NEWS: Proclamation by the President: 1931 Davis-Bacon Act Suspended

The Davis-Bacon law requires federal contractors to pay workers at least the prevailing wages in the area where the work is conducted. In the wake of Katrina, President Bush has suspended the law (effectively lowering the minimum wage) in ravaged areas of Alabama, Florida, Louisiana and Mississippi.




From the White House: "A Proclamation by the President of the United States of America"

Disgusting.

A large pool of newly unemployed is seen as a financial opportunity to lower wages. Maybe the people will be paid with room and board.

New Orleanians, the new serfs.

"Say hello to the new boss, same as the old boss"...
.

it seems to be the same as other similar events where companies have been given contracts in disaster/war zones.

How can the white house remain so white, when everyone in it is corrupt?

I'm wondering if Louisiana and Mississippi can specify their own minimum wages.

Bush is mad and is hitting bellow the belt and he is screwing around waaay too much.

Do you now see what a mistake it was getting this man in the White House? I hope Republicans eventually wake up and smell the stench- This man is a lose cannon, cares only for corporations and screws the people who put him in office.
This man must be impeached. NOW.

considering all the newly homeless and out of work people now at detainee/evacuee/refugee camps this sounds like the perfect set up for a cheap labor force.

Next will be housing incetives for those who go back to new orleans and other cities to, in a sense, rebuild the home they lost. Not that incentives aren't a good thing, but it would be better if they didn't mess with the minimum wage.

Spiderj

I somehow doubt that the savings on labor forces are going to be passed on to the consumer. I am also uneasy since this article gives no date of when it will be put back in effect.

I somehow doubt that the savings on labor forces are going to be passed on to the consumer.

Actually what I was talking about was giving the labor force incentives. The newly jobless and homeless.

The government contractor could say, "Hey we know you lost your home and need a job so come back to new orleans and do construction. We're going to pay you less because we can, but we'll give you a break on a new home by helping with the down and locking you in at a certain loan rate or whatever."

Spiderj

It wont lower the minimum wage. Its just a union thing. If theres a local union and your construction company isnt in it, they still have to pay the same wages a union would. Given the amount of time its going to take to clean up that city, and WHO is going to get stuck paying it, it makes sense.

If unions are involved, union wage is paid. But if "Bob Schumkatelly" wants to bring in a bunch of cheap migrant workers, hes more than welcome to pay them 5 bucks an hour (provided he has people WILLING to work for that)

Well, this is only for federally funded projects. I am not sure of what all the red tape in such projects entails, but I don't think there are any prevailing wages in these areas, seeing as many people evacuated, specifically from New Orleans.

This does not apply to the minimum wage that must be paid to some who works at McDonalds, for example. From the article:

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.

Construction workers make more than the minimum wage. So this edict means that instead of making, say, $18/hour, they could be paid $14/hour, for example.

Coupled with housing incentives, this could be good business all around, since housing is the biggest worry the people have right now.

Yeah we gotta help those federal contractors maintain their profit margins...to hell with the people...thats typical republican attitude for you. And still they have managed to bull# the working class to vote for them when they are the ones always getting screwed. Go figure.

One can say that this will save the taxpayers money, but the companies that are going to be rebuilding the area are still going to charge the same amount of money, so all it's doing is increasing the profit margin of those companies.

Additionally, it may be an incentive for companies to rebuild, but I don't see many people wanting to make less then they normally do...unless they get cheap laborers. And, with cheap labor comes inexperienced people and shoddy work.

Like Grover said, typical Republican response.

[edit on 9-9-2005 by elderban]

Originally posted by spliff4020

If unions are involved, union wage is paid. But if "Bob Schumkatelly" wants to bring in a bunch of cheap migrant workers, hes more than welcome to pay them 5 bucks an hour (provided he has people WILLING to work for that)

Don't tell me you are advocating the employment of illegal aliens!

FOlks, think of it this way.

Huge project, so people will bid high because it is a Fedearal project, and they are usually black holes. So you bid workers at 20.00 a hour, the minimum.

