Starr says he’ll lower prevailing wages as labor commissioner
Bruce Starr, a candidate for Oregon
labor commissioner, told a gathering of
Clackamas County Republicans last
March that he will lower state prevail-
ing wage rates if elected in November.
Starr is a five-term Republican state
senator from Hillsboro running against
incumbent Brad Avakian for the non-
partisan position of commissioner of
the Bureau of Labor and Industries
(BOLI). Avakian is finishing his first
term in the post.
In an audio tape obtained by the La-
bor Press, Starr asserts that prevailing
wage rates in Oregon “are completely
out of whack” with market rates in con-
struction.
“There is a way that the labor com-
missioner can, without going to the
governor and asking permission, with-
out going to the Legislature and asking
for permission, to bring those prevail-
ing wage rates more in line with the
market rates and ultimately save every
taxpayer in the state of Oregon dollars,”
Starr said.
The Oregon Prevailing Wage Rate
law applies to non-federal public works
projects that exceed $50,000. For
tered and enforced by BOLI and are
based on quarterly surveys conducted
by the Oregon Employment Division.
The wage rates for 2011, for exam-
‘There is a way that the labor commissioner can,
without going to the governor and asking permission,
without going to the Legislature and asking for
permission, to bring those prevailing wage rates more
in line with the market rates.’
BRUCE STARR
workers, it establishes the minimum
wage to be paid for the particular type
of construction work performed. More-
over, it levels the playing field for con-
struction contractors bidding on public
projects, while assuring taxpayers that
they’re getting quality workmanship at
a fair price.
Prevailing wage laws are adminis-
ple, reflect almost 900,000 hours of
work performed by construction work-
ers in over 50 craft occupations during
four pre-selected weeks of construction
activity in the previous 12 months.
Data were collected in 14 geographical
regions specified in the state law.
“It’s a non-biased, fair reflection of
the actual work that is being per-
formed,” said John Mohlis, executive
secretary of the Oregon State Building
and Construction Trades Council. “To
say that prevailing wage rates are out
of whack is simply wrong. The surveys
reflect the market.”
The Oregon State Building Trades
Council has endorsed Avakian for re-
election.
The revelation of the audio tape
comes on the heels of Starr telling a
conservative radio talk show that, if
elected labor commissioner, he will en-
deavor to make Oregon a “right-to-
work” state. That radio interview took
place just weeks after Starr appeared
before the Oregon State Building and
Construction Trades Council conven-
tion, where he told a roomful of union
construction officials: “We’ve had a
good relationship over the last 10 years.
We are friends. I’m not walking into
enemy territory here today.”
Mohlis said Starr’s remarks on
right-to-work and prevailing wage rates
surprised him. “It’s not in sync with
what I thought his views were,” he told
the Labor Press last month. “It shows
more urgency to re-elect Avakian. It’s
certainly not in our best interest to have
a labor commissioner who is anti-la-
bor.”
Columbia-Pacific Building &
Construction Trades Council
Endorsements for the
Nov. 6 General Election
OREGON
City of Portland
Commissioner #1
Mary Nolan
Clackamas County
Chair
Charlotte Lehan
Commissioner #4
In Portland mayoral race, Fire Fighters #43, Police
Association withdraw endorsements for Smith
Portland Fire Fighters Association
Local 43 and the Portland Police Asso-
ciation (PPA) have withdrawn their en-
dorsements of Portland mayoral candi-
date Jefferson Smith.
The announcement was made in a
joint press release Oct. 11 — less than
two weeks after Willamette Week re-
ported on a 1993 altercation Smith had
with a woman while he was a student at
the University of Oregon. The woman
required medical treatment and Smith
agreed to sign a diversion agreement
admitting he was wrong and paid the
woman’s medical bills to avoid prose-
cution.
“As you have likely seen unfolding
in the press recently, there have been
numerous events in Mr. Smith’s per-
sonal life that raise serious questions
about his integrity, honesty, and fitness
for office,” Fire Fighters Local 43 said
in a written statement. “To be clear, we
support Mr. Smith’s platform, and were
we looking solely at candidates’ posi-
tions on firefighter issues, the endorse-
ment would stand.
“In this situation, however, the can-
didate’s character clearly runs counter
to our values. Quite simply, we do not
take lightly the respect we all share as
firefighters in this community and can-
not stand alongside someone with
questionable ethics and decision-mak-
ing skills.”
Neither the Fire Fighters nor the
PPA endorsed Smith’s opponent for
mayor, former city commissioner
Charlie Hales.
Daryl Turner, president of the PPA,
said, “Our members count on us to
make recommendations and, at this
point in the campaign, we cannot make
a strong recommendation for either
PAGE 2
candidate.”
Organized labor is split on endorse-
ments. Smith is still backed by two
other City worker unions — AFSCME
Local 189 and Laborers Local 483 —
as well as the Portland Association of
Teachers, Communications Workers of
America Local 7901, and the Oregon,
Southern Idaho District Council of La-
borers.
Hales has endorsements from Amal-
gamated Transit Union Local 757, Op-
erating Engineers Local 701, Pacific
Northwest Regional Council of Car-
penters, Service Employees Interna-
tional Union locals 49 and 503, Team-
sters Joint Council 37, and United Food
and Commercial Workers Local 555.
Jamie Damon
Columbia County
Commissioner #1
Earl Fisher
Portland School District
Bond Measure 26-144
Support
Statewide
Ballot Measure 82 Support
Ballot Measure 83 Support
Washington
U.S. Senate
Maria Cantwell
Governor
Jay Inslee
Attorney General
Bob Ferguson
State Senate
Tim Probst- LD #17
Annette Cleveland- LD #49
State House
Monica Stonier- LD #17/1
Jim Gizzi- LD #17/2
Sharon Wylie- LD #49/1
Jim Moeller- LD #49/2
Ballot Measure 1185 - NO
Ballot Measure 1191 - NO
Clark County
Commissioner #1
Joe Tanner
C-Tran Proposition 1 - NO
Paid for and authorized by the
Columbia-Pacific BCTC
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
OCTOBER 19, 2012