| Member-to-Member |
Local behind Madison PW Ordinance
A Madison prevailing wage ordinance, unanimously approved by the Common Council in June, owes its existence to the efforts of Laborers’ Local #464 Business Manager, Robert Niebuhr, according to the lead sponsor of the ordinances, Madison Alderperson Tim Bruer.
“Until Bob called the project to our attention, council members thought workers on this project would receive prevailing wages,” said Bruer. “This ordinance makes sure that they will.”
The ordinance, which grew out of a non-union contractor’s plans to pay substandard wages on a city sponsored hotel project, extends prevailing wages to all “building or work finance in whole or in part with City financial assistance.”
The local ordinance goes much farther than state or federal prevailing wage law by including all sources of public assistance, including loans and tax incremental financing, in determining the project’s qualifications as protected work.
In September, Bruer, on behalf of Madison Mayor Sue Bauman, presented Niebuhr with a plaque commemorating the ordinance.
“This is perhaps one of, if not the strongest prevailing wage ordinances in the county,” Bruer said. “This Local ought to be proud of its leadership and the hard work that went in to making it happen.”