CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Hundreds of carpenters, plumbers and electricians work on CCISD construction projects for the Corpus Christi Independent School District, but one union is questioning how their wages are calculated.
"There's so much work that's gone on in the last 10 years with CCISD,” International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, business manager David Carranco said.
Carranco is the President of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers or IBEW, a local union representing 800 members. They claimed CCISD has paid construction workers unfair wages for a long time.
"We're bringing attention to it because for the last two decades, CCISD has not been adopting the proper wage package and the 13th Court of Appeals as of December of 2024 as of last year has determined by them that adopting a third-party wage packet is illegal,” Carranco said.
That wage package Carranco referred to is a part of the U.S. Department of Labor's prevailing wage rates under the Davis- Bacon Act.
According to IBEW, CCISD does not follow this federal law.
"It sets the minimum standard for construction workers. It's like a minimum wage. You can't pay less, you can more but you can't pay less,” Carranco said.
So, their fight continues.
"We got out there and ask workers what their issues are on the job and one thing they all say is the pay,” Carranco said.
At first ready to take further legal action, IBEW is now calling for a truce.
"All we want is for them to adopt Davis-Bacon, be more transparent with the awarding and basing process when it comes to construction projects and to have an internal audit system that will ensure that once they do adopt Davis-Bacon that the constructs will abide and pay wages accordingly,” Carranco said.
KRIS 6 News reached out to CCISD for comment and the district responded by saying it does not comment on pending litigation.
If there's no action from Corpus Christi Independent School District, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers is planning to protest at the next school board meeting.
