By The PA. AFL-CIO

– E-mail your Representative now at: http://act.aflcio.org/c/236/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=7178 and tell them to vote NO on HB 1538.

According to data released earlier this month, the income gap between the top 1 percent and the remainder of workers in Pennsylvania is the widest it has been since the 1920s. Wages for the middle class have fallen in recent years, and even looking back over the past 25 years, wages have only increased by about 7 percent, compared to a 61 percent increase in productivity.

For some of our lawmakers, however, middle class wages are not sinking fast enough!

This year a number of bills have been introduced in the State House which attack prevailing wage laws, seeking to open up the door for contractors to low-ball bids with unskilled and underpaid labor, so they can pocket more of our taxpayer money as profits.

In the spring, two of these bills were voted favorably out of committee, and now today, on only the third day back from summer recess, they are at it again.

HB 1538 was just voted out of the House Labor Committee on a party line vote. The bill would allow any municipality, political subdivision, authority or agency to opt out of the requirements of the Prevailing Wage Act.

It is expected that HB 1538, along with anti-prevailing wage bills HB 665 and HB 796, will be brought up for votes by the full House next week!

It’s time to make sure our lawmakers in Harrisburg know that we are still paying attention and that we reject the idea that legislating lower wages is any way to help the middle class in Pennsylvania.

Again, E-mail your Representative now at: http://act.aflcio.org/c/236/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=7178 and tell them to vote NO on HB 1538.

Also please note that HB 1538 was authored by Rep. Miller (R-York), who was just last month inducted into our Pennsylvania Hall Of Shame for his attacks on workers’ rights. The voting is currently open to induct more lawmakers into the Hall Of Shame for 2013, and it’s worth noting that two of our nominees from Cumberland County (Rep. Bloom and Rep. DeLozier) are members of the House Labor Committee who just voted for this latest attack on prevailing wage. If you would like to thank them by voting for their induction into the Hall Of Shame, you can do so HERE!

Source: http://www.paaflcio.org/?p=2835