Let us begin by stating that the Buffalo Building Trade Unions are
a group of working men and women who earn their living in the
construction industry here in Western New York. Day in and day
out, we report to jobsites in the area and perform the necessary
tasks associated with our trades, in an honest effort to construct
the best buildings possible in the most efficient method available.
Our wages and benefits are a
matter of public record so as to
insure the highest level of
transparency to those
government agencies that
choose to do business with us.
Together with our socially
responsible contractors we
operate on the core principle of
a “honest day’s work for a
honest day’s wage” and as a
result we have been a true
positive economic force on the
Western New York construction
industry. To help people
understand the real importance
of the Buffalo Building Trades,
we have prepared an ECONOMIC
IMPACT STUDY which is
available for your review
It is our hope that after
a review of the facts,
people will have a
better understanding
of our issues and why
they are important to
us, as well as the
community. The
following topics are
issues which are
constantly presented in
the media anytime
someone attempts to
discredit who we are
and what we are
about.
Prevailing Wage
• An honest day’s wage for an
honest day’s work. This is the
founding principle behind
prevailing wage laws, which date
back to 1891 in the United States.
That is when the state of Kansas
instituted the first such law. Forty
years later, in 1931, the United
States Congress passed a law, the
Davis-Bacon Act, requiring that
established prevailing wage
requirements on all public works
projects. The measure was
passed in order to guarantee jobs
for local workers on construction
projects.
• Today, 32 states have prevailing
wage laws in place for public
construction projects. These laws
do more than guarantee the hard
working men and women of the
construction industry their right
to fair compensation. Prevailing
Wage laws also protect the owner
of all public construction projects
– the taxpayer.
Prevailing Wage
• The absence of Prevailing Wage
laws opens the door for lowercost and less-skilled contractors,
often from out of the area, to bid
on public projects. Studies have
shown that public projects not
governed by Prevailing Wage laws
are significantly more susceptible
to decreased productivity and,
ultimately, increased costs and
prolonged construction timelines.
• Furthermore, worker safety is
often compromised on nonPrevailing Wage projects, putting
workers in jeopardy and leading
to a marked increase in workrelated industries. In some cases
in Western New York over the
past few years, projects not
protected by Prevailing Wage
stipulations have experienced
worker fatalities.
Prevailing Wage
• Beyond protecting workers and
the taxpayers, Prevailing Wage
laws also help strengthen the
local economy.
• States that have repealed
Prevailing Wage laws have
suffered a sharp decline in
workers’ wages and employers’
contributions to pension and
health benefit plans. As a result,
income and sales tax revenues
fell and there was less money
recycled into the local economy.
• Every community deserves
quality projects delivered on time
and on budget. To learn more
about how Prevailing Wage laws
help make that happen, click
here.
Apprentice Programs
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Transferring skills from one generation to the
next is a tradition whose practice dates back
to the times of ancient Babylon. In fact, the
histories of Egypt, Greece and Rome show
that workers regularly taught their crafts to
youth, who would later become master
craftsmen. This practice was the precursor
for what we call apprenticeship.
The success of the Buffalo Building &
Construction Trades Council comes from our
ability to provide trained skilled
professionals to complete every facet of
every job. Training and Apprentice Programs
are at the heart of our long history.
Each member trade of the Buffalo Building &
Construction Trace Council maintains a
training facility that trains apprentices on all
aspects of each individual trade. The training
centers also provide both journeymen and
apprentices up to date training in safety and
new industry advances.
Apprentice Programs
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Each year, the trades spend more than
$3.5 million with local vendors and
suppliers on training programs personnel
and supplies. The training programs are
provided and funded in-house by the
member unions at no cost to the
taxpayer. We make this investment
because we know that a properly trained
workforce produces results in the
productivity, safety and performance of
every construction project.
The Buffalo Building & Construction
Trades Council members provide new job
opportunities for between 100-125 local
individuals every year. Our training
programs allow then to learn a trade while
remaining in the area. In the end, this
helps ensure that a strong, growing skilled
workforce is always available to work on
local projects.
