July 14, 2014
By Sean McGarvey, President of North America's Building Trades Unions
Washington, DC — The following statement was issued by Sean McGarvey, President of North America's Building Trades Unions, upon the defeat in the U.S. House of Representatives on July 10, 2014, by a vote of 181-239, of an amendment to the FY 2015 Energy and Water Appropriations bill that would have denied funds for the enforcement of the Davis-Bacon Act:
"North America’s Building Trades Unions are pleased that a significant and bi-partisan majority in the U.S. House of Representatives, including 46 Republicans, recognized the inherent value of the Davis-Bacon Act in protecting community wage and benefit standards in construction.
"The Davis-Bacon Act is sound and proven public policy. In the absence of prevailing wage laws, contractors do not compete on the basis of who can best train, best equip and best manage a construction crew. Instead, they compete on the basis of who can find the cheapest and most exploitable workers, either locally or by importing labor from elsewhere.
"We sincerely appreciate the fact that a strong bi-partisan majority in the U.S. House of Representatives agrees with this common sense reasoning."
