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EDITOR IN CHIEF
Sarah Kickler
EDITORIAL EDITOR
Mike Schmierbach
NIGHT EDITOR
Sarah Kickler
r~irttr n .
Wage rate cut won’t help taxpayers
As long as state contacts
can go only to the lowest
bidder, wages will fall
J commercials, wages are
-JL. felling all over the state.
And. much as the success of
many national rhain.s is tied to
running non-union shops, the de
cline in wages is linked to a lack
of union membership in certain
areas of Oregon.
According to a story in The
Register-Guard's Sunday edition,
a recent change in state labor pol
icy has resulted in lower wage
mandates in many areas of the
state. At the core of the change is
the prevailing wage law. which
dictates labor costs on public
projects.
The law mandates that con
tractors pay a certain minimum
wage, which is determined from
the prevailing wage in a commu
nity. Historically, according to
the Guard, those wages were de
termined by data supplied by the
U.S. Department of Labor. This
year, however, the prevailing
wage is being based on a survey
conducted by the Oregon Bureau
of Labor and Industries.
Because the survey more close
ly examined individual commu
nities. wage levels in some areas
actually rose, while those in oth
er parts of Oregon fell sharply.
Overall, Jack Roberts, Oregon la
bor commissioner, predicts a sav
ings to the taxpayer of 20 percent.
There is something dishonest
about explaining the changes as
taxpayer savings. What the
changes necessarily mean is low
er worker pay, which may be un
accompanied by lower costs for
public projects if contractors de
cide to boost their profit margin
Of course, many small contrac
|o paraphrase those
frightening Wal-Mart
All EMERALD EDITORIAL
tors who hire a few veteran em
ployees don't want to cut wages.
Other aspects of Oregon law
make that difficult, however.
State law requires that contracts
go to the lowest bidder, regard
less of other factors. This leaves
contractors who don't pay the
minimum allowable wage in a
difficult position: They either
have to pay their employees less,
or they don't have contracts and
can’t pay them at all.
The Register-Guard story also
reports that many contractors
and workers expect the state rates
to have a significant impact on
private jobs as well. The only law
that regulates those tasks is the
minimum wage, but private labor
costs tend to mirror the sums
charged in public jobs.
Proponents of the change argue
that it was unreasonable for state
contracts to cany a higher cost of
labor than other jobs in an area
They add that reduced labor
costs should save money.
The taxpayer-savings Haim as
mentioned earlier, is deceptive
because it comes at the cost of
hurting middle-class workers
who are supposed to benefit from
tax cuts. The parties fhat actually
come out ahead in the equation
are large-business owners, who
see a similar decline in their tax
es without impact and also bene
fit from lower wage costs on their
private projects.
One significant reason that
wages will decline for all projects
under the new system is because
of the way it penalizes unions.
Although the study did consider
wages achieved through collec
tive bargaining in towns where
the majority of contractors use
union labor, most areas have
rates determined by non-union
shops.
This is unfortunate be
cause it renders union
organizations at a
competitive disad
vantage. Addition
ally, the survey
failed to ac
count for quali
ty of work
— manv
supen
or train
ing and benefit
packages that at
tract better workers.
The Register-Guard
reports that some sur
vey opponents claim
the state considered
many small, private, non
union jobs that are not compa
rable with the sort of work
the state contracts out.
While re-evalu
ating the survey
results might re
turn wages to a
more reasonable
level, other
changes in state
policy would address the core of
the problem: As long as contracts
are only given to the lowest bid
der without other considerations,
wages will be held dow-n.
Fixing this would require
changing state law to allow ad
ministrators to consider other
factors in awarding contracts.
Possible standards could include
reputation, quality of past work,
labor relations, union member
ship and the role of the company
in the communitv.
Clearly, some objective frame
work for evaluation would need
to be used, but there is no reason
that framework has to be based
on price alone. Higher labor costs
might slightly increase taxes, but
they dramatically improve the
lives of laborers and help push
wages up in a community, boost
ing the economy as a whole.
