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Good jobs and Davis-Bacon go hand in hand.

The Davis-Bacon Act of 1931 is tried-and-true legislation that prevents federally-funded construction projects from driving down local area wage standards.

For generations, the Davis-Bacon law has protected taxpayers and workers from low-ball contractors who try to compete by undercutting workers’ wages.

• Davis-Bacon doesn’t just help the workers who build our country support their families—it makes sure that taxpayers get their money’s worth. By preventing contractors from winning public work with low-ball bids that undercut workers’ wages, it encourages competition based on quality.
• Numerous studies show that projects built with Davis-Bacon prevailing wage provisions are more likely to be completed on time, preventing costly delays. Davis-Bacon projects are more likely to be completed within budget and with fewer future repair costs. Studies also show that workers are more productive when they are well-trained and experienced—qualities that Davis-Bacon projects attract.

Some industry groups and politicians have tried to dismantle Davis-Bacon protections, but they are in the minority and on the losing side.

• There have been many attempts to dismantle the family-supporting provisions of the Davis-Bacon Act over its long history. These attacks typically come from corporate groups seeking to drive wages below community standards in order to increase profits, all at the expense of the workers who labor on those projects, the taxpayers who finance them and communities which rely on them.
• But most elected officials—including Republicans, Independents and Democrats—as well as many industry associations, support the benefits the law provides. After efforts led by LIUNA, family-supporting Davis-Bacon provisions have been enforced in recent large federally funded projects, including nearly $286 billion in highway funding, and the reauthorization of the Clean Water Act in the U.S. House. And when President Bush tried to strip Gulf Coast communities of the law’s protections in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, a bipartisan coalition forced him to back down.

LIUNA is working to protect good jobs and Davis-Bacon wages.

Politics, Sports, Women, and Davis-Bacon. Daily Kos.

LIUNA to Congress: Protect Davis Bacon Wages in Farm Bill.

Resources

Davis-Bacon Works, Prevailing Wage Laws are good for America.
Professor Dale Belman, Department of Economics, University of Wisconsin Milwaukee and Professor Peter Phillips, Economics Department, University of Utah.

>Prevailing Wages and Government Contracting Costs. EPI.

>Losing Ground: Lessons from the Repeal of Nine Little Davis-Bacon Acts.
Garth Mangum, Peter Philips, Norm Waitzman and Anne Yeagle, University of Utah.