Affiliated Construction Trades (ACT) Ohio and the Ohio State Building and Construction Trades Council categorically and steadfastly oppose the limits on labor for public construction projects that are proposed in Ohio House Bill 102 (HB 102). By threatening to strip much-needed construction labor requirements from projects involving improvements to state agencies, HB 102 looms as a law that would impart irreparable damage upon the state’s construction industry and the quality and costs of public construction projects, at the very least.
At its core, HB 102 would be a subversion to the state’s long-instituted Prevailing Wage Law, which serves to protect the construction workforce and taxpayers alike by protecting wages on publicly funded state construction projects and, therefore, promoting a highly trained and skilled workforce. HB 102 would instead lift requirements of state construction contracts in many cases to be awarded to contractors who must pay prevailing wages and, therefore, employ a qualified and skilled workforce. Research shows again and again that protections like the Prevailing Wage Law are good for the construction workforce, their families, the public, the economy and overall construction quality.
ACT Ohio and the Ohio State Building and Construction Trades Council regards this legislation as an unlawful and unscrupulous attempt to skirt important laws that help keep Ohio’s construction workforce strong and viable.
