Prevailing wage legislation and the continuing significance of race
Bernstein, D.E.
DE Bernstein - J. Legis., 2017 - HeinOnline
Summary
In "Prevailing Wage Legislation and the Continuing Significance of Race" (2017), David E. Bernstein examines how prevailing wage laws have historically and continue to contribute to discriminatory effects, particularly against African American workers and minority-owned businesses in the construction sector. The paper critiques prevailing wage legislation, which mandates that government contractors pay workers "prevailing wages" (often aligned with local union wage scales) on public works projects. Bernstein asserts that these laws inherently favor unionized labor, a sector where construction unions have a documented history of being "persistently exclusionary institutions" towards minority groups, even if more subtly in contemporary times. The research highlights that people of color are disproportionately represented in the non-union sector of the construction industry, making them susceptible to exclusion from public works projects when union-favoring prevailing wage laws are in effect. Bernstein's methodology involves a review of historical context and empirical literature. He specifically delves into the origins of the federal Davis-Bacon Act of 1931, arguing that it was passed with the "explicit intent of excluding African American workers from federal construction projects," and that its discriminatory impacts persisted for decades. The paper discusses the controversy within economic literature regarding whether empirical evidence consistently demonstrates that prevailing wage legislation reduces minority employment, ultimately siding with the perspective that such laws do have harmful discriminatory effects. Beyond workers, the article also considers allegations that prevailing wage legislation serves to exclude minority contractors, who are overwhelmingly non-union, from securing government contracts, thereby further contributing to discriminatory outcomes. The implication is that these laws, regardless of current intent, maintain systemic barriers to racial equality in the construction labor market.
Key Findings
- - Prevailing wage legislation, by favoring union contractors, disadvantages minority construction workers who are more often employed in the non-union sector.
- Construction unions have historically been and continue to be exclusionary towards minority groups, leading to discriminatory effects in employment opportunities.
- The federal Davis-Bacon Act of 1931 was enacted with the explicit intent to exclude African American workers from federal construction projects, and its discriminatory legacy continues.
- Prevailing wage laws likely serve to disproportionately exclude minority-owned contracting companies, which are largely non-union, from obtaining government contracts.