Publisher's Synopsis
Excerpt from Erisa Preemption of State Prevailing Wage Laws: Hearing of the Committee on Labor and Human Resources, United States Senate, One Hundred Third Congress, Second Session, on S. 1580
The committee met, pursuant to notice, at 2:38 p.m., in room SD-430, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Senator Harris Wofford presiding.
Present: Senators Kennedy, Wofford, and Durenberger.
Opening Statement of Senator Wofford
Senator Wofford [presiding.] This hearing will come to order.
Today the Committee on Labor and Human Resources meets to hold a hearing on ERISA preemption of certain State laws. As some of you well know, the weather prevented us from holding this hearing on February 11. I thank witnesses for being able to come back here today especially those who came through the bad weather and met with me for a little while. We are glad to have you here and all of the witnesses today.
During the past several years, courts have held that the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 preempted the ability of States to establish prevailing wage laws, fix the terms and conditions of apprenticeship programs, and enact mechanics lien laws, all of which are traditional State prerogatives.
Before coming to the Senate, I was Pennsylvania's Secretary of Labor and Industry and I was responsible for the Bureau of Prevailing Wage and the Office of Apprenticeship and Training. I came to have a special appreciation of our apprenticeship programs and how they contribute to a skilled work force.
Recently, I attended a statewide conference called "Preparing Todays Youth for Tomorrows Jobs," in Monroeville, Pa. At the conference, William Unitas, educational coordinator for the United Brotherhood of Carpenters Joint Apprenticeship Committee noted that on their apprenticeship application tests, numerous scores were as low as two out of 100 in mathematics.
Besides the question of how the schools were doing in training those who would not be going to college, the need for more wellrun apprenticeship training was emphasized. It could not have been more evidence from the evidence we heard that day.
Decisions by several courts in recent years have made the situation worse.
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