DeLauro Supports Fair Wages for Hurricane Victims Act
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, September 13, 2005
DeLauro Supports Fair Wages for Hurricane Victims Act
Bill Overturns Bush Proclamation Allowing Contractors
to Pay Substandard Wages in Disaster-Torn Areas
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Congresswoman Rosa L. DeLauro (Conn.-3) today announced her support for legislation that reinstates the wage requirements of the federal Davis-Bacon Act to workers involved in the reconstruction of areas damaged or destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. President Bush suspended these protections in a proclamation last week, cutting wages for workers indefinitely in areas affected by Hurricane Katrina, including parts of Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Florida.
"The devastation caused by the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina to the thousands of citizens in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama is without precedent in this country," said DeLauro. "This is a time when people's interest comes first - giving individuals the ability to volunteer in rebuilding our country. There is no better aid to the victims of Hurricane Katrina than a decent job at a fair wage so they may rebuild their lives and support their families with dignity."
Under Davis-Bacon, companies that win federal construction contracts must pay workers the prevailing wage - the wage typical for their specific job function in the area where the work is being completed. Bush's proclamation suspends this wage requirement and at a time when many of the relief and reconstruction contracts are already no-bid contracts. The Fair Wages for Hurricane Victims Act overturns this proclamation.
"When the federal government spends billions of dollars of taxpayer money, that money should not be used to drive down workers' wages," said DeLauro. "Yet under the President's Proclamation, federal contractors can cut Gulf Coast workers' wages, charge the federal government no less for the work done, and pocket the difference. Davis-Bacon must be reinstated."
The President's Proclamation does not require contractors to cut their charges to the taxpayer. With thousands of families displaced, the unemployed will be forced to take whatever job they can find, at whatever wage is offered.
http://www.house.gov/delauro/press/2005/September/fair_wages_09_13_05.html