Comprehensive Update of Davis-Bacon a Huge Victory for Construction Workers

(WASHINGTON) – The Teamsters are applauding the Dept. of Labor for its announcement that it has issued a ruling on prevailing wage standards under the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts (DBRA). The ruling will return the definition of “prevailing wage” to the standard used from 1935 to 1983, thereby requiring compensation on federally funded construction projects to be on par with a living wage for workers in a given locality.

“The methods for determining prevailing wage rates never should have been modified in the first place, so we commend Secretary Su and the Biden-Harris administration for doing right by working-class communities,” said Teamsters General President Sean M. O’Brien. “The workers on these jobs are responsible for re-building our country. They are patriots and deserve to be rewarded for their service.”

In addition to returning the prevailing wage to the pre-1983 standard, the DOL ruling will also improve the prevailing wage update system so rates keep pace with actual wages, modernize regulatory language to reflect current construction industry practices, and strengthen worker protection and enforcement mechanisms to ensure employers comply with the new standards.

“With the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, we’re experiencing a federally backed construction boom at a level that hasn’t been seen since the New Deal,” said Thomas Gesualdi, Teamsters Building Material and Construction Trade Division Director. “Modernizing prevailing wage standards under the DBRA is integral to making sure these investments benefit the American middle class.”

Founded in 1903, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters represents 1.2 million hardworking people in the U.S., Canada, and Puerto Rico. Visit Teamster.org to learn more. Follow us on Twitter @Teamsters and “like” us on Facebook at Facebook.com/teamsters.

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