LANSING - A lot of bad laws for organized labor have been adopted during the state Legislature's "lame duck" session - the worst of which was the passage of right-to-work in Michigan in December 2012.

But one bill that's galling to the building trades - repeal of the Michigan Prevailing Wage Act of 1965 - that was declared the Republican caucus' top priority for this session, almost certainly won't see the light of day during lame duck, which is the short period of legislative meetings that takes place between the Nov. 8 election and the year-ending scheduled recess of the House on Dec. 15.

"It's a good thing. It would be worth doing," said Gideon D'Assandro, a spokesman for House Republican Speaker Kevin Cotter, to Crains Detroit. "That said, the governor has made it clear what his position is on the issue, so getting those bills onto his desk is not necessarily something that we're looking to do really quickly."

Aside from labor unions, many contractors large and small, as well as construction associations have vehemently argued that prevailing wage is not at all "a good thing" as D'Assandro says.  A Barton Malow vice president called it a "disaster" for the construction industry when the law was repealed by court order for two-and-a-half years in the 1990s.

The state's prevailing wage law has such a big target on it from conservatives because they claim it increases construction costs to taxpayers on public buildings. However, numerous academic studies have found that prevailing wage sustains a decent wage level in the construction industry, for both union and nonunion workers. It also helps assure the hiring of a local workforce, and maintains the craft training system for incoming workers.

Prospects were grim for keeping the law last year and earlier this year. The Michigan Senate in 2015 adopted a resolution repealing prevailing wage, but the state House, knowing the Gov. Rick Snyder would likely exercise a veto, didn't follow the Senate's lead. Instead, conservative lawmakers in both chambers, and their friends at the anti-union Associated Builders and Contractors, pinned their hopes for repeal on a petition drive in 2015, then another in 2016 - but both failed miserably. The 2015 effort failed because of the submittal of tens of thousands of invalid signatures. The effort this year came to an abrupt end, likely because the money to fund the petition effort from deep-pocketed donors like the Devos family likely dried up. Backers of the first repeal drive ponied up about $1.8 million to fund the 2015 drive alone, according to court records.

Snyder has maintained that he appreciates prevailing wage as a workforce development driver attracting and keeping workers in the construction industry by maintaining pay and safety standards.

"Repealing prevailing wage was the No. 1 priority of the state Republicans, but keeping the law in place has been our No. 1 priority," said Michigan Building and Construction Trades Council Legislative Director Patrick "Shorty" Gleason. "And it looks like we're going to keep the law for now. We have managed to beat back the repeal effort, with both the petition drive and in the legislature, by having a good offense. And there's no way we're going to stop being vigilant, this law is too important to our membership and the entire construction industry."