Printer-Friendly Page
 |
AFL-CIO News |
 |
Listen to Labor News |
Bush Reverses Ruling That Permitted
'Katrina' Contractors to Pay Unfair Wages
APWU Web News Article #63-05, Nov. 9, 2005
The November/December issue of The American Postal Worker magazine reported on the suspension of the Davis-Bacon Act’s “fair pay” requirements for contractors awarded Hurricane Katrina rebuilding projects. Shortly after the magazine went to press, the order was rescinded.
Bowing to sagging poll numbers and under siege by an aggressive campaign led by labor unions, the Bush administration has announced a reversal of the executive order that suspended fair-pay requirements for workers involved in Hurricane Katrina reconstruction projects.
President Bush ordered the suspension of the Davis-Bacon Act requirement that workers involved in federal efforts to rebuild the hurricane-ravaged Gulf Coast be paid the “prevailing rate.” Davis-Bacon sets a minimum wage scale (the average pay for a region) for workers on federal construction projects. With the reversal of the presidential order, employers awarded federal rebuilding contracts will not be allowed to pay workers sub-standard wages. The prevailing-rate wage rule went back into effect Nov. 8.
An effort led by Rep. George Miller (D-CA) had threatened to overrule the administration’s initial decision. Miller was able to force a congressional showdown on the suspension of Davis-Bacon under a little-known provision of the National Emergencies Act, which, if invoked, forces Congress to vote on any law that the president has suspended.
Miller had wide support for a resolution (H.J. Res. 69) he sponsored to overturn the president’s executive order. Significant support for Miller’s efforts came from GOP representatives Steven LaTourette (OH) and Frank LoBiondo (NJ), who organized 37 other House Republicans to sign a letter urging President Bush to restore the Davis-Bacon fair-wage requirement.
The House would have been required to vote on Miller’s resolution by Nov. 4, and all indications were that the measure would have passed in both chambers.
Miller’s efforts were aided by more than 350,000 e-mails and letters to Congress from union members demanding that fair wages be reinstated in the Gulf Coast, where the average annual wage for full-time skilled workers is less than $20,000. As expected, contractors overseeing rebuilding projects condemned the reversal. The Republican Study Committee, a group of conservative lawmakers, also opposed the change.
Union leaders hailed the congressional action and ensuing results. “President Bush has done the right thing by reversing his decision to suspend the prevailing wage – but it’s only the first step,” said AFL-CIO President John Sweeney. “He must now reinstate affirmative action requirements for contractors in the Gulf and end his attempts to slash programs for working families while adding new tax breaks for the rich.”
