During a separate editorial board meeting, New York Department of Labor Commissioner M. Patricia Smith said contractors who pay prevailing wage are more likely to get experienced workers who complete a job more efficiently.

According to the New York Department of Labor Web site, www.labor.state.ny.us, prevailing wage is usually required for private workers engaged in construction, repair or renovation of state or local government facilities. Smith said she has 20 years of prevailing wage enforcement experience, from time she worked in the Attorney General's Office in the Bureau of Labor.

She said in her experience, a contractor who pays prevailing wage is more likely to use local labor. Use of local labor is more difficult to require legally, Smith said, but when it is made a hiring goal it tends to stand up in court.

Winning Construction Jobs for Local Residents, a report by the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law, details the many benefits of using high-road contractors. They include superior workmanship, higher wages, good benefits, career training, high productivity, good community and labor relations and reduced environmental impact.

Smith said Community Benefits Agreements have been used to great effect in California. The agreement outlines a range of community benefits the developer will provide, such as local labor and prevailing wages, in exchange for government subsidies.

Smith said studies show those agreements have by and large not resulted in lost projects.

"I think the areas that have implemented them (wage standards) are pleased with them," she said.

Donoghue said unions do a lot to raise the standard of living in the community, including apprenticeship and other training programs. Still, they sometimes get a bad rap.

"When they mention the word union, it's almost like it's a bad word," he said.

The contractors who submit the winning bid might match the union wages but often don't provide their workforce comparable benefits, Donoghue said. Medical care and other costs then fall to the taxpayers, he said.

dheath@pressrepublican.com