State sets prevailing wages for highway projects

The Missouri Labor Department has set new prevailing wage rates for workers on all Missouri highways and transportation construction projects. General Wage Order No. 54 took effect this month.

According to the Missouri Division of Labor Standards, the general wage order contains prevailing wage rates for each county and the city of St. Louis for the following occupations: laborer, truck driver-Teamster, operating engineer, carpenter, traffic control service driver, cement mason, iron worker, electrician-inside wireman, electrician-outside and painter.

The prevailing wage is the minimum rate that must be paid to workers on all Missouri State Highways and Transportation construction projects.

In Greene County, hourly rates range from $14.27 for operating engineers to $39.61 for elevator constructors. The complete list is available at www.labor.mo.gov.

The DLS gathers wage information from public and private construction projects statewide on an ongoing basis from contractors, labor organizations and public entities. It uses wage information to determine wage rates for each of the 10 occupational titles for every Missouri county and the city of St. Louis. The largest number of hours reported at a given wage rate for the occupational title in the county becomes the prevailing wage rate.Each year on or before July 1, it files a general wage order with the Secretary of State with a 30-day objection period. If there are no objections, the prevailing wage rates established by the division are final.[[In-content Ad]]