California Division of Labor Standards Enforcement v. Dillingham Construction, N. A.

The State of California requires a contractor on a public works project to pay its workers the prevailing wage in the project’s locale. An exception to this requirement permits a contractor to pay a lower wage to workers participating in an approved apprenticeship program. This case presents the question whether the pre-emption provision of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), 88 Stat. 829, as amended, 29 U. S. C. § 1001 et seq., supersedes California’s prevailing wage law to the extent that the law prohibits payment of an apprentice wage to an apprentice trained in an…