Should truck drivers working on federal construction projects qualify for the same prevailing wage protections as other construction workers? The Department of Labor said yes in 2023, but a new administration has now abandoned that position.
Contractors doing business with the federal government are subject to a wide range of rules, including those regulating wages. One of those rules is the Davis-Bacon Act.
Enacted in 1931, the law requires federal construction contractors to pay workers at least what local workers performing similar jobs would earn, which is referred to as the local prevailing wage. The wage rule was meant to protect local workers by preventing contractors from bringing in cheaper labor from somewhere else.
For example, if a county in Missouri sets the prevailing wage for a cement mason at $60 per hour, a contractor doing construction work for the federal government in that county must pay all cement masons at least that wage. That ensures that local cement masons are not squeezed out by a contractor bringing in its own masons at far less than the prevailing wage.
The Davis-Bacon Act applies to “all mechanics and laborers.” It does not specifically mention truck drivers.
A 2016 Department of Labor guidance included certain truckers, but prevailing wages applied only to on-site time, such as loading, unloading and waiting. Travel to and from the site was not included. There was an exclusion for minimal time spent on site, although what is considered minimal was never defined.
That guidance lay mostly dormant when a new White House administration took over the following year. However, it was resurrected in 2023 when another administration codified it with a final rule. The Associated General Contractors, an association representing the construction industry, sued the Department of Labor over the new rules giving truck drivers access to prevailing wages.
The association argued that including truck drivers in the Davis-Bacon Act exceeds the department’s authority. If Congress wanted to include truckers, it would have explicitly stated so. Therefore, Congress, not the Department of Labor, has the authority to make that change.
In June 2024, a Texas federal court agreed with the association and granted its motion to block the rule while the case was pending.
The federal government appealed to the Fifth Circuit where it sat until yet another administration moved into the White House.
After the change in administrations, the Department of Labor informed the court it would no longer defend the challenged provisions. Rather than reverse the regulation through the rulemaking process, the government chose not to continue defending the lawsuit and let the district court’s preliminary ruling stand.
In May, the Associated General Contractors moved for a final judgment to officially vacate the truck driver wage provision. Since the government did not oppose the motion, the judge entered the final judgment in late June, putting an end to the provision.
More than 50 updates to the Davis-Bacon Act were made in the 2023 final rule. That law has been left largely untouched in its nearly 100-year history. The court ruling eliminates only four of those updates, including truck driver wages. The remainder of the final rule stays intact. LL
Credit: Source link
