MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A northern Wisconsin sawmill has agreed to pay nearly $191,000 and stop hiring children under 16 to settle a federal lawsuit labor regulators filed after a teenager was killed on the job this summer and other child employees were hurt in a string of accidents.
As federal investments pour into the construction sector, Kilah Engelke is working to recruit more women into the industry. “We have the best health care available and a pension that will last my entire lifetime and allow me to retire with dignity at an early age,” she said. “The wages are great too.”
The 2017 repeal of prevailing wage rules resulted in fewer local contractors getting work, declining blue-collar wages, yet no savings for state government.