A judge’s ruling to void non-union wages set for a renovation project could potentially mean taxpayers would pay more for the work, a county commissioner said.

Allen Superior Court Judge Daniel Heath ruled against the county commissioners in voiding their vote to pay non-union wages during a renovation of the Keystone Building, which houses the prosecutor’s office.

He also ordered the county to consider only evidence that could be corroborated when setting construction workers’ wages on public projects.

The Northeastern Indiana Building and Construction Trades Council, which represents union contractors and workers, sued the county in early 2009.

It argued that a county wage committee, which sets the wages paid to workers on public construction projects, violated state law by not setting the most commonly paid wage among each trade and by not basing its decision on verifiable data.

Non-union wages differ from worker to worker and company to company. Union employees are paid the same based on their trade regardless of the employer.

Generally, union wages are higher than merit shop wages and can increase the cost of a project 15 percent to 30 percent depending on how labor-intensive the work is, said Phil Mussallem, president of Electrical Staffing Inc. His firm provides temporary workers to area merit and union contractors. He also regularly represents the city of New Haven on wage committees.

Paying union wages could increase the cost of the renovation work, costing taxpayers more, County Commissioner Nelson Peters said. But under an earlier round of bids for the $500,000 renovation project, the two lowest bidders were union contractors, Peters said.

In his ruling, Heath found that the committee could not set the common wage based on “hearsay.” He found that the wages provided by the Associated Builders and Contractors, an organization representing non-union contractors, was not supported by substantial evidence.

Looking ahead

JR Gaylor, president and chief executive officer of the Associated Builders and Contractors of Indiana, said his organization is reviewing the ruling to determine how it could affect the information it presents at future wage hearings.

The commissioners are likewise reviewing their options whether to appeal or set the project for a new wage hearing, allowing renovations to begin, County Attorney Carrie Hawk-Gutman said.

Heath’s decision could potentially affect other county projects, but because it’s a trial court decision, it applies only to the Keystone renovations, Gutman said.

But labor officials said Heath’s decision could affect public projects statewide.

“If the decision stands, then it wouldn’t be just Fort Wayne,” said Donald Schwartz, an attorney representing the union contractors. “It would set a precedent for the state.”

Concerns about the lack of documentation provided by merit shops during county wage hearings have been growing over the last several years, said Mike Avila, vice president of the trades council and a bricklayers representative.

Avila, who is running for county commissioner and will face four-term incumbent Linda Bloom in November, called Heath’s decision significant.

“I don’t think anybody would want a wage hearing or any type of a hearing to rely on hearsay evidence. Anyone can say anything without having a way to back it up,” he said. “When it comes to taxpayers, especially, there should be transparency in how they are arriving at their decision.”

The ruling doesn’t mean union wages would be selected automatically, Schwartz said. If the Associated Builders and Contractors provide sufficient data, the county could legally accept their wages, Schwartz said.

aiacone@jg.net