Cruz said he wanted to strengthen the system to ensure wages benefit local workers.
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service is soliciting comments on whether the methods used to determine prevailing wage rates for construction occupations under the H2-B program suggested by the governor of Guam are reasonable, and whether USCIS should require a new system to be used in determining the prevailing wage rates, according to a news release from the vice speaker’s office. The deadline to submit comments was yesterday.
One of the suggestions Cruz submitted to the USCIS was to look into ways to ensure that wage determinations on Guam are consistent with a policy adopted by the U.S. Department of Labor in January that the wage determinations should be the highest of the wage rate set in the collective bargaining agreement; the wage rate established under the Davis Bacon Act; or the wages of workers similarly employed in the occupation as determined by the Occupational Employment Statistics wage survey.
Cruz submitted information to USCIS that he was advised that a particular section in the “Temporary Non-agricultural Employment H-2B Program” does not apply to Guam prevailing wages, and a new system should be in place for Guam’s prevailing wages to ensure consistency.
Cruz also submitted that there has been an adverse effect on working conditions on Guam in the construction trades as there are no fringe benefits included in the existing prevailing wage determinations and service jobs on Guam.
Lastly, Cruz suggested that instead of freezing prior wage determinations when newer determinations are lower, an annual rate of increase based on some average rate of wage rate growth or recognized wage indicator should be adopted.
