White House makes push for higher wages on federal construction sites

The Biden administration will soon introduce a proposal to make wages higher for workers on federal construction sites.

The White House is working on a proposal that would effectively overhaul the Davis-Bacon Act, which was enacted in 1931 and overhauled by the Reagan administration in 1983, to ensure the Federal government pays contractors and subcontractors working on government projects a wage equal to or greater than local standard wages in the location of the project they are working on.

The Department of Labor says the proposal “seeks to speed up prevailing wage updates, creating several efficiencies in the current system and ensuring prevailing wage rates keep up with actual wages. Over time, this would mean higher wages for workers.”

To determine the specific amounts, the Dept. of Labor surveys construction contractors nationwide and makes the local wages for all kinds of construction jobs public.

“Federal dollars should be used to create good jobs in local communities all across our country,” said Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh. “These proposed regulations are good for workers, good for building high-quality infrastructure and for ensuring we have a strong construction industry, as we rebuild America.”