House Committee on Education and Labor
U.S. House of Representatives

McKeon: Rather than trying to score political points, let’s get serious about protecting workers and enforcing the law

The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) today testified before Congress about the findings of its undercover investigation into ineffective and inconsistent enforcement of the nation’s wage and hour laws. According to GAO, its investigation “revealed sluggish response times, a poor complaint intake process, and failed conciliation attempts, among other problems.”

Republicans were harshly critical of the Department for its alleged failures to fully enforce the law, and are calling for quick action to ensure stepped up enforcement and accountability. However, Republicans also chastised congressional Democrats for attempting to score political points on the backs of vulnerable workers by focusing their efforts on assigning political blame on the previous Administration rather than calling the Department of Labor before the Committee to account for its failures.

Republicans requested that the Democratic majority – which determines which witnesses will testify before Congress – bring Department of Labor officials before the panel to account for the alleged widespread failures uncovered by GAO. However, only the GAO testified today, leaving critical questions unanswered.

“At our urging, I understand that the majority requested that a Department of Labor official testify here today.  I’m told the Department declined. I’m not sure how persistent we were in pressing the Department on this point, Mr. Chairman. But personally, I don’t think we should have taken ‘no’ for an answer,” said McKeon.

“If we’re serious about enforcing the law – and not just scoring political points – we should insist on bringing the individuals who are responsible for investigating wage-and-hour violations here to account for their actions,” McKeon continued.

Under questioning, the GAO confirmed that it has no evidence linking these enforcement failures to appointees or the leadership of the previous Administration. Rather, the failures appear to be systemic, driven by a lack of internal controls, training, resources, or simply human failure.

Republicans are committed to effective enforcement of our nation’s laws. They’re also committed to standing up for American workers who fall victim to nameless, faceless federal bureaucrats who fail to meet workers’ needs.

Watch the clips below for key excerpts from today’s hearing.

Posted in Labor | 0 Comments | Permalink

In response to President Obama's own words from his Inaugural Address, The Wall Street Journal today highlighted the need to repeal Davis-Bacon in the editorial, How to Save $40 Billion: One suggestion for transcending 'worn-out dogmas.'   The article underscores that the Act "tangles projects in red tape and inflates federal construction costs." 

"A 2008 study by Suffolk University and the Beacon Hill Institute examined local wage data for construction workers and found that the Department of Labor estimates for the "prevailing wage" in cities are about 22% above the actual wages paid in these cities. It estimates that Davis-Bacon adds slightly less than 10% federal building costs, or $8.4 billion a year."

The impact of Davis-Bacon, or federal prevailing wage, stifles an economy that greatly needs a boost by adding unnecessary spending and administrative burdens on federal construction projects.    The editorial went on to say that:

"The savings for taxpayers from waiving Davis-Bacon would be even greater amid the staggering new spending contemplated for the stimulus bill. Let's say Congress spends $400 billion over the next two years on roads, mass transit or other construction. Assuming only a 10% cost savings -- the lower end of economic estimates -- would mean about $40 billion in lower spending for the same projects. Congress could either forego that spending, which would mean a smaller claim on future taxpayers, or it could spend that money to fund more projects that would hire more workers."

Education and Labor Committee Republicans hope the Senate will accept an amendment by Senator Jim DeMint (R., S.C.) to the current economic stimulus draft to suspend outdated Davis-Bacon rules for stimulus spending and follow the President's rhetorical lead to go against those "worn-out dogmas."

Posted in Labor | 0 Comments | Permalink

The U.S. Department of Labor announced the latest enforcement figures from the Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS) last week, and the results were extremely positive for rank-and-file workers.  According to a Department press release, "The office's totals for fiscal year 2008 (which ended on Sept. 30, 2008) are 102 convictions and 130 indictments, with restitution of more than $3.2 million."

OLMS is the only government agency dedicated to protecting the rights of dues-paying union members.  Unfortunately, the Democrat-controlled Congress has gone on the attack against OLMS, slashing its funding by some $2 million and questioning its work to protect the rights of workers and aggressively enforce federal labor law.  Thankfully, as these new enforcement figures show, OLMS has not allowed the Democrats' roadblocks to stand in the way of its important work.

Posted in Labor | 0 Comments | Permalink

Given all the rhetoric these days on the "middle class squeeze," this recent article in the Washington Post, The Real Economic Scorecard, offers an interesting counterpoint when analyzing the economic report card.  Robert J. Samuelson makes the case that the rising cost of health coverage and our nation's unchecked immigration problem - essentially growing the number of residents below poverty level - are the root of our nation's economic problems.  Take a moment to read this article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/02/AR2008090202437.html

Posted in Labor | 0 Comments | Permalink

This morning, the Wall Street Journal editorial page takes on congressional Democrats for their thinly-veiled efforts to bolster their special interest union allies by slipping Depression-era Davis-Bacon wage mandates into one piece of legislation after another.  According to the Journal:

What do the farm bill, the cap-and-trade global warming bill, the clean water bill, the housing bailout bill, and the school construction bill all have in common? Not much, except that in each one and countless others the Democratic majority in Congress has inserted "prevailing-wage" requirements that amount to a super-minimum wage.

We're speaking of Davis-Bacon, the 1931 law that originally applied to road building and other federal construction projects and set a floor on wages in part to price black and Mexican workers out of the work. Today, its main impact is to require de facto union wages. Many reputable studies have estimated that Davis-Bacon inflates federal construction costs by anywhere from 5% to 39%. A Heritage Foundation analysis of wage data reports that in many cities the mandated Davis-Bacon wage is twice as high as the market wage. In Nassau-Suffolk in New York, for example, Davis-Bacon requires a minimum wage for brickmasons of $49.67 an hour, though the more common area wage for that work is $25.50.

It's an interesting piece, well worth the read.

Posted in Labor | 0 Comments | Permalink