Mass. Gen. Laws » Part I Title XXI Chapter 149
Massachusetts General Laws

Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 149, § 26 (2026)

Public works; preference to veterans and citizens; wages

✓ current as of July 2026
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Section 26. In the employment of mechanics and apprentices, teamsters, chauffeurs and laborers in the construction of public works by the commonwealth, or by a county, town, authority or district, or by persons contracting or subcontracting for such works, preference shall first be given to citizens of the commonwealth who have been residents of the commonwealth for at least six months at the commencement of their employment who are veterans as defined in clause Forty-third of section 7 of chapter 4 and who are qualified to perform the work to which the employment relates and, within such preference, preference shall be given to service-disabled veterans; and secondly, to citizens of the commonwealth generally who have been residents of the commonwealth for at least six months at the commencement of their employment, and if they cannot be obtained in sufficient numbers, then to citizens of the United States, and every contract for such work shall contain a provision to this effect. Each county, town or district in the construction of public works, or persons contracting or sub-contracting for such works, shall give preference to veterans and citizens who are residents of such county, town, authority or district and, within such preference, preference shall be given to service-disabled veterans. The rate per hour of the wages paid to said mechanics and apprentices, teamsters, chauffeurs and laborers in the construction of public works shall not be less than the rate or rates of wages to be determined by the commissioner as hereinafter provided; provided, that the wages paid to laborers employed on said works shall not be less than those paid to laborers in the municipal service of the town or towns where said works are being constructed; provided, further, that where the same public work is to be constructed in two or more towns, the wages paid to laborers shall not be less than those paid to laborers in the municipal service of the town paying the highest rate; provided, further, that if, in any of the towns where the works are to be constructed, a wage rate or wage rates have been established in certain trades and occupations by collective agreements or understandings in the private construction industry between organized labor and employers, the rate or rates to be paid on said works shall not be less than the rates so established; provided further, that in towns where no such rate or rates have been so established, the wages paid to mechanics, teamsters, chauffeurs and laborers on public works, shall not be less than the wages paid to the employees in the same trades and occupations by private employers engaged in the construction industry. This section shall also apply to regular employees of the commonwealth or of a county, town, authority or district, when such employees are employed in the construction, addition to or alteration of public buildings for which special appropriations of more than one thousand dollars are provided. Payments by employers to health and welfare plans, pension plans and supplementary unemployment benefit plans under collective bargaining agreements or understandings between organized labor and employers shall be included for the purpose of establishing minimum wage rates as herein provided.

Permanent and temporary laborers employed by the state department of highways and by the metropolitan district commission shall receive such salary or compensation as may be fixed under and in accordance with sections forty-five to fifty inclusive of chapter thirty.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 37 cases (4 in the last 5 years), 1960–2025 · leading case: McCarty's Case, 837 N.E.2d 669 (Mass. 2005).
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McCarty's Case, 837 N.E.2d 669 (Mass. 2005). · cites it 19× “398, § 13, and G. L. c. 149, §§ 26 and 27, makes the inclusion of such employer payments mandatory, we affirm the reviewing board’s decision.”
Receiver of the Boston Hous. Auth. v. Comm'r of Labor & Indus., 484 N.E.2d 86 (Mass. 1985). · cites it 18× “121B, § 29, and G.L.c. 149, § 26. The BHA and the Cambridge Housing Authority (CHA) successfully challenged those rates in the Superior Court, which remanded the rates to the commissioner for redetermination.”
Massachusetts Council of Constr. Employers, Inc. v. Mayor of Boston, 425 N.E.2d 346 (Mass. 1981). · cites it 14× “Before us is a challenge to a portion of G. L. c. 149, § 26, 3 and to an executive order 4 of the mayor of the city of Boston, as well as to a regulation of the Boston Rede *468 velopment Authority (BRA).”
White v. Massachusetts Council of Constr. Employers, Inc., 460 U.S. 204 (1983). · cites it 2× “[8] The Mayor's executive order itself states that one of its purposes is to satisfy the city's "statutory obligation to give preference to its residents in hiring for public[ly] funded construction projects pursuant to [Massachusetts] G.”
State Bldg. & Constr. Trades Council v. City of Vista, 19 Wage & Hour Cas.2d (BNA) 395 (Cal. 2012). · cites it 2× “Code, §§ 17-201 to 17-226; Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 149, §§ 26 to 27H; Mich.”
Donis v. Am. Waste Servs., LLC, 125 N.E.3d 759 (Mass. App. Ct. 2019). · cites it 4× “6 The prevailing wage law, G. L. c. 149, §§ 26 -27H, requires general contractors and subcontractors to pay a special minimum wage to workers employed in public construction and public works.”
Fleming v. Nat'l Union Fire Ins., 445 Mass. 381 (Mass. 2005). · cites it 2× “152, § 1 (1), and G. L. c. 149, §§ 26, 27; (2) paid the plaintiffs benefits that did not include the value of certain fringe benefits; (3) compelled the plaintiffs to litigate their claims in order ultimately to receive the benefits to which they were entitled and which included…”
Constr. Indus. of Mass. v. COMMR. OF LABOR & INDUS., 546 N.E.2d 367 (Mass. 1989). · cites it 8× “Under G.L.c. 149, §§ 26 and 27, the commissioner is required to set the hourly wage which must be paid to "mechanics and apprentices, teamsters, chauffeurs and laborers" employed on public works.”
Felix A. Marino Co. v. Comm'r of Labor & Indus., 689 N.E.2d 495 (Mass. 1998). · cites it 3× “Marino argues first that restoration work on roads is not “the construction of public works” (G. L. c. 149, § 26), the activity to which the prevailing wage law applies.”
Lipsitt v. Plaud, 994 N.E.2d 777 (Mass. 2013). “Finally, G. L. c. 149, §§ 26 to 77, “create[] a mandatory wage term, imposed on employers by law [that] ‘did- not exist at common law.”
Rosati v. Boston Pipe Covering, Inc., 434 Mass. 349 (Mass. 2001). · cites it 2× “The statute, G. L. c. 149, §§ 26 and 27, provides that the wage rate for this particular employment contract was that set by the Commissioner of Labor and Industries, but the fact that the contract price is governed and set by statute does not make the claim any less analogous…”
Constr. Indus. v. Comm'r of Labor & Indus., 406 Mass. 162 (Mass. 1989). · cites it 8× “Under G. L. c. 149, §§ 26 and 27, the commissioner is required to set the hourly wage which must be paid to “mechanics and apprentices, teamsters, chauffeurs and laborers” employed on public works.”
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