Pennsylvania State Building and Construction Trades Council, AFL-CIO v. Prevailing Wage Appeals Board

In Pennsylvania State Building and Construction Trades Council, AFL-CIO v. Prevailing Wage Appeals Board, 722 A.2d 1139 (Pa. Cmwlth. 1999) (State Trades Council), the Court held that the Secretary abused his discretion and violated 34 Pa. Code 9.105(d) when he excluded all public work projects from a statewide prevailing wage survey. In State Trades Council the Court reiterated the rule that the exercise of administrative discretion will not be overturned unless the exercise is arbitrary or capricious. In that case however the Secretary's decision was overturned as he abused his discretion by deliberately excluding all public work projects from a statewide prevailing wage survey, focusing solely on private projects, and by failing to collect wage rate information from "significant types of work within the entire range of projects performed in the building and construction industry." Id., 722 A.2d at 1143.