HURRICANE KATRINA CONTRIBUTIONS
As of this writing, the response to our plea to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina has been overwhelming! We are nearing $30,000 in donations from our members with a couple more weeks to go before we turn in our contribution to the International Office. I’d like to thank everyone for their generosity in this effort.
HOLIDAYS
As a reminder, Friday, November 11 is a recognized holiday for Veterans Day. Thursday and Friday, November 24 and 
25 are holidays celebrating Thanksgiving. As stated in the Inside Wireman Agreement between, IBEW Local Union 26 and Washington, DC Chapter, NECA, effective November 1, 2004, Journeymen must provide a copy of a current District of Columbia Journeyman’s license to the Employer prior to the given holiday to be eligible for paid holidays. Apprentices must provide a copy of a current District of Columbia Apprentice license to the Employer prior to the given holiday to be eligible for paid holidays. An employee must work for an Employer two weeks prior and the week following the holiday in order to qualify for a paid holiday. The employees must work the 40 hours at the straight time rate of pay, Monday- Friday, in order to qualify for the paid holiday. The 40 hour requirement shall not apply if the employee is available to work during the standard workday but is not assigned such work by the Employer. If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact the Business Office.
DC LICENSE REMINDER
All Journeymen and Apprentices-- Don’t forget to get your DC License renewed through Promissor, Inc. in order to continue receiving your contractual paid holidays. If you do not receive the renewal in the mail, call the Promissor office at 877-258-9215. The fee is $110 and it is due on November 30, 2005. If you do not turn in your application by this date, there is a $50 late fee. If you would like to go the the Promissor office, the address is Metro-Plex II, Suite 400, Dept. DC-EL, 8201 Corporate Dr., Landover, MD 20785.
VIRGINIA POLITICS
Everyone was mailed a list of candidates endorsed by the Virginia State AFL-CIO and the IBEW and, hopefully, you went to the polls on November 8 to support these people. We are not sure as of this date of the outcome of the Virginia elections; however, I’d like to thank everyone who took the time to vote.
NEW BUILDING
Demolition of the interior of our new Local 26 headquarters building in Lanham, Maryland has begun, and bid packages went out in late October. The actual construction should have started the first week of this month, so we are staying pretty much on schedule for our new building.
CONFERENCES
The Maryland State Building Trades Conference was held recently, and I met with some of the top legislators in the state of Maryland. They are very grateful for our participation and support in Annapolis last year which helped keep anti-union legislation from being passed. Because of our Republican governor, this will be an uphill fight at every turn, and we will need to voice our opposition. They also expressed their appreciation for our continued support. Congressman Ben Cardin spoke to the delegates at the conference and announced that he will be running for the U.S. Senate seat next year which will be vacated by a retiring Paul Sarbanes. In looking at Cardin’s views and his position on issues such as Davis-Bacon prevailing wage, he has a 100% voting record, so Local 26 will be supporting him for this seat next November.
I attended the IBEW National Organizing Conference and the theme is the same - Organize the unorganized and continue to bring in new members and contractors to try and level the playing field between union and non-union. The IBEW has made some strides in Florida where they had a state-wide organizing campaign going on, and they have introduced a new classification in the IBEW called a construction electrician. If you read between the lines, that mirrors our residential program and makes their contractors more competitive in bidding jobs and getting work for the members in Florida. Their market share before this started was less than 10%, which meant they struggled every day for jobs.
I also attended the IBEW-NECA Benefit Conference and received a lot of information about the NEBF. So far, as I reported before, there are no changes to the NEBF. The only issue that came up was that they are starting to look into different classifications which pay into the NEBF. Some people, of course, such as the “A” Journeymen, are paying a lot more into the NEBF than other classifications. The question came up as to that possibly being one of the reasons which could jeopardize future increases to our NEBF. I’ll keep you informed of any new developments concerning the NEBF.
BEST WISHES, LOU ANN!
I’d like to inform everyone that our receptionist in the Washington DC office, Lou Ann Goheen, retired the first part of this month. Lou Ann worked for the Local Union for seven years, and she will be deeply missed. We wish her many happy and healthy years of retirement!
