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Show then 7 11 ENTERPRISE Mediator calls it labor gimmick Davis-Baco- too entrenched for independents upset n by Sheri Poe Enterprise Staff Writer Waging war against the 43 Act by year old Davis-Baco- n Utah's fledgling (and in fact, not yet official) chapter of Associated Builders and Contractors will probably be a losing battle, says Industrial Relations Council director Ross Thoresen. Act is a The Davis-Baco- n discriminatory system of re serving government tax dollars for union members only," Thoresen charged. The law is written in such a way that independents cannot even bid on a federal project since the increased wage dur- ing project construction would create job unrest once the workers returned to lower wages in respective trades." The 1934 Act Davis-Baco- n Mooney Real Estate, a well established firm, is and (rejuvenating after 28 years in business. Now, as Mooney - Norton Associates, were looking for experienced, competent, and aggressive If youre interested in us, were interested in you! Call Realtor-Associate- s. 363-033-3. 352 South 300 East, Suite 6 Salt Lake City, Utah 84111 Phone (801) 363-033- 3 requires that all contractors working on jobs funded by federal dollars pay the prevailing wage" to employees and offer prevailing health and welfare benefits. The problem with the act, argues Roy Cello of Bowers Construction, is the Department of Labor fails to represent the independents when it compiles figures on prevailing wages," preferring instead to make a single call to a union local to obtain wage information. This seems to be at least partially true. "There is no requirement to supply data to the Department of Labor," says wage, hour and public contact specAlialist Dick Hernandez. though we send questionnaires frequently to independents in Utah, they consider their employees wages too confidential to share with the government. Hernandez said Utah is notorious" for its low response level to such questionnaires, and added the lack of response, usually 70 percent in metropolitan areas, and less than half that in Salt Lake, is due to a lack of sophistication. There is no point in sending wage rates in," Thoresen charged, since the labor department wouldnt use them act anyway. The Davis-Baco- n is a union gimmick which works, and labor finds it glor- But he added, the unions always respond to question- naires. The building trades and bricklayer unions echoed Hernandez's feelings about wages and surveys, and admitted they more than bend over backwards to supply the Department of Labor with their vital statistics. Davis-Baco- n ious." Although a recent Enterprise survey matched nearly identically government project wages with union wages, Hernandez said union contracts are only one method of obtaining an areas prevailing wage. We use the phone book, surveys, federal agencies, and other methods of obtaining leads on contractors who should be surveyed," Hernandez said. But, like most n other organizations, even the Utah Home' Builders Association failed to respond to our surveys." Lax on homework The independents do their homework," organizer plained. A1 Joseph If they did, probably still dont labor ex- wed out-numb- er them in commercial projects, but it might make a difference of some kind. But it would take some time," he added. non-unio- Weve been responsive since 1934. Where the hell have the other people been?" Thoresen admitted unions do represent the overwhelming majority of Davis-Baco- n related projects, and said re- to sponse "wouldn't answered Poppycock," Bob Palmquist of the Utah HBA and Steve Featherstonc of the Greater Salt Lake HBA. any survey make any continued on page 18 Vz price installation with every Crawford garage door opener! SAVE $32.50 IF YOU BUY mw First-quali- ty JW-10- 0 with a Full Warranty on the ear commercial- heavy-dut- y, operator and drive system. -type Vi Installation backed Crawford Operator with HP motor. transmitte- parts r-including and labor. Crawford Door Sales 35 years of experience is behind every sale. We feature the largest stock of garage doors Expert installation by Crawford Door Sales professional servicemen. Buy now and receive normal installation at Vi price! and operators in the intermountain area. CALL TODAY FOR A NO OBLIGATION ESTIMATE St. Benedict's Hospital in Ogden chose J. P. 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