Government on Workers’ Side - How State and Local Policymakers and Advocates Can Raise Standards for Publicly Supported Work

Thanks to historic and unprecedented federal investment—through the Inflation Reduction Act, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), and the CHIPS and Science Act—now is the time for policymakers and advocates to improve existing job standards on publicly supported work. [...] Research shows these standards produce a multitude of benefits, from boosting the earnings of middle-class families and participation among women and people of color to boosting worker productivity and supporting on-time and on-budget project completion and a strong tax base.6 By adopting job quality standards for government spending, state and local policymakers can improve the lives of working p. [...] This should include a review of the quality and long-term sustainability of privatized services, the working conditions for contracted workers, and the effects on the community, as well as the cost of providing public assistance to contractors’ workers who receive low wages and benefits. [...] For example, the ordinance of Bergen County, New Jersey, requires that workers on building services, janitorial, and unarmed security contracts be paid the highest of the following: ■ 150 percent of the federal minimum wage ■ The hourly wage for work performed within the county under the collective bargaining agreement, covering the largest number of workers and at least 200 workers in a similar j. [...] 10 See, for example, the work of In the Public Interest, a research and policy center that documents the risks of excessive use of contracting out and contracting with irresponsible companies and serves as a national clearinghouse and resource center for activists, lawmakers, and the media.