada Republicans Gut Prevailing Wage Laws
IBEW 1245 members stood shoulder to shoulder with other hundreds of workers outside the Nevada Capitol last Thursday to protest new laws that decimate Prevailing Wage standards in the state. Prevailing Wage laws ensure that construction workers are paid a fair wage on state-funded projects, like roads and schools. Without these protections, work is often bid out to low-quality outfits that recruit workers from low-wage states.
Watch footage of the rally here:
All four Nevada Retiree Chapter Presidents – Don Rodgers, Bill Keating, Ron Borst and Tom Bird – joined the protest, along with Pat Waite, Randy Osborn, Chip Chadwick and Travis Bunkowski. Bird also serves as President of NARA, the Nevada Alliance for Retired Americans.
After attending the Nevada AFL-CIO Conference at the Carson Nugget with Rita Weisshaar, an IBEW 1245 member and NARA Vice President, the group returned to the Capitol to rally and lobby legislators on issues that impact the middle class.
Numerous studies have shown that Prevailing Wage policies provide good-paying local jobs while helping to ensure that projects are completed on time, on budget and with the highest quality workmanship. Prevailing Wage policies are supported by politicians of all stripes, from Bill Clinton to Rick Santorum.
The loss of meaningful Prevailing Wage protections is just the latest in the Nevada state government’s anti-worker agenda. “If you name an issue that helps the middle class, they have a bill to screw it up,” said Danny Thompson, Executive Secretary Treasurer of the Nevada AFL-CIO. The protesters called for Governor Brian Sandoval to come talk with them. When he didn’t show, they chanted they’d be back.