There are currently 59 county, local
government and New York City-area
Apprentice Programs in place across New
York State.
To learn more about how Apprentice
Programs
benefit the local community, click here.
Lowest Responsible Bidder
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The bidding system is designed to ensure
that construction projects are completed
in the most cost-efficient manner
possible.
But, is the lowest price always the best?
Unqualified bidders can lead to project
delays and cost over-runs due to
substandard craftsmanship and practices.
For example, a public works contract for
asbestos abatement in Erie County was
awarded to the lowest bidder in 2006. As
it turned out, the contractor was
unqualified to perform the work. The
contractor utilized undocumented aliens
with falsified asbestos abatement licenses
on the project and ended up
contaminating the job site and
surrounding areas with asbestos. A later
review showed the contractor’s work
history was littered with civil judgments
and various health and safety violations.
Lowest Responsible Bidder
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The damage caused by this
irresponsible bidder could have been
averted through the further
screening permitted under the
Lowest Responsible Bidder process.
The Lowest Responsible Bidder
Process, which is available under
New York State law, allows local
governments, public authorities and
public benefit corporations to
dutifully screen project bidders to
ensure that contractors who receive
public contracts are qualified to
perform the work for which they bid.
The process is an efficient and
effective way to weed out unqualified
firms before they are put on the job.
Don’t let irresponsible contractors to
cut corners on the projects you are
paying for. To read more about the
Lowest Responsible Bidder process
and its benefits, click here.
Wicks Law
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Wicks Law is a measure that requires
public construction projects above a preestablished cost threshold ($500,000 for
Upstate New York) to let separate
contracts for general contracting,
plumbing, heating/ventilation/air
conditioning, and electrical work. The law,
which dates back to 1921, was enacted to
promote competition and to protect
workers’ rights – priorities that the Buffalo
Building and Construction Trades Council
continues to fight for to this day.
Results have shown that the use of
separate contracts has produced
significant cost savings over single
contract projects. One of the main
reasons for the cost savings is that Wicks
Law keeps the overall responsibility for
project cost and performance with the
projects’ owner, rather than allowing the
contractor to control the cost. This helps
protect the owner’s vested interest in the
project.
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Many special interest groups are now
looking to capitalize on the current
economic crisis facing New York State by
promising cost savings associated with the
repeal of Wicks Law. Their promises are
unsubstantiated by the facts.
Wicks Law
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Without Wicks Law, contractors
will be free to mark-up the costs
associated with keeping a project
running smoothly and to pass
those increases on to the owner,
and ultimately the taxpayer.
Competition would also be
severely compromised by
eliminating the protections that
Wicks Law provides.
Without soliciting separate bids
for projects, there would be
fewer contractors who would be
able to afford to bid on all
aspects of a project. This would
leave only larger companies in
line to handle the work. Having
less competition seriously
hinders the owner’s ability to
control overall cost and allows
contractors to significantly mark
up their project bids.
One only needs to look at private
industry to see the effectiveness
of the separate bid principles
established by Wicks Law.
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Many private companies, who live
and die by bottom line success, use
separate bids to complete their
projects because it is the most costeffective way to complete projects on
time and on budget. Separate bids
protect the bottom line.
More information on this important
subject is available here.
Project Labor Agreements
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Project schedule, labor relations and cost are
some of the overriding factors that the owner
must consider at the start of every construction
project. Unexpected schedule delays or
extensions can have adverse repercussions on
the overall cost of the project and become a
significant hardship for the owner.
One effective way to protect against such issues
is through the use of a Project Labor Agreement.
A Project Labor Agreement is a negotiated
agreement that identifies and addresses the
many factors that make for a smooth
construction process. Such agreements have
been found to be particularly helpful in
establishing work site harmony, work schedules
and hours, pay scales and the resolution of
disputes that may arise throughout the project
timeline. A Project Labor Agreement also
provides protection to the local community by
requiring the owner to use an agreed upon
percentage of local workers and to maintain
compliance with all Minority and Woman-owned
Business Enterprise goals.
