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WEBVTT >> ARE TAXED IS GETTING THERE MONEY'S WORTH? >> THE BRIDGE, ONE OF THE BUSIEST DRAWBRIDGES ON THE EAST COAST. THE CAPTAIN CALLS FOR PASSAGE. THE BRIDGE OPERATOR STROLLS UP TO THE BRIDGE HOUSE AND PUTS THE SAFETY GATE DOWN. AND OPENS THE BRIDGE FOR THE BOATS BELOW. HE MAKES NOTE OF THE VESSEL PASSING THROUGH AND HEADS BACK INSIDE. PHOTOS SHOW A COMFORTABLE WORKPLACE COMPLETE WITH A FUTON FOR RESTING. IT IS A STATE CONTRACTED JOB THAT SHOWS BETWEEN 75-100 $20 AN HOUR. AT LEAST 156,000 TAXPAYER DOLLARS A YEAR FOR A 40 HOUR WORK WEEK, A BIGGER PAYCHECK THAN THE GOVERNOR OF OUR STATE. >> I WAS GETTING 1350 AN HOUR. REPORTER: THEY WERE SHOCKED BY THAT RATE. THEY WORKED FOR THE BRIDGE FOR A DECADE UNTIL THEY WERE LAID OFF LAST YEAR. >> WHAT WENT THROUGH YOUR MIND? >> WHAT IS WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE? >> THAT MASSIVE INCREASE IN PAY KICKED IN WHEN THE STATE BEGAN MAINTENANCE. THAT PUBLIC CONTRACT TRIGGERED THE WAGE LOSS WHICH REQUIRES WORKERS BE PAID A WAGE FOUND IN EXISTING UNION CONTRACTS. THAT IS USUALLY HIGHER THAN THE GOING RATE IN THE MARKET. >> WHILE THE STATE'S WAGE LAW IS OUT OF CONTROL. >> GREG SULLIVAN SAYS MASSACHUSETTS IS ONE OF ONLY A HANDFUL OF STATES THAT SETS THE WAGE THAT WAY. THE MEDIAN HOURLY WAG IS $22 AND $.10 AN HOUR. >> IT SEEMS LIKE A WASTE. >> WHEN YOU SEE IT WASTED ON SOMETHING LIKE THIS IT MAKES YOU PULL YOUR HAIR OUT. >> EVEN THIS PIG IS FEEDING FROM THE TROUGH. ONE OF THOSE HIGH PAID RICH WORKERS BROUGHT HER BREAKFAST DURING THE WORKDAY MORE THAN AN HOUR AWAY FROM THE JOB SITE. THEY OPERATE THE BRIDGE THROUGH A CONTRACT WITH THE STATE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION. A SPOKESPERSON TOLD US BECAUSE A CONTRACTOR IS INVOLVED THEY ARE OBLIGATED TO PAY THE PREVAILING WAGE. THEY TOLD US BRIDGE OPERATORS PERFORM OTHER DUTIES ON SITE AT OUR INVESTIGATION FOUND THEM SITTING IN THE TRAILER WAITING FOR BOTH TO COME THROUGH DAY AFTER DAY. >> IT DOES NOT SEEM TO MAKE SENSE TO ME. >> THE TOTAL COST TO OPERATE WAS ALMOST HALF $1 MILLION. A LAWYER TOLD US WORKERS DO FEED THE PIG BUT NOT DURING WORK HOURS. THEY SAID THE EMPLOYEES WE SAW WERE ON VACATION.

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Imagine the pay for a job skyrocketing nearly 600 percent overnight. That's the deal the state gave drawbridge workers on a publicly funded job on the North Shore. The Blynman Bridge in Gloucester is one of the busiest drawbridges on the East Coast. A ship's captain calls for passage, the bridge operator strolls out of a nearby trailer up to the bridge house, puts the safety gates down to block vehicle and pedestrian traffic, and opens the bridge for the boats below. The bridge operator closes the bridge, makes note of the vessels that passed through and heads back inside the trailer, where photos obtained by 5Investigates show a comfortable workplace complete with a futon for resting and flat screen television. It's a state contracted job that records show pays between $75 and $120 an hour. That adds up to at least $156,000 in taxpayer dollars a year for a 40-hour workweek. That's more than Gov. Charlie Baker is paid. "Iwas getting $13.50 an hour," said Frank Favoloro. Favoloro and Pete Billert worked for about a decade as bridge operators on the Blynman Bridge until they were laid off last year. They were shocked when we told them about the new $75 an hour pay rate. "Something's wrong with this picture," said Billert. That massive increase in pay for the bridge tenders kicked in when the state Department of Transportation contracted with a private company, Cora Operations of East Boston, to maintain and operate the bridge and bridge house. The statesaid that public contract triggered the state's prevailing wage law whichrequires workers be paid a wage found in existing union contracts, which isusually much higher than the going rate in the market. "This Blynman Bridge is a poster child example of why the state's prevailing wage law is out of control," said Greg Sullivan, research director for the government accountability group the Pioneer Institute. Sullivan said Massachusetts is one of only a handful of states that sets the prevailing wage this way. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median hourly wage nationally for a bridge tender is $22.10 an hour. "Massachusetts is in a tough financial situation right now, Sullivan said. "When you see it wasted on something like this, it really it makes you pull your hair out." Meanwhile,5 Investigates found even a pig living an hour away from the Blynman Bridge is feeding from the public trough. Our camera captured one of those high-paid bridge workers bringing her breakfast during the work day. A lawyer for Cora Operations told us their workers do feed the pig, but not during work hours. The company later told MassDOT a different story -- that the employee we saw was on vacation. The state is now reviewing all of the work logs at the bridge. MassDOT also said bridge operators perform other duties on site in addition to raising and lowering the bridge. But our investigation found them just sitting in the trailer waiting for boats to come through the canal, day after day. "Itjust doesn't seem to make sense to me," said Favoloro. MassDOT told us because a contractor is involved in the work they are obligated to pay the prevailing wage. The intent of prevailing wage laws is to make sure workers get paid a fair wage on publicly funded projects and to level the playing field for bidders on those projects. Thirty-two states have prevailing wage laws, but according to a 2015 study done by Anderson Economic Group, LLC, Massachusetts is one of only four states in the country that set the prevailing wage rates based solely on union contracts. Eighteen states have no prevailing wage law at all and most of the rest of the states also consider other factors, such as surveys of contractors and other area employers, which tend to lead to lower prevailing wages. "The reason that this abuse occurs is that Massachusetts has a prevailing wage law that's completely out of step with the rest of the country," said Greg Sullivan, research director for the government accountability group the Pioneer Institute. "The person who's running that bridge is making more than the secretary of transportation for the Commonwealth," Sullivan added. "That's what it's costing the taxpayers, so it doesn't make any sense and the whole prevailing wage system should be over-hauled. The union contract in this case required journeymen electricians be hired to operate the bridge at that higher rate. Operation costs at the Blynman Bridge for the first half of the year were almost$500,000.