WISCONSIN BUILDING TRADES COUNCIL’S 40,000 MEMBERS PRAISE GOVERNOR EVERS’ PEOPLES’ BUDGET
(MADISON, Wis.) – Appearing at today’s Joint Committee on Finance hearing in Green Bay, members from the Wisconsin Building Trades Council (WBTC) expressed their support for Governor Evers’ Peoples’ Budget.
“Governor Evers’ budget prioritizes reestablishing a Wisconsin wage for public construction projects that invests in Wisconsin’s workers, while providing protections for workers and taxpayers,” said Dave Branson, Executive Director of the Wisconsin Building Trades Council.
The public agrees with Governor Evers and the WBTC. In a recent poll, 83% of likely voters believe that bids for public works should include comparable wages and benefits for workers as those in the same trades received elsewhere in the state. Sixty-one percent specifically support prevailing wage laws. In other words, the public understands that public works projects should stimulate the local economy by properly paying Wisconsin workers.
“Family-supporting wages and benefits are something that all Wisconsinites can agree upon. If we continue to allow out-of-state workers who are not being paid a Wisconsin Wage come into our state to work on our respective community’s vital projects, and then take whatever money they earn back out-of-state, the only winners are out-of-state contractors.”
“We applaud Governor Evers for making Wisconsin’s workers a priority in his Executive Budget, and we call upon the legislature to pass this budget that reestablishes protections for Wisconsin workers and taxpayers.”
About the poll: Public Opinion Strategies conducted this statewide survey from March 3-5, 2019