adisch@ncsrcc.org
“Governor Evers’ budget sets the stage for a post-COVID economic recovery that will benefit all Wisconsin workers,” stated John Raines, Executive Secretary-Treasurer for the NCSRCC. The budget proposal includes several key provisions that will improve worker’s wages, benefits and bolster the state’s economic recovery including:
- Reinstating Wisconsin’s prevailing wage laws
- Repealing the so-called “right to work” law
- Eliminating the one week waiting period for unemployment benefits
- Implementing the recommendations from the Governor’s Task Force on Payroll Fraud and Misclassification
- Investing in transportation infrastructure including enumerating the I-94 East-West corridor project
These provisions will ensure the economic health of our state’s construction industry. In the case of prevailing wage, a recent study from the Midwest Economic Policy Institute in 2020 showed that since its repeal in 2017, tax dollars that previously went to Wisconsin contractors for public construction work are now being used to pay workers from out-of-state. Reinstating prevailing wage means Wisconsin tax dollars will be used to stimulate our local economy instead of the economies in neighboring states.
With the budget process continuing in the state legislature, the Carpenters Union looks forward to working collaboratively with all parties to advance these important priorities.
