A coalition of Upstate voices including many regional chambers of commerce released a letter Tuesday arguing an expanded prevailing wage mandate will drive up labor costs for private sector projects.

• Upstate coalition released a letter opposing prevailing wage expansion Tuesday
• Unions like AFL-CIO said better wages for workers is good for economy
• Unshackle Upstate said there won't be jobs because developers won't take on projects

"I believe that that bill will be a lights out issue for Upstate New York economic development, so trying to halt that discussion and make sure that any conversation that moves forward has Upstate voices at the table is utmost important for me," Unshackle Upstate Executive Director Michael Kracker said.

In the final weeks of legislative session, Kracker is delivering that message in Albany.

"I just don't think that there's any way that if you're going to increase labor cost as much as 30 percent on a project, you're going to get any return on your investment and developers are simply going to shut down," he said.

Under current law, the state Department of Labor sets the wages contractors must pay for any public work projects based on industry standards in the region. Some legislators would like to see that also apply to private projects in which developers receive public tax breaks or incentives.

"If the successful bidder does not have a relationship with a union and there is no prevailing, they can pay wherever they feel like they can essentially get away with paying," Richard Lipsitz, WNY Area Labor Federation, AFL-CIO president, said of the current system.

The proposal is backed by unions like AFL- CIO, which believes public money should be uses to make sure employees get good pay rates and benefits and that an expanded prevailing wage is actually good for a regional economy.

"More money that are in the pockets of ordinary working class people, generally it is used to stimulate, because they spend their money on products and services that generate economic growth," Lipsitz said.

However, Kracker argued the expansion won't benefit the middle class if there are no jobs to be had.

"Right now, you've got record low unemployment rates across the state," he said. "Any employer who's paying too low wages is putting himself at a competitive disadvantage. So I think you're already seeing wages increase across the state without any Albany mandate and once you impose a prevailing wage expansion, there's going to be no projects for these people to work on."