On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast, breaking levees and flooding New Orleans with more than 100 billion gallons of water. The flooding killed at least 1,400 people in Louisiana, half of whom were from New Orleans, and left hundreds of thousands of others homeless
The multi-billion dollar federal effort to clean up and rebuild New Orleans was accompanied by the President’s suspension of numerous labor laws and the influx of labor from neighboring states and countries. A number of Gulf Coast advocates claim that the interplay of the suspension of prevailing wage requirements, affirmative action requirements, health and safety standards requirements, and documentation requirements have contributed to an environment of virtual lawlessness in New Orleans. This hearing sought to examine the adequacy of labor law enforcement on the part of the DOL Wage and Hour Division.
The following witnesses testified:
Panel I