Everett Concrete Products, Inc. v. Department of Labor & Industries, No. 53879-4
| Court | United States State Supreme Court of Washington |
| Writing for the Court | CALLOW; PEARSON |
| Citation | 109 Wn.2d 819,748 P.2d 1112 |
| Parties | , 28 Wage & Hour Cas. (BNA) 950, 115 Lab.Cas. P 56,218, 7 A.L.R.5th 1086 EVERETT CONCRETE PRODUCTS, INC., Appellant, v. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR & INDUSTRIES, Respondent. |
| Decision Date | 21 January 1988 |
| Docket Number | No. 53879-4 |
Page 819
115 Lab.Cas. P 56,218, 7 A.L.R.5th 1086
v.
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR & INDUSTRIES, Respondent.
En Banc.
Page 820
David W. Wiley, Bellevue, Frederick T. Rasmussen, Seattle, for appellant.
Kenneth O. Eikenberry, Atty. Gen., Michael H. Weier, Asst., Dept. of Labor & Industries, Olympia, for respondent.
Richard H. Robblee, Seattle, for United Ass'n of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipefitting Industry, amicus curiae, for respondent.
CALLOW, Justice.
Washington's prevailing wage law, RCW 39.12.010 et seq., provides that the wages paid to workers on public works projects must be not less than the prevailing wage for similar work in the locality where the labor on the public works project is performed. RCW 39.12.020. This case presents the issue of whether the prevailing wage law applies to the off-site manufacture of prefabricated items for use on a particular public works project.
In early fall, 1982, the Department of Transportation awarded Guy F. Atkinson Construction Co. (Atkinson) the contract for the Mt. Baker Ridge Tunnel Public Works Project. Under the terms of the contract, Atkinson was to excavate and construct a tunnel for the Interstate 90 highway in Seattle. The earth at the tunnel site is loose and could not be excavated by traditional methods. As a result, Atkinson designed and utilized concrete tunnel liners to provide a supportive ring in the tunnel during excavation.
In April 1983, Atkinson arranged to have Everett Concrete Products (ECP) manufacture the tunnel liners required for the Mt. Baker project. ECP agreed to manufacture 30,000 lineal feet of liners in accordance with measurements specified by Atkinson and the Department of Transportation. ECP manufactured the tunnel liners on
Page 821
special forms built to meet the size [748 P.2d 1113] and measurement requirements of the tunnel. The manufacture of the liners took place on these forms at ECP's plant in Everett. Atkinson then contracted with trucking companies to deliver the liners to the site of the project.In May 1984, general counsel for the Washington and Northern Idaho Council of the Laborers' International Union of North America wrote to the Department of Labor and Industries (Labor and Industries) and asked whether the prevailing wage law applied to ECP's manufacture of tunnel liners for the Mt. Baker Project. In response to this inquiry, Labor and Industries sent an industrial statistician to inspect ECP's facility in Everett and the tunnel site in Seattle. After conferring with his superiors, the statistician determined that the prevailing wage law did apply to ECP.
ECP challenged this determination, and the matter subsequently was referred for arbitration, pursuant to RCW 39.12.060 which provides in part:
[I]n case any dispute arises as to what are the prevailing rates of wages for work of a similar nature and such dispute cannot be adjusted by the parties in interest ... the matter shall be referred for arbitration to the director of the department of labor and industries ...
After a hearing, the administrative law judge (ALJ) upheld Labor and Industries' application of the prevailing wage law to ECP.
ECP contends that the ALJ erred in holding that the prevailing wage law applied to ECP. First, ECP argues that RCW 39.12 should not include off-site product manufacturers within its scope, except under certain narrow circumstances. Second, ECP asserts that the ALJ erred in characterizing ECP as a subcontractor rather than a materialman.
To determine the scope of Washington's prevailing wage law, we look first to the relevant statutory language. Service Employees Local 6 v. Superintendent of Pub.
Page 822
Instruction, 104 Wash.2d 344, 348, 705 P.2d 776 (1985). If a statute is unambiguous, its meaning must be derived from its language alone. Stewart Carpet Serv., Inc. v. Contractors Bonding & Ins. Co., 105 Wash.2d 353, 358, 715 P.2d 115 (1986). If the statute is ambiguous, resort may be had to other sources to determine its meaning. PUD 1 v. WPPSS, 104 Wash.2d 353, 369, 705 P.2d 1195, 713 P.2d 1109 (1985).In this case the relevant statutory language is set forth in RCW 39.12.020, which provides in part:
The hourly wages to be paid to laborers, workmen or mechanics, upon all public works and under all public building service maintenance contracts of the state or any county, municipality or political subdivision created by its laws, shall be not less than the prevailing rate of wage for an hour's work in the same trade or occupation in the locality within the state where such labor is performed.
According to the language of the statute, prevailing wages must be paid to those employed "upon all public works". The ALJ in this case interpreted the phrase "upon all public works" in RCW 39.12.020 to include within its scope work performed off the actual site of the public works project. He held that the prevailing wage law could be extended to cover off-site workers as long as they were "employed in the performance of the contract."
ECP concedes that the prevailing wage law can be applied to off-site work on a public works project. However, it argues that the ALJ erred in extending the scope of RCW 39.12 to cover ECP's manufacture of tunnel liners. It contends that the prevailing wage requirement should be interpreted in accordance with decisions and regulations in other jurisdictions examining state prevailing wage laws and the federal prevailing wage law, the Davis-Bacon Act (40 U.S.C. § 276a et seq.). According to these decisions and regulations the prevailing wage requirement would only be imposed on off-site manufacturers having a sufficient nexus to the public works project. Relevant factors in determining whether such nexus exists should include physical location
Page 823
of the project site, the nature of the relationship between the parties[748 P.2d 1114] performing the work, and the characteristics of the product itself. See 29 C.F.R. § 5.2(1) (1985); H.B. Zachry Co. v. United States, 344 F.2d 352, 360 (Cl.Ct.1965); City & Borough of Sitka v. Construction & Gen. Laborers Local 942, 644 P.2d 227, 232 (Alaska 1982).The construction of the phrase "upon all public works" involves a question of law. Therefore, we may engage in de novo review, but should accord substantial weight to the agency interpretation. Franklin Cy. Sheriff's Office v. Sellers, 97 Wash.2d 317, 325, 646 P.2d 113 (1982).
