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Construction sites can be crowded, chaotic places full of dangerous equipment and safety hazards. But the North Clackamas School District Board of Directors believes there should be room for at least one more person on district project sites to make sure workers are being paid the required wages.

A new draft district policy discussed by the school board last week would allow labor organization representatives on school construction sites to see whether workers are being paid prevailing wages mandated by Oregon law. But while some school board members consider the policy necessary to ensure fair wages are being paid, others say it would be redundant and create a hazard.

Prevailing wage disputes in Oregon

Failure to comply with state requirements for prevailing wage has not been a problem within the North Clackamas School District since its $229.1 million construction bond was passed in 2006; however, the issue has popped up around the state.

According to an analysis of data from the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries by the Oregon Center for Public Policy, construction workers in the state filed 1,823 claims for unpaid wages from June 2006 to June 2010. The alleged underpayment of those claims totaled $5.2 million 鈥� an average of $2,847 per claim 鈥� according to the data.

Of those claims, BOLI found that workers were owed $3.2 million. Only $1.9 million of that $3.2 million 鈥� or 61 percent 鈥� was actually recovered by the workers that filed complaints.

The data on construction wage complaints is part of an OCPP report titled 鈥淭he Tip of an Iceberg: Substantial Wage Theft Complaints in Oregon’s Construction Industry.鈥� As the report states, the numbers reflect only the share of construction workers with wage claims who knew about BOLI and sought the bureau’s assistance despite the possibility of employer reprisal.

The draft policy, which will go up for vote in front of the entire board on June 16, is being pitched by 16-year board member Sam Gillispie, who also is the grievance director for United Food and Commercial Workers Local 555. If the policy were approved, Gillispie said, it would allow union representatives to come on site and inquire about workers’ wages as long as they were to check in with the project manager first and have proper safety equipment on.

鈥淥n a public project, everyone must get paid prevailing wages 鈥� whether union or not,鈥� Gillispie said. 鈥淎ll this does is give a friendly gesture towards craft unions that allows them to make sure.鈥�

Gillispie, who wears his union badge proudly, said that these days the costs of materials are generally similar across the board, so public jobs are usually won or lost with the cost of labor. The policy would help make sure federal and state laws were being followed, as well as help union firms compete with nonunion firms.

鈥淭his access agreement doesn’t ask for anything beyond what the Davis-Bacon Act already says,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut having someone on site can help make sure contractors aren’t cooking the books when they turn over their certified payrolls.鈥�

John Killin, president of the Pacific Northwest chapter of the Associated Builders and Contractors, however, said he would have recommended that the school board talk with contractors before drafting a policy. He said the state already has a process to catch noncompliant contractors, and that the effort would waste time in an already hectic environment.

鈥淚t’s totally unnecessary and doesn’t make sense,鈥� Killin said. 鈥淣ot to mention that there are safety issues here, as well as insurance and liability issues. What are they going to do 鈥� walk around with a prevailing wage booklet asking each person if they are making this amount?鈥�

Enforcement of prevailing wage requirements is handled by the state Bureau of Labor and Industries. In addition to reviewing certified payrolls on public projects, the agency also investigates claims made by employees, companies and labor organizations.

BOLI spokesman Bob Estabrook said the bureau wouldn’t take any sort of stance on the draft policy, or the issue in general. But he said he could see pros and cons.

鈥淲e’re the agency that enforces prevailing wage, so the official way to get it taken care of is to file a complaint with us and then we can conduct an investigation,鈥� Estabrook said. 鈥淏ut at the same time we like having as much information as possible when we do conduct an investigation, so there’s no harm in having a second set of eyes to help out.鈥�

The issue may not be significant in the North Clackamas School District, however. Since a $229.6 million construction bond 鈥� the largest school bond approved in state history 鈥� was OK’d by voters in 2006, not one contractor was disqualified by BOLI for not paying fair wages, according to Garry Kryszak, the bond construction manager for the school district.

鈥淭here were probably three instances where the state took a look to make sure a worker was being classified in the right category,鈥� Kryszak said. 鈥淏ut in all this bond work, I don’t think there were any instances of BOLI investigating complaints.鈥�

But even if the policy is redundant, Gillispie said it would be good for any public agency. He said he plans to forward the policy if it were approved by the North Clackamas board.

鈥淭his is something I’ve been looking to do for a while now, and when Paul Riggs came on board with the (Columbia Pacific Building Trades Council), we made it happen,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd I truly think you’ll see this start to pop up in other public entities.鈥