Bush signs EO cutting Katrina workers pay

Bush lifts wage rules for Katrina
President signs executive order allowing contractors to pay below prevailing wage in affected areas.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush issued an executive order Thursday allowing federal contractors rebuilding in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina to pay below the prevailing wage.

In a notice to Congress, Bush said the hurricane had caused "a national emergency" that permits him to take such action under the 1931 Davis-Bacon Act in ravaged areas of Alabama, Florida, Louisiana and Mississippi.

Bush's action came as the federal government moved to provide billions of dollars in aid, and drew rebukes from two of organized labor's biggest friends in Congress, Rep. George Miller of California and Sen. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts, both Democrats.

"The administration is using the devastation of Hurricane Katrina to cut the wages of people desperately trying to rebuild their lives and their communities," Miller said.

"President Bush should immediately realize the colossal mistake he has made in signing this order and rescind it and ensure that America puts its people back to work in the wake of Katrina at wages that will get them and their families back on their feet," Miller said.

"I regret the president's decision," said Kennedy.

"One of the things the American people are very concerned about is shabby work and that certainly is true about the families whose houses are going to be rebuilt and buildings that are going to be restored," Kennedy said.

The Davis-Bacon law requires federal contractors to pay workers at least the prevailing wages in the area where the work is conducted. It applies to federally funded construction projects such as highways and bridges.

Bush's executive order suspends the requirements of the Davis-Bacon law for designated areas hit by the storm.



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The alacrity that this president demonstrated in ensuring his crony campaign contributors the very highest gross profit possible in this rebuild effort is appaling. I can't think of any reason as to why this is being done, in either the immediate timing of it, or in a reasonable answer as to why it's being done at all.
We have rebuilding efforts overseas that are bring veterans much older than me out of retirement to jump on the gravy train....yet the very people who will likely be hired en masse to rebuild their homes are going to get sweat shop wages!?!?!

You know what is nothing more than discrimination, plain and simple.

How can the government favor corporate power over the needs and well being of it's citizens is beyond me.

Its like "We are going to help you but we want you to remain oppress and poor"

Is very sickening and is geared to target only one class and one group.

I wonder if the civil rights activist are going to do something about it.

More and more I am starting to agree with Soficorw, is a corporate conspiracy because American has lost the meaning of government is now rule by corporate power.

if i remember correctly even labor unions support this Davis Bacon thing. people says its discriminating for people assume most labor workers be blacks, but a black congressman supported this one. ill look for more info into it.

This doesn't surprise me in the least, under the guise of "providing emergency relief," Bush is cutting pay and we'll have emergency aid workers every bit as destitute as the people they are supposed to be helping. Hasn't Bush ever heard of the old addage"you get waht you pay for?" If you pay for a sloppy emergency relief and rebuilding effort, that's what you'll get. It's exactly the wrong response, just like the Governor of Georgia lifting the gas tax for a month is the wrong way to go about relieving the problem of price gouging. Just another example of putting corprtate profits first while still pretending to help. Of course, it will be easy to portray organized labor as the "bad guys" here for demanding fair wages for disaster relief efforts, saying that they are getting in the way of workers being hired to help, etc. Let's face it, Bush would love to have the entire relief effort be staffed by "faith-based" volunteers, but that ain't gonna happen, georgie-boy. Pay for quality labor and reconstruction peopel and materials and that's what you'll get---pay for cheap worthless sh*t labor and you'll get an effort commensurate with their pay scale. Then again, we have a cheap, incompetent , sh*t president, so what do I expect?
---Ryan

big money to corporations = good

pay cuts to national disaster area workers (regular joe's, the backbone of america) = bad



i have to laugh at this. is the america we are living in? they are, and pardon my french, #ing us in broad daylight with a clown suit on. people, wake up. i beg of you.

Originally posted by deltaboy
if i remember correctly even labor unions support this Davis Bacon thing. people says its discriminating for people assume most labor workers be blacks, but a black congressman supported this one. ill look for more info into it.

please provide that and give us the scope of the situation which caused this. would be interested in reading that.

