Labor & Employment Law

Administrative Law Judge rules that the wages of 30% of the workers in a trade covered by the CBA constitutes the ?prevailing wage rate?

Administrative Law Judge rules that the wages of 30% of the workers in a trade covered by the CBA constitutes the ?prevailing wage rate?

Office of the New York City Comptroller, ex rel. Local 1087 v Office of Labor Relations, OATH Index No. 2451/08

OATH Administrative Law Judge Faye Lewis upheld the New York City?s Comptroller's preliminary determination finding that radio repair mechanics (RRMs) employed by the City should be paid commensurate with the wages set forth in the collective bargaining agreement of broadcast engineers employed by ABC.

The similarities in the type of work performed by the RRMs and the ABC broadcast engineers, and the skill sets needed to repair, maintain, and install the various electronic communications equipment, said Lewis, was sufficient to support a finding that the two jobs were comparable.

Accordingly, the ALJ ruled that, as a matter of law, because the broadcast engineers' collective bargaining agreement covered over 30% of the workers in their trade, their wages were prevailing, regardless of the fact that there were potentially other non-unionized groups who might have been more comparable with the RRMs.

The decision is posted on the Internet at:

Full post as published by New York Public Personnel Law on May 22, 2009 (boomark / email).