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The Illinois Prevailing Wage Act requires all contractors working on Illinois public construction projects to pay their employees wage rates and benefits established by the Illinois Department of Labor, which normally uses wage rates and benefits obtained from union collective bargaining agreements.

Recently, the Operating Engineers Local 150 sought to include non-construction workers (such as survey workers and material testers) under the Prevailing Wage Act by petitioning the Illinois Department of Labor to add new classifications covering individuals performing that work.

Under the prior administration, unions have been very successful at expanding coverage of the Act before the Illinois Department of Labor. However, Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner recently appointed a new Director, Hugo Chaviano, who has directed the IDOL to enforce the law as written rather than trying to change the law to be more expansive than it is written. We ask that you support Governor Rauner and Director Chaviano’s decision to enforce the law as the General Assembly passed it and to limit the scope of the Prevailing Wage Act to its proper purpose.

For additional information on the impact of the Prevailing Wage Act on your Illinois business, please call Matthew Robinson at our Firm at 314-862-0300.