Road Sprinkler Fitters Local Union No. 669 v. G & G Fire Sprinklers, Inc.

This case is the result of a dispute arising from the construction of a new wing of the San Joaquin General Hospital, in which the subcontractor, G & G Fire Sprinklers, Inc. (G & G), failed to pay its workers the prevailing wage rate for their labor classification.

Road Sprinkler Fitters Local Union No. 669 (the Union), acting on the assignment of the statutory rights of four workers, sued G & G to recover their unpaid, prevailing wages under Labor Code section 1774 and for waiting time penalty wages under section 203.

G & G appeals from the judgment in favor of the Union, raising several contentions. It claims this matter is preempted by the National Labor Relations Act and that the National Labor Relations Board has exclusive jurisdiction over this case, the Union has no standing to sue because its standing is limited to recovery of the workers’ statutory rights and the workers have no private statutory right to recover unpaid prevailing wages, G & G’s reasonable good faith choice of job classification defeats the Union’s claim, the trial court’s erroneous rulings on the burden of proof and the admission of evidence require a new trial, and G & G is not liable for…