Labor unions are strongly supportive of prevailing wage requirements, as they typically help ensure unionized workers are used on a given project, and have been pushing the administration to bolster wages for burgeoning clean-energy projects.
08/08/2023 09:01 PM EDT
The Biden administration on Tuesday rolled out an overhaul of pay standards for construction workers on federally funded projects — including green energy infrastructure — that could mean millions in fatter paychecks.
Vice President Kamala Harris traveled to an apprenticeship training center in Pennsylvania to announce the revamp of the so-called Davis-Bacon rules, a 1931 law that mandated the “prevailing wage” rate be applied to federal projects.
“These workers deserve our recognition and appreciation, and they deserve something more — they deserve a raise,” Harris said.
Why it matters: Once implemented, the final rule will implement the most sweeping changes since the 1980s and “ensure that fair wages are paid to workers building and repairing our roads and bridges and federal buildings, critical manufacturing facilities and our energy infrastructure,” a senior administration official said to reporters.
The Labor Department has estimated that roughly 1.2 million workers in the U.S. are covered by the law across roughly $220 billion in construction projects.
Political context: President Joe Biden and his fellow Democrats fought hard to attach Davis-Bacon rules to the $1.2 trillion...
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