Electricians Accuse School Districts of Underpaying

Ten contractors and two school districts are now under fire since a group of electricians with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 479 decided to file a lawsuit against the school districts and contractors over prevailing wages. The Southeast Texas Record reports that the group of 16 unionized elections are blaming the Beaumont Independent School District and the Port Arthur Independent School District for failing to include prevailing-wage determinations in their contracts with bidders.

The elections reportedly had salaries ranging from $12.50 per hour to $21 per hour, but they claim that they were not paid the prevailing wage rates for the work they did on the Willie Ray Smith Middle School construction project in Beaumont and the Stephen F. Austin Middle School, Sam Houston Middle School and Tyrell Elementary School projects in Port Arthur.

The Southeast Texas Record states that electricians are supposed to earn the prevailing wage for their work in order to protect local wage standards. Protecting the local wage standards prevents "contractors from basing their bids on wages lower than those prevailing in the area [and] giving local labor and the local contractors a fair opportunity to participate," as stated in the union's February 9 complaint that was filed in Jefferson County District Court.

Texas employment lawyer John Werner will be representing the electricians who are seeking actual, special and incidental damages along with attorney's fees and any other relief that the court deems just. For more information about the prevailing wage rates in Texas, visit the website of the Texas Workforce Commission at http://www.twc.state.tx.us/.

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