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Post by greyhair on Jan 12, 2015 18:19:35 GMT -5
Anybody have an opinion on the Indiana legislature killing the common construction wage this session? Personally I think that cutting construction workers pay $8 or $9 an hour is a dang good idea. They make too much and I am tired of watching them loaf. You can get a good carpenter any day for $10 or $11 an hour. Plus, there are a heck of a lot of good contractors in Tennessee, Alabama and Georgia that can come up here and do our construction if these bums don't want to work!
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Post by greghopper on Jan 12, 2015 18:42:18 GMT -5
Anybody have an opinion on the Indiana legislature killing the common construction wage this session? Personally I think that cutting construction workers pay $8 or $9 an hour is a dang good idea. They make too much and I am tired of watching them loaf. You can get a good carpenter any day for $10 or $11 an hour. Plus, there are a heck of a lot of good contractors in Tennessee, Alabama and Georgia that can come up here and do our construction if these bums don't want to work! Do you understand what the "Indiana’s Common Construction Wage Law" is and it history?? I bet your not a Construction worker!!! |
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Post by lawrencecountyhunter on Jan 12, 2015 19:02:05 GMT -5
I don't have a strong opinion either way. The top workers will still make the best wages. Most employers know you get what you pay for.
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Post by Woody Williams on Jan 12, 2015 19:46:31 GMT -5
Woody can you take one of these off? I always have this problem when I use my Kindle Got it... |
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Post by greyhair on Jan 12, 2015 21:36:55 GMT -5
Greghopper -I sent you a PM
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Post by beehunter on Jan 15, 2015 14:09:38 GMT -5
Greyhair I guess I am a little confused on the topic here?  ? |
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Post by greghopper on Jan 15, 2015 14:35:48 GMT -5
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Post by Boilermaker on Jan 15, 2015 15:44:21 GMT -5
Anybody have an opinion on the Indiana legislature killing the common construction wage this session? Personally I think that cutting construction workers pay $8 or $9 an hour is a dang good idea. They make too much and I am tired of watching them loaf. You can get a good carpenter any day for $10 or $11 an hour. Plus, there are a heck of a lot of good contractors in Tennessee, Alabama and Georgia that can come up here and do our construction if these bums don't want to work! Go stand along I-65 at night with nothing between you and passing tractor-trailers but a plastic barrel and tell me those guys are over-paid. Combine inattentive drivers who could run over you any second and standing over 300 degree asphalt on a 90 degree night for 10 hours straight; go give it a try if you think it's so easy. Please don't label all construction workers as loafers. There are some that work harder than most anyone could ever think possible. |
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Post by freedomhunter on Jan 15, 2015 16:46:25 GMT -5
Anybody have an opinion on the Indiana legislature killing the common construction wage this session? Personally I think that cutting construction workers pay $8 or $9 an hour is a dang good idea. They make too much and I am tired of watching them loaf. You can get a good carpenter any day for $10 or $11 an hour. Plus, there are a heck of a lot of good contractors in Tennessee, Alabama and Georgia that can come up here and do our construction if these bums don't want to work! Go stand along I-65 at night with nothing between you and passing tractor-trailers but a plastic barrel and tell me those guys are over-paid. Combine inattentive drivers who could run over you any second and standing over 300 degree asphalt on a 90 degree night for 10 hours straight; go give it a try if you think it's so easy. Please don't label all construction workers as loafers. There are some that work harder than most anyone could ever think possible. ya, they get killed and stuff. Go stand in traffic on the interstate for a day and see how much you would want paid. It is literally torture. |
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Post by beehunter on Jan 15, 2015 17:08:25 GMT -5
I actually think most construction workers are underpaid and to be honest you calling them loafers and bums kind offends me. Greyhair would you mind telling us what you did or currently do for a living?
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Post by windingwinds on Jan 15, 2015 19:25:25 GMT -5
Is $8 or $9 a hour a good wage to raise a family?
Now yes it's a running joke in our family how many take breaks while we cruise, but waste in construction is not the lower wage worker's fault, it's managers.
Most likely these workers are waiting on materials or whoever schedules didn't do it correctly.
I don't think government should get involved in any wages ever.
I personally think it's very easy to look at someone who is working and say they are overpaid.
Now welfare recipients on the other hand, yeah they are overpaid and since I am th one busting my butt to support them, they need a pay cut.
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Post by greyhair on Jan 15, 2015 19:56:35 GMT -5
Ok I confess - I was intending to be facetious and mad at the same time. I am a member of the Laborers Union and before early retirement I was a District Administrative Manager for the Indiana Department of Transportation. I have been in construction and engineering for 35 years. I know firsthand how dangerous highway work is - I have seen the carnage with my own eyes. Until you have had your hard hat blown off by a semi that drifted over too far, or leaped over a guardrail to avoid being crushed you cannot understand.
