Samantha Draper: Paying prevailing wage increases productivity and quality

Re “Dictating construction wages won’t solve California’s housing crisis” (Online, June 22): John Beckman’s claim that housing reform is somehow a power play by unions couldn’t be more wrong.

Since 1990, construction workforce productivity is down 13 percent and real wages for blue-collar construction workers are down 25 percent. While a lower-wage, lower-skilled workforce is not meeting demand for housing, it has enabled builder profits to grow 50 percent faster than the cost of either labor or materials. Clinging to this outdated business model won’t cure California’s shortage of housing or skilled construction workers. It only makes our affordability crisis worse.

There is nothing complicated about prevailing-wage standards. They function as a market-based minimum wage for all construction workers – union, non-union, native-born and immigrant. They ensure workers can afford their own rent and reduce their reliance on taxpayer-subsidized housing and healthcare. They include support for training programs that attract skilled workers to our industry. These investments pay for themselves by increasing workforce productivity and efficiency while reducing the risk of defective workmanship.

Business leaders and policy makers in both parties recognize that a stable supply of well-trained workers is best for the economy and the bottom line. It’s time for the residential construction industry to join them.

This story was originally published June 30, 2017 at 12:13 PM with the headline "Samantha Draper: Paying prevailing wage increases productivity and quality."