RCW 39.12.020 does not specifically state whether prevailing wages must be paid to workers employed in the performance of a public works project who are not working on the actual project site. Thus, we must determine its scope from the applicable rules of statutory construction assisted by any interpretation previously given to the statute by the Attorney General or Labor & Industries.
RCW 39.12 is remedial and should be construed liberally. Southeastern Wash. Building & Constr. Trades Coun. v. Department of Labor & Indus., 91 Wash.2d 41, 44, 586 P.2d 486 (1978). A liberal construction should carry into effect the purpose of the statute. See State v. Douty, 92 Wash.2d 930, 936, 603 P.2d 373 (1979).
The purpose behind Washington's prevailing wage law can be discovered by understanding the purpose behind the federal prevailing wage law, the Davis-Bacon Act, 40 U.S.C. § 276a, which served as a model for RCW 39.12. Drake v. Molvik & Olsen Elec., Inc., 107 Wash.2d 26, 29, 726 P.2d 1238 (1986). The Davis-Bacon Act was enacted "to protect the employees of government contractors from substandard earnings and to preserve local wage standards ... The employees, not the contractor or its assignee, are the beneficiaries of the Act." Unity Bank & Trust Co. v. United States, 756 F.2d 870, 873 (Fed.Cir.1985). As stated
Page 824
in Building Trades Coun., 90 Wash.2d at 45, 586 P.2d 486:a purpose of the Davis-Bacon Act was to provide protection to local craftsmen who were losing work because contractors engaged in the practice of recruiting labor from distant cheap labor areas.
This purpose will be served by extending the application of RCW 39.12 to off-site manufacturers involved in public works by preventing contractors from parceling out portions of the work to various off-site manufacturers as a means of avoiding the prevailing wage requirement.
Another canon of statutory construction provides that "when the legislature of a state adopts a statute which is identical or similar to one in effect in another state or country, the courts of the adopting state usually adopt the construction placed on the statute in the jurisdiction in which...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Multicare Medical Center v. State, Dept. of Social and Health Services, No. 2
...we first look to the statutory language. 15 Everett Concrete Prods., Inc. v. Department of Labor & Indus., 109 Wash.2d 819, 822, 748 P.2d 1112 (1988). As a threshold matter, State v. Theilken, 102 Wash.2d 271, 684 P.2d 709 (1984), we note that the statute is not ambiguous. The Legislature s......
-
Juveniles A, B, C, D, E, Matter of, No. 58364-1
...will not look beyond the plain meaning of the words. Everett Concrete Prods., Inc. v. Department of Labor & Indus., 109 Wash.2d 819, 822, 748 P.2d 1112 (1988). Unfortunately, however, such is not the case with the statute before us. The statute uses both the terms "convicted" and "offense" ......
-
Silverstreak v. State Dept. of Labor, No. 76695-9.
...and its regulatory interpretations are granted deference. Everett Concrete Prods., Inc. v. Dep't of Labor & Indus., 109 Wash.2d 819, 823, 748 P.2d 1112 (1988). However, questions of law are reviewed de novo. Whether the law was correctly applied to the facts as found by the agency is also a......
-
Broughton Lumber Co. v. BNSF Ry. Co., No. 85905–1.
...the construction of these statutes. [174 Wash.2d 640]Everett Concrete Prods., Inc. v. Dep't of Labor & Indus., 109 Wash.2d 819, 826, 748 P.2d 1112 (1988).IV. CONCLUSION ¶ 38 When the timber trespass statute was enacted, the term “ ‘trespass' ” had “ ‘a well ascertained and fixed meaning.’ ”......
-
Multicare Medical Center v. State, Dept. of Social and Health Services, No. 2
...we first look to the statutory language. 15 Everett Concrete Prods., Inc. v. Department of Labor & Indus., 109 Wash.2d 819, 822, 748 P.2d 1112 (1988). As a threshold matter, State v. Theilken, 102 Wash.2d 271, 684 P.2d 709 (1984), we note that the statute is not ambiguous. The Legislature s......
-
Juveniles A, B, C, D, E, Matter of, No. 58364-1
...will not look beyond the plain meaning of the words. Everett Concrete Prods., Inc. v. Department of Labor & Indus., 109 Wash.2d 819, 822, 748 P.2d 1112 (1988). Unfortunately, however, such is not the case with the statute before us. The statute uses both the terms "convicted" and "offense" ......
-
Silverstreak v. State Dept. of Labor, No. 76695-9.
...and its regulatory interpretations are granted deference. Everett Concrete Prods., Inc. v. Dep't of Labor & Indus., 109 Wash.2d 819, 823, 748 P.2d 1112 (1988). However, questions of law are reviewed de novo. Whether the law was correctly applied to the facts as found by the agency is also a......
-
Cantu v. Yakima Sch. Dist. No. 7, 37996-5-III
...in the United States statute. 514 P.3d 691 Everett Concrete Products, Inc. v. Department of Labor & Industries , 109 Wash.2d 819, 826, 748 P.2d 1112 (1988).¶ 162 Advocates of government transparency may welcome an adequate search rule as effectuating the values behind the PRA. The opposite ......