VP Harris to celebrate new rules boosting wages, protections on federal projects
By Jarrett Renshaw
PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) — The Biden administration will bolster union-friendly rules on Tuesday that will boost wages and protections for workers on federally funded construction projects, potentially drawing the ire of trade groups who warn the changes could curtail billions of dollars in new federal investment.
Vice President Kamala Harris will visit Philadelphia on Tuesday to celebrate the new labor reforms at a union hall. The trip marks the latest in a string of visits by Harris and President Joe Biden to this key electoral battleground state to court unions, a core constituency.
The changes to the Davis-Bacon Act issued by the Labor Department seek to boost wages and protections as the federal government spends billions of dollars on new roads and bridges, and expanding industries like computer chips and green energy spurred by several pieces of legislation.
«The rules are more important than ever to ensure fair wages for workers and ensuring good wages for them,» a senior administration official said.
The Davis-Bacon Act, first established in 1931, tasks the federal government with establishing wage floors — known as prevailing wages — that apply to construction projects partially or fully funded by the federal government. It applies to more than one million construction workers on $200 billion of such projects, the administration said.
President Joe Biden ordered the review of the labor law early in the administration and the Labor Department proposed the rule in March last year. It will become effective in roughly 60 days.
Trade groups have long criticized the prevailing wage requirements under the Davis-Bacon Act, saying they are burdensome and discourage small businesses from seeking
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