CHRISTMAS PARTIES/MEETINGS
Our annual Christmas party and meeting in the Washington, DC area will be held again this year at Sardo Hall on Friday, December 2, at 8:00 p.m. On Friday, December 9, we will hold our Winchester party/meeting at 7:00 p.m., and Friday, December 16 will be our Roanoke party/meeting at 7:00 p.m. Please mark your calendars and plan to attend.
Pictured above from left to right--
Mike Shoemaker, Financial Secretary; Darryl Day, 20 Years;
Kenneth Lackey, 25 Years; Joseph Dibenio, 20 Years; Mark Lay, 20 Years; Keith Rogers, 20 Years; Timothy DuLaney, 20 Years;
Milton Snyder (far back), 20 Years; James “Arthur” Moreland, 20 Years;
Stephen White, 25 Years; David Joyce (far back), 20 Years;
Charles Keener, 30 Years; Kevin Colbert, 30 Years;
Robert Adamski (far back), 25Years; Robert Allen, 30 Years;
Francis Sitney, 20 Years; Chuck Graham, Business Manager;
Butch Ramos, Vice President
On September 8, after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita hit the Gulf Coast and left nothing but devastation to the area, the Bush Administration made matters worse for those affected by the storms. “In a notice to Congress, President Bush said the hurricane (Katrina) had caused “a national emergency” permitting him to suspend the Davis-Bacon Act in ravaged areas of Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Florida.”8
“The Davis-Bacon Act, enacted in 1931, requires federal contractors, on federally funded construction contracts, to pay workers at least the prevailing (the average or most common) wage in the area where the work is conducted.”2 The Department of Labor (DOL) sets this scale based on typical wages and benefits paid for each industry in each region.Sometimes this wage is based on a union scale, but many times it’s that of non-union wages. In the regions struck by the hurricanes, the prevailing wage may reach as high as $22 and as low as $5.60 for electricians. However, the majority of the area’s wages average $9.50 per hour for most workers rebuilding in the hurricane affected region. That is less than $20,000 a year for a skilled, full-time worker. As a result of the waiver, contractors are not required to pay even that amount. “Bush’s move cut pay for Gulf Coast workers—many of whom lost homes and loved ones during the hurricane—when they need the money to rebuild their lives and communities, leaders of the Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas state labor federations said in a September 29 press conference in Jackson, Mississippi.”1 Mississippi AFL-CIO President, Robert Shaffer, added there was no push for increased wages, simply fair ones.
The only three other times in history in which the Davis-Bacon Act was suspended were said to be done in “emergencies”. “Mr. [Franklin D.] Roosevelt suspended it for two weeks in 1934, to make time to clear up contradictions between it and another law. Mr. [Richard M.] Nixon suspended it for six weeks in 1971 as part of his misbegotten attempt to control spiraling inflation. And Mr. [George H. W.] Bush did so after Hurricane Andrew in 1992, two weeks before he was defeated by Bill Clinton, who quickly reinstated it after assuming the presidency.”4 “At least nine times in the past decade, extremists in the Republican party tried unsuccessfully in Congress to repeal or undermine the Davis-Bacon law.”1 When George W. Bush issued the executive order, AFL-CIO President John Sweeney said, “What a double tragedy it would be to allow the hurricane destruction to depress living standards even further. Taking advantage of a national tragedy to get rid of a protection for workers, the corporate backers of the White House have long wanted to remove, is nothing less than profiteering.”1
In the aftermath of hurricanes Katrina and Rita, President Bush believes that by suspending the Davis-Bacon Act, it will allow the federal government to save time and money. This simply is not the case at all. Studies have shown that 
cutting wages does not mean the cost of construction will decrease. The Laborers’ International Union of North America (LIUNA) posted a letter written by 37 U.S. House Republicans to President Bush, which states, “Labor costs often account for less than one-third of total construction cost; the cost of land and materials often have a much more direct impact on overall project costs. These studies further show that prevailing wages attract workers with more experience and training, who are more productive than less skilled, lower paid workers. This increased productivity results in completion of construction projects in less time, lowering overall costs. It has also been shown time and again that projects built by less skilled employees drive up the costs associated with long-term maintenance, repair and reconstruction.”5 In the long run, the states will have to come up with the money to repair and the government won’t look at it as hurricane damage anymore.
