Political pressure from moderate Republican representatives, concerned about re-election fights next year, forced GOP President George W. Bush to restore the Davis-Bacon Act's prevailing wage rules for Hurricane Katrina-clobbered areas.
The practical effect will be to restore reasonable wages for construction workers toiling on projects -- from highways to bridges to buildings to levees to airports -- needed to rebuild damaged areas of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, especially devastated New Orleans. The prevailing wages resume Nov. 8.
But Bush's reversal, announced Oct. 26, didn't go all the way in helping thousands of construction workers who lost wages, jobs, or both after the hurricane hit and after he yanked Davis-Bacon on Sept. 8.
That's because Bush did not make his restoration retroactive, and because his order still left politically favored contractors, such as Halliburton, and the low-wage, out-of-state, non-union workers in place.
That means that workers such as the 75 IBEW Louisiana members, dumped out of their reconstruction jobs in favor of cheaper out-of-state workers after Bush's prior order, still may not get their jobs back.
Nevertheless, Bush's reversal cheered AFL-CIO Building Trades Department President Edward Sullivan, whose unions mobilized their members -- including at an Oct. 29 march on the capitol in Baton Rouge -- to demand Congress pressure Bush on Davis-Bacon.
"Thousands and thousands of letters, e-mails and calls from trade union members and their families were generated calling for reinstating these critical worker wage protections. The resulting bi-partisan congressional effort to pressure Bush to reinstate Davis-Bacon achieved success," Sullivan said. "This is great news for workers and their families in the devastated Gulf Coast."
Bush was pushed to reverse his Davis-Bacon order by 37 moderate GOP lawmakers, led by Reps. Frank LoBiondo, N.J., and Steve LaTourette, Ohio, Sullivan said. LoBiondo chairs the GOP labor caucus.
Bush also faced a threat from Senate Democrats, led by Iowa's Tom Harkin, to attach an amendment restoring Davis-Bacon prevailing wage protections to legislation now before Congress, such as the Labor Department's spending bill.
This article was written by Press Associates, Inc., news service. Used by permission.
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Political pressure from moderate Republican representatives, concerned about re-election fights next year, forced GOP President George W. Bush to restore the Davis-Bacon Act’s prevailing wage rules for Hurricane Katrina-clobbered areas.
The practical effect will be to restore reasonable wages for construction workers toiling on projects — from highways to bridges to buildings to levees to airports — needed to rebuild damaged areas of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, especially devastated New Orleans. The prevailing wages resume Nov. 8.
But Bush’s reversal, announced Oct. 26, didn’t go all the way in helping thousands of construction workers who lost wages, jobs, or both after the hurricane hit and after he yanked Davis-Bacon on Sept. 8.
That’s because Bush did not make his restoration retroactive, and because his order still left politically favored contractors, such as Halliburton, and the low-wage, out-of-state, non-union workers in place.
That means that workers such as the 75 IBEW Louisiana members, dumped out of their reconstruction jobs in favor of cheaper out-of-state workers after Bush’s prior order, still may not get their jobs back.
Nevertheless, Bush’s reversal cheered AFL-CIO Building Trades Department President Edward Sullivan, whose unions mobilized their members — including at an Oct. 29 march on the capitol in Baton Rouge — to demand Congress pressure Bush on Davis-Bacon.
“Thousands and thousands of letters, e-mails and calls from trade union members and their families were generated calling for reinstating these critical worker wage protections. The resulting bi-partisan congressional effort to pressure Bush to reinstate Davis-Bacon achieved success,” Sullivan said. “This is great news for workers and their families in the devastated Gulf Coast.”
Bush was pushed to reverse his Davis-Bacon order by 37 moderate GOP lawmakers, led by Reps. Frank LoBiondo, N.J., and Steve LaTourette, Ohio, Sullivan said. LoBiondo chairs the GOP labor caucus.
Bush also faced a threat from Senate Democrats, led by Iowa’s Tom Harkin, to attach an amendment restoring Davis-Bacon prevailing wage protections to legislation now before Congress, such as the Labor Department’s spending bill.
This article was written by Press Associates, Inc., news service. Used by permission.