There is sooooo much work, that you will need to employ more, and have more workers. So, If you bid the job and it is accepted at 15.00, that means for every 10 workers, you could basically add 2 more jobs, giving more jobs in hte process, as well as accelerating the rebuilding project.

I do not see how this would have a negative effect, and please refrain from knocking our government folks. 100 billion dollars in aid does not sound bad to rebuild NO and save it's residents now stuck in evacuee camps. I don't remember that help after Andrew, and More than 250,000 people were left homeless; 82,000 businesses were destroyed or damaged and about 100,000 residents of south Dade County permanently left the area in Andrew's wake

I view this as good for the taxpayers and for the people in and around New Orleans who were put out of work by the storm. Any jobs anyone had around the city is gone. This will give them jobs that will help them get back on their feet while it saves the taxpayers money.

Originally posted by grover
Yeah we gotta help those federal contractors maintain their profit margins...to hell with the people...thats typical republican attitude for you. And still they have managed to bull# the working class to vote for them when they are the ones always getting screwed. Go figure.

So who should rebuild the area? I don't think that Habitat for Humanity has the capability. Oh gosh! We can't have anyone making a profit here! The rebuilding of the areas destroyed by Katrina is an investment. Since a lot of people here are of a Socialist bent I've got a simple question. Where should the money come from to rebuild? If the first words out of your mouth is "The Government" you are a fraud. Where does the Government get its money? Taxes! Who pays taxes? Businesses pay taxes on their profits. The personal Income Tax collected each year is small potatoes compaired to what is collected from businesses and corporations.

Originally posted by Astronomer68
I view this as good for the taxpayers

Nonsense...those contractors, and who are they anyway, people like Kellog Brown and Root of Halliburton, that's who. And since they have already landed the juicy contracts or are lined up to; they are not going to cut their prices because they don't have to pay the workers a standard wage, they will just pocket the differance. This isn't to help anybody but Bush and cheney the dick's friends.

No matter how you sugar coated and try to make sense of it, it stinks, what the white house is doing is giving the corporation that will be doing the reconstruction another blank check to play around.

The are taking advantage of the ravages areas that are mostly of people that are poor, mostly black.

Open your eyes this another way to spell "DISCRIMINATION" while maintaining profits.

Who are the ones to benefit from all this? when most of the people are scattered all over the states, the ones that lost everything.

What they are going to do, bring Mobile homes that are going to be pay with the 50 billion dollars from tax payer money to house the workers and then feed them with donated food?

Then under pay them? still the companies are not losing a single penny on anything.

This corruption at its highest.

By the way are CEOs going to be under minimum wage too?



[edit on 9-9-2005 by marg6043]

This makes absolutely no sense at all!!!!
Cheap Labor and Rising Daily Living Costs equals Poverty/Depression.

I want to get off of this ride now. I think I'll be sick

Originally posted by marg6043
No matter how you sugar coated and try to make sense of it, it stinks, what the white house is doing is giving the corporation that will be doing the reconstruction another blank check to play around.

The are taking advantage of the ravages areas that are mostly of people that are poor, mostly black.

Open your eyes this another way to spell "DISCRIMINATION" while maintaining profits.

Who are the ones to benefit from all this? when most of the people are scattered all over the states, the ones that lost everything.

What they are going to do, bring Mobile homes that are going to be pay with the 50 billion dollars from tax payer money to house the workers and then feed them with donated food?

Then under pay them? still the companies are not losing a single penny on anything.

This corruption at its highest.

By the way are CEOs going to be under minimum wage too?

[edit on 9-9-2005 by marg6043]

I think you need to look up the difference between "Minimum Wage" and "Prevailing Wage". I'd list the definitions here but I might be accused of getting them from Republican propaganda sources. This has nothing to do with the rebuilding or repair of people's houses. This only applies to Federal contracts for things like bridges, highways, leeves and other items of infrastructure that have to be replaced or repaired before the real work of rebuilding can begin.