Not only are workers being hurt by the suspension, but contractors as well. A modification of the Davis-Bacon Act, amended in 1935, ensures that contractors bidding on public works projects would not lower wages to get a contract and government agencies accepting low bids would only employ contractors who paid a “fair” wage, rather than those who competed by reducing wage rates. Usually, two to three companies compete, placing bids on a contract, and the contract is awarded to the company with the lowest price. That is not the case here. Bush said there was not enough time to have a bidding process. Instead, the government has awarded the multimillion-dollar contracts to those companies who are wealthy and have political ties to the Bush administration, all on a no-bid basis. The New York Times reported, several of these projects weren’t even due to begin for at least three months after the storms hit. The New York Times also stated that “more than 80% of Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) contracts were awarded without bidding.”9 Once again the Bush administration is helping the rich at the expense of the poor.
The bottom line is that the people in the devastated areas affected by this country’s worst national disaster aren’t being paid the wages they are entitled to, to rebuild their lives. So, if it is more difficult to make ends meet, then they certainly aren’t putting money into other industries. Instead of stimulating the economy, it is bringing it to a halt, making it harder for everyone to get back on their feet. “For the next few months, the city limps along as [small businesses], hotels, bars and restaurants try to reopen and survive on business from construction workers, contractors and government employees who will undoubtedly stick around, though they probably will not run up big tabs.”6 Secretary-Treasurer of the Louisiana AFL-CIO said, “It’s saddening that we want to make the victims pay twice. They’re told they should get back to work and give up their benefits.”1 Terence M. O’Sullivan, General President of the LIUNA, stated, “Nothing will be more crucial to recovery for hurricane-affected communities and for families getting their lives back together than good, family-supporting jobs – the kind of jobs reconstruction could create by the tens of thousands. Waiving Davis-Bacon will dash the hopes of rebuilding for thousands of families and will have made it more difficult for the people of the Gulf Coast to rest assured that reconstruction will be done to sound standards.” 7
by Franny Olshefski, President
Works Cited
1 “ Gulf Coast Union Leaders Demand Decent Pay for Workers”. http://www.aflcio.org/aboutus/ns09302005
2 “Bush Uses Disaster to Ram Through Low-Wage Work”. http://www.aflcio.org/issues/jobseconomy/ns09092005.cfm
3 “Question & Answers about Davis-Bacon: Protecting the American Standard of Living”. http://www.bctd.org/political/davisbacon/pdfs/46726BKLT.pdf
4 “By Suspending Davis-Bacon Act, Bush Allows Feds to Underpay Relief Workers”. http://www.indybay.org/news/2005/09/1766332.php
5 “Congressional Republicans Back Davis-Bacon”. http://www.liuna.org/homeindex/DBKatrina9-23-05.PDF
6 White, Ben and Alexander, Keith L. The Washington Post “Will tourists return to New Orleans?: Without them, city businesses face bleak future” http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9654829/page/2/
7 “Statement of Terence M. O’Sullivan General President, Laborers’ International Union of North America, On President Bush’s Elimination of Wage Standards for Katrina Victims”. http://www.liuna.org/homeindex%5CDavis-Bacon%20Katrina.pdf
8 “Bush lifts wage rules for Katrina: President signs executive order allowing contractors to pay below prevailing wage in affected areas”. http://money.cnn.com/2005/09/08/news/economy/katrina_wages.reut
9 “Debating FEMA’s no-bid contracts: Congressmen King and Thompson play Hardball with MSNBC’s Matthews”. http://msnbc.msn.com/id/9503017/
These are some photographs of the 150 members participating in the Pension Seminar that was held on October 1st. Various speakers included Lester Austin (Social Security), Laurie Cord and Cathy Spencer (Local 26 Pension), and Mike Shoemaker (International and National Electrical Benefit Fund, NEBF, Pensions). 
