[Superman]

Me too, Eric. I'd only point out that the lowest common denominator is not what every contractor chooses. Plenty of research indicating that the wage paid is one of the least relevant considerations. Many contractors understand that if you want to be efficient and on time, you use workers who know the job. The last thing you want is to pay a crew of six folks for a day to tie rebar, find out they did it wrong, then have a crew of three folks for two days, one to undo the bad work and one day to do it right. You've lost two days and nine days' worth of pay.

Let's not forget that direct wages, including benefits, are usually somewhere around 20% of the cost of a project. Never more than 30%. The real trick is to get the right people on the job. Construction labor is simply NOT unskilled. Brooming and carrying, sure. But laborers also perform some functions that are neither simple or easy.

Alf, you can look this up. If you don't understand why workers pool their clout by forming labor unions, then you probably need to do some reading.