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Yet another attack on prevailing wage

Date Posted: August 8 2003

The AFL-CIO Building Trades Department is reloading to fight yet another assault on the federal Davis-Bacon prevailing wage law.

House Resolution 2672, introduced by Rep. Marilyn Musgrave (R-Colorado) would abolish prevailing wage conditions on federally funded highway projects, which would likely lower incomes for both union and nonunion construction workers.

"Since 1931 Davis-Bacon provisions have helped both union and nonunion construction workers achieve fair wages," said Building Trades Department President Edward Sullivan. "Rep. Musgrave and the anti-worker groups she speaks for are circulating misinformation and misrepresenting the facts about Davis-Bacon in an effort to sneak it through. The building trades are contacting every member of Congress to set the record straight before tens of thousands of working families are hurt by this bill."

Musgrave, Sullivan said, is claiming that repeal of prevailing wage coverage would save anywhere from 5-38 percent in construction costs - which independent studies long-ago disproved.

"Considering that labor costs account for approximately 25 percent of overall construction costs to reach Rep. Musgrave's outlandish numbers by cutting paychecks alone would require workers to labor for almost nothing," Sullivan said. "Her figures don't add up."