[edit on 9-9-2005 by Conspicuouz]

Originally posted by Conspicuouz
big money to corporations = good

pay cuts to national disaster area workers (regular joe's, the backbone of america) = bad

Damn NYr's cutting to the quick again, huh?

I can't automatically say it is rascist. I can say absolutely that it is classism in the futherance of the hybrid fascism/oligarchy vector we've been on since 2000, with a strong racial bias probability.
All the folks who are going to be on these projects are going to be economically challenge and multi hued - black/white/creole/latin/indian. The ranks of the trailer parks & ghettos will fill the ranks with work camps being the temp housing.
I wonder how long it will be before the KBR announcement of award?

Do I smell civil rights massive protest or American has become so brain washed that we are nothing but zombies.

Now the test are almost finished the government has brainwashed American for years to take anything their hand outs now lets see if American is submissive enough to take it without question.

The only brainwashed here is you guys. Please take a basic economic class folks and when you can form even a remotely logical thought repost and explain why it is that you beleve that it is the business of the government to tell me how much I pay my employees to do manual construction labor?

The law in question was addopted to satisfy UNION labor. In Georgia we have no unionised construction workers so they actually work for a living as opposed to the union slobs who barely hit a lick all day but get paid three prices for their "hard work". Dont give me that crap about "you get what you pay for" Union labor drives the cost of construction UP!!! Thus making it more difficult for your precious poor people to buy the homes that will be rebuilt in the area!

This EO will allow workers from other areas to be brought in to meet the demand for construction and they will still be making good pay but will not be paid the inflated local union wage. Think for one second that you are a worker in Oklahoma why would you leave your area to go to work in LA for the same amount of money? The company bringing you in will still have to pay you a higher wage but it will not be so high that it alters the price of the finished product significantly.

Basic economics folks!

I live in GA and I am going to tell you who is the ones that do most of the labor around here including construction.

Migrant workers specially Mexicans and south Americans.

I used to work of a lawyer that specialized in migrant workers rights and most of these people were the ones in the construction business.

Many were under pay living in large groups in trailers that the employer will make available to them and then charge them for everything they needed from the stores that the employer provide to buy goods.

Then to be able to get away with it he will have a few workers that will be register with the department of labor and the rest will be pay in cash so it would not be easier to track.

Yeah even in this time and day is still some that use slavery for cheap labor.

I beleive it, marg! In fact, it's no secret that human slave trafficking is a growing business, and many of the maquiladoras---I hope I spelled that right---along the Texas-Mexico border are really nothing more than front operations for slavery and prostitution rings that sell the men to work as slaves for labor and women into the slavery of prostitution. It is sad, but it goes on today, and in ever greater numbers. Soon even cash secretly paid to workers who labor for less than minimum wage will be gone, and in its place will be a large underground economy of people who have been purchased as slaves.
---Ryan

[edit on 9-9-2005 by RyanC]

RyanC,

You don't know have of it, that is why some laws were passed to protect migrant workers and children, because girls as young as 14 and 15 were with child and not in school and keept hidden so they could be used in many of the areas where migrant workers were kept.

So many horror stories is not funny, anyway I see a lot seen I have been living in the south, that should be another thread.

You are probably right marg, we are heading into territory for another thread. I do know that I have read many stories about this human slave trading and it is very disturbing, even way up in the most northern part of the country here, there are stories that one reads. Our late, great (murdered by the Bush administration) Senator from Minnesota, Paul Wellstone, was working very hard on legislation to end human trafficking when his plane "crashed." But that's probably something for a different thread, as well!
---Ryan

[edit on 12-9-2005 by RyanC]

Many were under pay living in large groups in trailers that the employer will make available to them and then charge them for everything they needed from the stores that the employer provide to buy goods.

While this is not the right thing to do, it is nothing new in America, or in the world in general. Do some reading about worker conditions during the Great Depression, or about some of the immigrant agricultural workers in California. You will see that it nothing more than a new spin on an old scam.

And America is not alone in these practices. I'm not making excuses for America, I'm just saying, don't be so shocked about this. Any time you have disadvantaged people in need of food and shelter this has and will continue to happen.

Btw, there is a good discussion of this topic at www.abovetopsecret.com... .

[edit on 12-9-2005 by jsobecky]