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Project Labor Agreements can also have a
positive impact on your competitive bidding
process by providing a single collective
bargaining agreement and removing any labor
uncertainties. As a result, you may see
enhanced competition since all bidders will be
on a level playing field.
Project Labor Agreements
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Executive Order No. 49 issued by the
Governor of the State of New York
requires state agencies to use Project
Labor Agreements on projects when they
are appropriate and legal. Similarly, a
Presidential Executive Order was issued in
2009 encouraging the use of PLAs on
federal projects worth $25 million or
more. The order notes the success of
Project Labor Agreements in promoting
the efficient and timely completion of
large-scale projects and in preventing
many of the difficulties inherent in such
construction.
However, Project Labor Agreements are
not strictly used for public construction
projects, nor are they used only for union
contractors. Many private businesses have
successfully used Project Labor
Agreements on their projects with a mix
of union and non-union workers,
achieving optimum results.
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Project Labor Agreements have been used
on numerous projects throughout
Western New York, including the
expansion of the Buffalo Niagara
International Airport, the building of the
new Erie County Court facilities, the
construction of the new WNED-TV
television studios and the $1 Billion
reconstruction of numerous buildings
throughout the Buffalo Public School
system.
For more information on how Project
Labor Agreements can help your next
construction project, click here.
IDA Reform
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In 1969, New York State created a number
of public benefit corporations whose
purpose was to promote, develop and
assist development projects in their
communities that would create jobs and
investment and enhance the economic
well-being of the community. These public
benefit corporations are called Industrial
Development Agencies (IDAs).
Today, IDAs provide myriad businesses
with financial assistance and incentives in
the form of tax exemptions and taxexempt bond financing in exchange for job
creation commitments. The incentives
provided by IDAs across New York State
amount to hundreds of millions of dollars
every year.
IDA Reform
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However, data provided by the IDAs
to the New York State Comptroller
clearly shows that New Yorkers are
not getting their money’s worth from
the companies being provided with
IDA assistance. Many companies have
failed to live up to their job creation
commitments and, in some instances,
companies have actually reduced
jobs after receiving IDA incentives.
Other companies have failed
completely.
Our IDAs need to become a more
effective conduit for positive
economic development across the
Empire State. This is why the Buffalo
Building & Construction Trades
Council supports a series of
comprehensive IDA reforms.
A key component of reforming our
IDAs is the establishment of solid
business standards for all projects
that receive IDA assistance. Such
business standards would include:
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Prevailing wage and living wage standards that
provide workers with fair compensation. These
wage provisions will help ensure that sufficient
dollars are fed back into the local economy to
keep it strong. It is bad economic development
policy to subsidize and support low-wage
employers, thereby leaving the local taxpayers
on the hook not only for the subsidies, but also
for the social programs that that workers will
need to depend upon to support themselves
and their families (i.e. Medicaid, food stamps,
etc.)
Regional hiring requirements and
apprenticeship programs that provide jobs and
training for local workers. Having local workers
employed on IDA-assisted projects provides the
community with a return on investment for the
tax dollars lost through the IDA incentives.
Apprenticeship programs ensure that the
community has a strong, growing skilled
workforce.
High-performance building and environmental
standards that encourage quality, sustainable
growth and promote efficient land use and
planning principles.
In addition to these reform measures, we also support:
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Clawback provisions that enable the
local community to recoup incentives
provided to companies that fail to
live up to their job creation
commitments. We should refuse to
bankroll empty promises.
Increased community reporting
requirements that allow the public to
see how IDA-funded projects are
performing and what they
community is receiving in return for
incentives via new job creation.
Anti-raiding measures that promote
true new job growth rather than job
shifting from one area of the state or
community to another.
To learn more about the IDA reform
proposals currently being discussed,
click here.