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The Allen County commissioners chose Friday to pay non-union wages when the county renovates the Keystone Building, home to the prosecutor’s office.
A committee selected to set the common wage that laborers working on the project will earn had a tie vote twice during a hearing last month, sending the decision before the commissioners.
Hundreds of union members filled the City-County Building on Friday morning before the vote. Others sent letters or representatives asking for the commissioners to choose wages recommended by the Northeastern Indiana Building and Construction Trades Council, which represents union laborers. Their wages are typically higher than wages submitted by the Associated Builders and Contractors, which represents non-union construction companies.
Commissioners Linda Bloom and Nelson Peters opted for the lower wages in order to save taxpayers money. Commissioner Bill Brown was on vacation and did not vote.
“We just want the best for the taxpayers,” Bloom said before making a motion to accept the lower wages.
Their decision came after a lengthy debate as Peters questioned officials from both organizations about whether they represented a majority of workers and which group paid the same wage the most often. State law requires committees to choose the wage that is paid most frequently for each trade.
The trades council sued the county in February, alleging the committee for the Keystone project didn’t do that when it chose the non-union wage. Non-union wages differ from worker to worker and from company to company.
Union workers among a trade are paid the same regardless of what company employs them.
The suit also alleged that the committee didn’t study all of the salary data the unions submitted and said the Associated Builders and Contractors did not present similar information containing the names of the contractors, the hours worked or the pay.
Ken Neumeister, a representative of the Associated Builders and Contractors and a Republican campaign donor, told the commissioners that providing such detailed data is not required.
He also said most contractors in the county are non-union and that since most workers didn’t belong to a union, his group paid the most common wage.
Mike Avila, vice president of the trades council and a bricklayers representative, said the contractors with the most employees are union companies and that union laborers worked more hours.
He said union contractors are frequently the lowest bidders on county projects.
Because their workers are more efficient and more highly skilled, he said, the businesses are able to keep the cost down for the county despite paying higher wages.
Avila called the commissioners’ decision a political move. He said not using the higher wage violates state law and that the council will review whether it has any legal recourse after Friday’s vote.
Planned work on the building, at Calhoun and West Columbia streets, will renovate the first floor and improve the exterior of the building.