The real problem with the cur
rent system isn’t the new survey,
but the underlying view that
workers should be paid as little
as possible. No one wants their
own wages to fall, but they are
unwilling to help others preserve
their salaries. As long as laborers
fail to unite and assist one anoth
er, only business owners will
benefit from state laws that aid
them in paying workers less.
This editorial represents the opinion
of the Emerald editorial board Re
sponses may be sent to ode&orv
gon uoregon.edu
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Boycott Gardenburgers
Many of you may not know that there is
a national boycott against NORPAC's
copyrighted Gardenburger. NORPAC has
a horrible record of exploiting migrant la
bor, farm workers and their rights to orga
nize. Farm workers at NORPAC farms are
organizing for increased wages, rights to
fair breaks, rights to overtime pay. fair
treatment and decent living conditions.
NORPAC has continuously refused to give
their hardworking farm workers the basic
labor rights that humans deserve. Because
of these labor and human rights violations.
28 states have formed organizations to
boycott NORPACs Gardenburger.
Knowing these human rights violations,
President Frohnmayer and the University
have continued to allow NORPAC's Gar
denburger in the residence halls. The
ASUO Executive is in full support of the
Movimiento Esfudianti Chicanos de Azt
lan (MEChA) in its eSorts to remove Gar
denburger from this campus.
This institution has a responsibility to
make a statement that corporations who
abuse labor and human rights domestic
and abroad have no place at this Universi
ty. Students need to continue to tell Presi
dent Frohnmayer to kick Gardenburger off
this campus. At the same time, join us in
boycotting NORPAC's Gardenburger and
use alternative vegetarian burgers.
Bill Miner
ASUOPreadent
Ben Unger
ASUO Vice Preadem
Vote wisely
Due to the confusion and complications
with last year's elections, it has come to
my attention that many students do not
know that they may vote in the upcoming
ASUO elections. Every student may vote
in the ASUO elections' The ASUO is your
student government, and the leaders von
elect this year will make important deci
sions about the future of your education
and tuition dollars
I would like to urge everyone to look at
all of the candidates running for office and
make a decision based upon their leader
ship qualities and qualifications rather
than popularity, agendas or good looks
Not every candidate was given the op
portunity to join a slate, so it is important
for you to look at each individual and rote
for the one who will serv e sou in the best
ways possible. This may sound like com
mon sense, but things ran get very confus
ing when elections come around.
If you have any questions about the
elections, you may contact the ASUO
Elections Board at 346-3724. Or, better yet,
please attend the candidate debates on
April 14 from 7 to 9 p.m. in 100
Willamette.
And. most importantly, please take part
in the primary elections on April 15 and
16 and the general elections on April 22
and 23.
It is your choice and your vote, so vote
smart. Make educated votes and get to
know the candidates.
Autumn De Poe
Candktete for Athletic Department Finance
Seat No. 7
Students have power
I am concerned with the level of overall
awareness of the students of the Universi
ty. I know that we read about the issues
that surround the students of the Univer
sity in the Emerald, and some even read
the alternative papers that provide some
great information. Through these sources
we vaguely pay attention to what is occur
ring on campus and what certain groups
are fighting for. Much of the information
we have access to assumes some prior
knowledge about things such as the sexual
conduct code, the infamous incidental fee,
Riverfront Research Park expansion and
the cost of higher education for ail stu
dents of the University: international, in
state, out of state and graduate.
I'm wondering how much the informa
tion presented in our school papers makes
us aware of how important it is for stu
dents to understand what is going on
around us. While I have recently learned
more about the importance of each of the
issues listed above, I have become acutely
aware of how much power the students of
the University can and do have.
If we band together to create awareness
and realize that each event that occurs on
this campus affects each person at some
level, I believe that progressive education
is an automatic result. The ASUO elec
tions are coming up this month, and the
candidates are promoting many issues.
1 urge the students of the University to
pay attention to the information being pre
sented and vote for the group of students
whose main goal is to increase student
awareness and empower the student
voice. I Iso the ASUO as a catalyst to fight
lor the right to a fair and just education.
Vote student rights: vote Progressive.
Come Nichols
Candidate lor Student Senate
Program Finance Committee
Seat No. 2