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New Jersey State AFL-CIO condemns the loss of prevailing-wage protections for building trades

The New Jersey State AFL-CIO denounces the outgoing Trump administration’s midnight massacre actions that undermine Davis-Bacon prevailing-wage protections in many building trades jobs.

“Trump’s Department of Labor waited until the last possible minute to make these changes, with no public comment or review,” Charles Wowkanech, President of the New Jersey State AFL-CIO, said. “It’s one more slap in the face to hardworking tradespeople as this anti-labor administration leaves office.”

In one move only listed deep on a government website, the federal Wage and Hour Division tweaked wage requirements for contractors on federally assisted building projects. The changes allow builders to pay workers a single wage rate on public projects – often the lowest – instead of two or more pay scales for the same contract.

Another action exempts construction surveyors from Davis-Bacon prevailing-wage protections, stunning our brothers and sisters in the International Union of Operating Engineers.

“The new Biden administration will have the power to fix this,” President Wowkanech said, “and we respectfully urge the incoming Labor Department to undo this injustice quickly.”

Please see this news report for additional information.