The Davis-Bacon Act, enacted in 1931, requires that workers on public works projects receive a prevailing wage, defined as the average wage for the same work in the same area. The act aimed to protect local workers and prevent unfair wage reductions. However, criticism persists, with some viewing it as a Jim Crow law. Some presidents have suspended the act during crises, and there have been amendments over the years. Efforts to repeal the act are common among Republicans, but not all Republicans oppose it and not all Democrats support it.
The Davis-Bacon Act is a federal law enacted by the United States government in 1931. In short, the law prohibits paying workers for public works projects less than the prevailing wage. Many of the public works construction projects are offered by private companies that carry out the work, but reducing employee wages can create an unfair situation. In essence, the Davis-Bacon Act attempted to correct this by requiring that all employees should receive a prevailing wage, and this can be defined as a wage that would be average and expected in the same area for the same type of work.
Senator Jim Davis and Representative Robert L. Bacon sponsored the bill, and it may have been a partial response to the anger created when Alabama workers were hired to build a hospital in New York. Due to the fact that Alabama wages were generally lower than New York wages, the company with the successful offer was able to significantly reduce its offer by paying Alabamans, who were African Americans, much lower wages. Thus, in part, the act sought to protect the rights of local workers to find work by demanding prevailing wages. This meant that it was not fair to pay an Alabaman wage for work in New York and there was little incentive to hire workers elsewhere for work that could be completed by local workers.
There is another concern and criticism of the Davis-Bacon Act that has persisted. Some people thought it was a Jim Crow law. African American companies might have had the advantage of being able to support competitors for public works projects because their employees were generally paid less. Once the act passed, this benefit was removed because all companies had to pay the prevailing wages.
The most altruistic interpretation of the Davis-Bacon Act, and one adopted by Judge William D. Bryant in 2002, is simply that the act aimed to hire local workers at fair wages in an era when unemployment was high. After the Great Depression, about 25% of working Americans were unemployed. Having the ability to obtain locally fair wages has been a boon for the worker. However, criticism of the act continues and there have been attempts to repeal the act and notable suspensions of the act during some crises.
Some presidents have had to suspend the act for short periods of time. President George HW Bush and President George W. Bush both suspended these regulations after huge hurricanes, as a means to rebuild damaged areas faster at lower prices. President Nixon also suspended the Davis-Bacon Act to reduce inflation, but this angered then Labor Secretary Peter J. Brennan and Nixon reversed his decision in less than a month.
There have been a few amendments to the Davis-Bacon Act over the years. Some of these allowed marginal benefits to be counted as part of the prevailing wage, while others broadened the terms under which the act could be enforced. For example, in the 1990s, one addition was that construction work on Head Start buildings had to come under the provisions of the act.
Efforts to repeal the Davis-Bacon Act are common and tend mostly to come from members of the Republican Party. The pro-union sentiment in the act often runs counter to the Republican platform. However, not all Republicans oppose the act and not all Democrats support it.
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