U.S. Representative Sandy Levin
12th District of Michigan
| For Immediate Release October 26, 2005 |
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President Forced to End His Executive Order Suspending Prevailing Wage Laws
for Gulf Region Workers |
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(Washington D.C.)- Rep. Sander Levin issued the following statement after learning that President Bush has announced he will reverse the decision he made in September to remove wage protections for construction workers in the areas affected by Hurricane Katrina. The 1931 Davis-Bacon Act requires that federal contractors pay the locally prevailing wage on construction projects, including highways, buildings, and bridges.
“I am pleased the President reversed his earlier unwise decision on worker wage laws, but regret that it was issued in the first place. Only after legislation was introduced, letters were sent, legislative maneuvers undertaken to get a House vote and community opposition was generated did the President realize that a mistake had been made.”
“At a time when families had lost so much, it was shameful that the President acted to slash the already-low prevailing wage rates in the affected Gulf communities. Adding insult to injury, the President=s proclamation did not even require federal contractors to pass along the resulting savings to the taxpayer. Instead, private contractors will simply pocket the windfall.”
The House was poised to vote on a Joint Resolution next week on whether or not to allow the wage cut to stand. “Until we see the written proclamation by the President, we stand ready to bring this issue to a vote in the House of Representative to ensure that the workers rebuilding the Gulf Region earn a fair wage.
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