[konaice]

rescinding the rule that contractors on projects receiving federal money pay the prevailing wage

Sleezy unions, looking to profit on this fiasco.

THERE IS NO PREVAILING WAGE in a city with no citizens.

[malia]

bttt

[JohnLongIsland]

tell mr. sweeney to set up a picket line, i know a good spot in new orleans by a broken levee...

[Hank Rearden]

Unions must die. Die, unions, die. DIE, DIE, DIE!!!!!!

[kipita]

Taxpayers will end up footing much of the bill in a roundabout way, according to E. Dale Wortham, president of the Harris County AFL-CIO and a board member of the Harris County Hospital District.

In the end, Wortham believes it will be the contractors who will win.

In the end, taxpayers will end up footing much of the bill . At the end of the day, it's the taxpayers who will win.

[MNJohnnie]

No, it is important to get the Govt OUT OF THE WAY and let the market set the wages. Unions do 2 thing. Protect the incompetent from the consequences of their actions. Hold back the productive to the pace and wages of the least efficient.

[monocle]

How much did unions spend on the 2004 elections? How much have unions donated to the victims of Katrina?

[TheClintons-STILLAnti-American]

"It's so important to have decent wages for these workers," said John Sweeney, president of the AFL-CIO.

Union talk for we want free reign for pay-without-work and every other scam we're famous for. That's what "decent wages" means to the connected Sweeney and the rest of the union scum.

Unions have become an expression of corrupt socialism in the U.S.

No wonder they vote as a block Democratic.

[Past Your Eyes]

"Union leaders angry

Labor union officials were outraged."

You mean they might withhold their support for Republicans in the future? Goodness. Give in to their demands we must.

[drlevy88]

In Harris County, the prevailing wage for a journeyman electrician is $22.05 an hour plus $7.93 an hour for benefits, according to the Department of Labor. In Orleans Parish, the prevailing wage for the same job is $22.09 an hour and $6 in benefits.

That might fall some, but not to the $5.25 minimum wage. The market will guarantee that. There are fewer electricians than shovel monkeys and they'll need scads of them for all the buildings needing to be rebuilt or rehabbed.

[roaddog727]

F! the unions.

Workers have a choice to accept the offered wage rate or not. The market (supply/demand for labor) will ultimately determine a fair wage.

If enough workers decide $5.15 is too little, it will force the contractor to offer more attractive wages to get the required amount of worker.

Simple supply/demand economics.

[va4me]

That's because President Bush signed an executive order last week rescinding the rule that contractors on projects receiving federal money pay the prevailing wage in areas damaged by the hurricane.

I believe the prevailing wage in NO is around $9.00 per hour, or $18k per year if my math is correct.

[R. Scott]

Will it apply to out of state unlicensed scam artists?
These things seem to crawl out of the slime of every hurricane.
No answer required - it was purely rhetorical. Criminals tend to ignore the law, and people in a hurry for home repairs sometimes don’t check too closely on the company doing the work.

[metesky]

With the amount of work to be done in the affected areas, some folks will end up making more than prevailing wage, others less, depending on the urgency of the rebuilding schedule and the area. The market will prevail.

[PeteB570]

Let's not have any gouging out there. The unions can't be seen as making a profit out of all this.

They should do it for "the Children".

[Jimmy Valentine]

Oh dear! No graft, payoffs, feather bedding etc, etc, for Sweeney's thugs. What a world.

[Non-Sequitur]

This will be great for Bush's Guest Worker program. Not enough Americans will want those jobs at what the contractors are willing to pay, so bring them in from Mexico.

[Walkingfeather]

Im sure we heard all the afl-cio leaders stand up and say..." we will do our part by dropping our dues and pay so more people can work to rebuild. You are heard that didn't you? No??? ....hmmm that's strange...

[Labyrinthos]

In Harris County, the prevailing wage for a journeyman electrician is $22.05 an hour plus $7.93 an hour for benefits, according to the Department of Labor. In Orleans Parish, the prevailing wage for the same job is $22.09 an hour and $6 in benefits.

That's a bargin. In NYC the extortion rate (I mean prevailing wage) for electicians is $24.80 per hour plus $14.12 in bennies.

[UglyinLA]

To paraphrase Cindy Sheehad, I am against the union, but I support the union workers.