Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2016

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. ELLISON. Mr. Chairman, before I discuss my amendment, which is to prevent wage theft from violators who commit acts that are repeated and willful and to stop such actors from partaking of Federal procurement in this bill, I would like to set the table just a little bit.

In 1980, Mr. Chair, CEO-to-worker pay ratio for Fortune 500 companies was 20 to 1. Today it is 204 to 1, according to Bloomberg. At the same time, the buying power of the minimum wage is now less than it was in the 1960s.

The Economic Policy Institute found that, in total, the average low-wage worker loses a stunning $2,634 per year in unpaid wages, representing about 15 percent of their earned income. It is particularly egregious in the fast-food sector. A recent study by Hart Research of fast-food workers found that about 89 percent reported some form of wage theft.

Lastly, in this case, I would like to point out, Mr. Chair, that the recent report by the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the U.S. Senate revealed that 32 percent of the largest Department of Labor penalties for wage theft were levied against Federal contractors.

As I bring this amendment before the body today, Mr. Chairman, it is simply to recognize that the hard work and the work that workers do who work for Federal contractors must be recognized. We are not debating today over increasing or decreasing the minimum wage. We are just saying the people who work hard ought to get the money that they earned.

I would hope that everyone in this body would be willing to say wage theft is not okay. No hard-working American should ever have to worry that her employer will refuse to pay her when she works overtime or take money out of her paycheck, especially if she works for a Federal contractor.

This practice, as I mentioned already, is called wage theft. Right now, Federal contractors who violate the Fair Labor Standards Act are still allowed to apply for Federal contracts.

This amendment seeks to ensure that funds may not be used to enter into a contract with a government contractor that willfully or repeatedly violates the Fair Labor Standards Act--willfully or repeatedly.

It is important, Mr. Chairman, to point out that it is not easy to get a violation. You have got to work at it.

There is a database called the FAPISS database, to begin with, in which contractors have to report all their violations. Just because a wage and hour complaint comes to your door, it doesn't necessarily mean you get a violation. In order to get a violation in the database, you have to have a criminal conviction, a civil proceeding with a finding of fault, or an administrative proceeding with a finding of fault or a penalty of $5,000 or more or damages of $100,000 or more. You have got to really work at it. In other words, if you are found to owe back wages and you agree to pay them, there is not going to be a case for you to have to report.

This amendment ensures that those in violation of the law do not get taxpayer support. And we should reward good actors.

I reserve the balance of my time.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. ELLISON. Members, this has nothing to do with debarment. Debarment is a quasi-judicial process in which evidence is gathered and findings are made. This is saying that, after somebody has been found to engage in repeated and willful violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act, such persons are not the kind of people we want to reward through our procurement system. This is totally different from debarment.

What it is really saying is it reflects our values as a body and reflects our value of the dignity of work and that a dollar earned is a dollar that must be paid. And we should never be the kind of body that says: ``Commit willful violations all you want; take workers' money away; you can still get another contract if you please.'' That is not the kind of body that we are, and I urge a ``yes'' vote on the amendment.

I yield back the balance of my time.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source