La Crosse’s Kabat ponders elimination of prevailing wage laws in Wisconsin

Critics portray move as one in Walker’s crusade against organized labor.

It’s unclear just how much local governments could save if the rest of Wisconsin’s prevailing wage laws are repealed.

La Crosse Mayor Tim Kabat says, while that issue is important, it’s not as important as paying workers a just and fair wage for their work.

“People working for a living, they should be paid a wage that helps with their quality of life, obviously,” Kabat said.

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker has included language in his budget plan for the next two years that removes the remaining prevailing wage requirements in the state.

Prevailing wages are considered a pro-labor mechanism by which workers are paid at least a predetermined wage based on the larger labor market.  

Critics have portrayed the move as one more in Walker’s crusade against organized labor and point to a state legislative study that finds removal has little financial impact. 

Kabat says, while he’s still working out what that will mean for some public projects in La Crosse, he’s more concerned about what fair wages mean to workers

“We look at it maybe just a little bit differently that, having folks that are working on these projects and having them earning a wage that they can obviously afford a family and investments … are all types of things that are just as important to us,” Kabat said.

The impact of dumping the remaining prevailing wage laws in Wisconsin has yet to be calculated fully in cities like La Crosse.

“We’re still sorting out exactly what it might mean for savings,” Kabat said of city taxpayers. “We’ve always been a proponent for having prevailing wages and living wages for projects because it makes sense for our larger economy.”

Prevailing wage laws have already been mostly eliminated in Wisconsin. All that remains are wages related to state and highway projects.