You are right Beehunter, our guys are underpaid, and the work is hard, dangerous and most guys are broken down by the time they are in their fifties. I am really angry that this legislature wants to kill the system we have.
Greghopper has a link that is an excellent explanation. If this passes, it will drive down the standard of living for more than just construction workers.
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Post by beehunter on Jan 15, 2015 20:02:02 GMT -5
Ok its all good now but you had me going for a while......Low wages were why I left the construction trade to start with. I couldn't find anyone to work for that would pay a decent wage.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 15, 2015 20:12:16 GMT -5
Having had a flat tire on I465 once, I can only imagine how dangerous working every day in that environment must be. I could not believe how many idiots refuse to pull over one inch and just blow by you like you aren't there!
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Post by greyhair on Jan 15, 2015 20:20:19 GMT -5
A couple of months before I left INDOT, we had a man killed on a bridge in Lafayette. A car lost control, veered in to the work zone and slammed the guy into the barrier wall. Both legs were severed and he bled out before the ambulance got there. It is dangerous as hell out there, even if you have a lot of safety setup.
We always felt it was at least as dangerous as police work, no disrespect intended to the boys in blue
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Post by dadfsr on Jan 16, 2015 6:43:45 GMT -5
.....OK I'll bite a little bit (sorry if it hijacks the thread but feel it needs to said)-after all of the carnage has happened because of inattentive or just stupid drivers that shouldn't have been there to start with....Who is there to take away the injured and clean up the mess??? Yup the EMS people and wrecker operators!!! Has anyone bothered to check and see what they are getting paid??? They also put their lives on the line and in many cases are the deciding factor of whether someone lives or dies. My daughter is a paramedic and will probably end up having to work two jobs to make ends meet and I also worked part time as a wrecker driver for several years at basically minimum wage(back when minimum was closer to $5/hr!) Both jobs require(d) 24 hour shifts with sometimes only one day off every four... JMHO
I'm not trying to take away from the construction worker wage but also feel that there is a lot of inequality in wages.
As for the welfare/food stamp program... when I see a couple, with English as a second language, using food stamps at Wally to get food but also buying a 60" flat screen plasma TV in the same purchase then there is definitely something wrong with the system!!!!!
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Post by greyhair on Jan 16, 2015 12:53:23 GMT -5
Dadsfr, I wholeheartedly agree about the emergency services and wrecker people. I forgot to mention them.
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Post by greyhair on Jan 16, 2015 12:53:41 GMT -5
Dadsfr, I wholeheartedly agree about the emergency services and wrecker people. I forgot to mention them.
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Post by steiny on Jan 20, 2015 8:07:15 GMT -5
Prevailing wage laws were instituted a long time ago on state and federally funded projects to prevent cheap labor coming in from out of the area and winning work that folks from the area were capable of performing. Some projects required "Davis Bacon" wage rates and some require "Common" wage rates. Davis Bacon wages are typically simply a duplication of union wage rates and benefits. This was fine when the majority of construction was performed by union trades. In recent years they have instituted Common wage rates which is supposed to be arrived at by surveying area contractors to determine what the normal wage for the area is. Common wage rates are typically slightly less than Davis Bacon rates and make a little more sense in most areas, as now the majority of construction is performed by non-unionized workers.
Wage scales are recommended, discussed and voted on for each of these projects, then the winning contractors are required to pay the wage and benefit package, and provide documentation to prove that they did so.
In commercial, industrial, infrastructure and institutional construction work, most workmen are paid pretty well and get a good benefit package with insurance, retirement plan, etc. Skilled trades in these areas are hard to find, so contractors pay them well to keep them.
The troubling area is residential and light commercial work, which is a huge segment of the construction industry. A huge amount of the labor force are treated like "independent contractors". Contractors and developers pay this labor by the square foot, by piece work, by the job etc. instead of paying them a wage. The dollars paid look pretty decent at first, since there are no taxes and benefits deducted. By calling them independent contractors they don't have to pay any workmens comp insurance on them, and they don't give them any benefits. At the end of the year they 10-99 the workmen and each individual is supposed to pay taxes. Guess what .... A huge amount of these guys never pay a dime in taxes and work every day not contributing a dime to the system or being covered by any type of insurance.
Drive by any large residential development and you will see hundreds of these workers. They may be getting by fine now, but they are going to be hurting if uncle Sam ever catches up to them, if they get hurt, or when they get too old to work with their back and hands. Most will have no retirement, minimal if any social security, and likely no savings.
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Post by tomthreetoes on Jan 20, 2015 8:53:54 GMT -5
What we're seeing in Indiana and elsewhere is the republican party slowly eroding the rights and wages of working folks, especially union people. I would most likely vote republican if the party wasn't so dead set on lowering the standard of living for the working man. The Right to work law was just the beginning.
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