Who makes sure construction workers on taxpayer-funded projects in Multnomah County aren’t cheated out of their legally required wages? A small county team — plus a dedicated group of union volunteers — is stepping up to keep contractors honest.

On most county-funded construction projects worth $50,000 or more, contractors must pay workers the prevailing wage — the standard pay rate for similar work in the region — along with full benefits. To keep contractors compliant and protect workers’ paychecks, the county launched a Labor Compliance Program in 2019. A key part of that program? Hard-hatted union volunteers visiting job sites to check conditions firsthand.

The program is still regaining momentum after the pandemic slowdown. Right now, it has a core group of seven volunteers, most of whom work for local building trades unions. Labor Compliance Officer Patrick Wybert says he’s eager to recruit more volunteers to expand their reach.

Site visits are simple but powerful: Volunteers drop in, ask questions, and make sure workers know their rights. “Workers are asked to fill out a questionnaire. Do they know they’re supposed to be paid prevailing wage? Do they know how much it is? Are required postings displayed on job sites?” Wybert said.

Steve Hussey, an organizer with IBEW Local 48 who volunteers with the program, says these visits matter to the people doing the work:

“By and large, those folks are really happy to see somebody that’s looking out for them and asking questions and making sure that they’re getting the wages that they’re supposed to be getting on these jobs,” Hussey said.

The county’s site visits are random, but they’ll send volunteers back if complaints come in. If a contractor refuses to fix wage violations, the county escalates the matter to the Bureau of Labor and Industries or the Construction Contractors Board for enforcement.

Maggie Chavez, the county’s supplier diversity officer, says the volunteers’ industry experience is invaluable:

“We rely on our volunteers, not just for their ability to be on site, but for their knowledge,” Chavez said. Workers with a trained eye can spot red flags like underpaid specialized work or jobsite tools that don’t match a worker’s official classification. One common way contractors skirt the rules is by misclassifying skilled workers as general laborers — paying them a lower rate than they deserve.

Volunteers commit to at least one site visit every six months. In the nine months ending March 2025, the program carried out 16 site visits and interviewed 37 workers. New volunteers typically shadow Wybert before doing inspections on their own.

The effort has ramped up in tandem with the county’s library bond construction boom. Since voters approved the bond measure in November 2020, Multnomah County has opened four new libraries, renovated seven more, and plans to complete another four new library buildings by the end of 2026 — all while ensuring local workers get paid fairly.

The site inspections are backed up by county staff who review certified payroll reports, flagging violations like apprentices left unsupervised by journeymen — a clear breach of state training rules. Chavez noted that about 5% of payroll reports the county checked last year had some type of issue needing correction.

Union volunteers say the payoff goes beyond protecting union members. It strengthens the local economy and makes sure public dollars stay local:

“Taking everything else out of it, just as a community thing, you want to pay prevailing wage to keep the work with people in the area,” Hussey said. “If you don’t have anybody looking out for that, there’s no shortage of people willing to take advantage to make a buck.”

For now, the county hopes more union members and skilled tradespeople will step up to protect the region’s workers — and make sure every construction dollar goes where it’s meant to.

Originally reported by Anna Del Savio in Northwest Labor Press.