Anti-Union Construction Lobby Slammed for Wanting Workplace Violations Kept from the Feds

[Omaha Steve]

http://wepartypatriots.com/wp/2014/08/21/anti-union-construction-lobby-slammed-for-wanting-workplace-violations-kept-from-the-feds/


Slightly lost in a New York Times article about the Obama administration’s summer meetings with groups who want executive action to bypass congressional gridlock is a very telling quote from the notoriously anti-union Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC). The president wants to take issues such as fairness in federal contracting head on without Congress’s hand-tying, but the ABC apparently doesn’t do fairness.

Geoff Burr, Vice President of Federal Affairs for the ABC, said that his organization was contemplating “the virtues of a litigation strategy” following an executive order from President Obama last month that would block companies with a history of workplace violations from receiving federal contracts. 60 percent of the companies who receive federal contracts are members of the ABC.

The ABC’s opposition to a clearly necessary move resulted in a scathing op-ed from the NYT Editorial Board the following day. In “The Right to Cheat and Maim?,” the board writes:

It would seem noncontroversial to advise federal procurement officials to steer clear of companies with repeated and egregious violations that cheat, sicken, harm, and kill workers. But when President Obama signed an executive order in late July to that effect, the pushback from industry was immediate, notably from the Associated Builders and Contractors, whose members do 60 percent of federal construction jobs, and from the International Franchise Association, whose members run concessions at federal venues.

FULL story at link.

About the Author: Steve Cooper
employd [at] wepartypatriots [dot] com -- Steve Cooper is the editor of We Party Patriots. He manages its Twitter (@WePartyPatriots) and Facebook (/WePartyPatriots) accounts, so there are many ways to contact him. Cooper is an avid chef and musician.