[IMC-Boston-Dispatch] This one's important...Fwd: KENNEDY ON BUSH DECISION TO SUSPEND DAVIS-BACON WAGE PROTECTIONS IN WAKE OF KATRINA

[News at JamaicaPlainGazette.com]

Begin forwarded message:

> From: pressoffice at kennedy.senate.gov
> Date: September 8, 2005 8:56:33 PM EDT
> To: news at jamaicaplaingazette.com
> Subject: KENNEDY ON BUSH DECISION TO SUSPEND DAVIS-BACON WAGE  
> PROTECTIONS IN WAKE OF KATRINA
>
>
> FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Laura Capps/Melissa Wagoner
> September 8. 2005 (202) 224-2633
>
> STATEMENT OF EDWARD M. KENNEDY ON THE DECISION OF PRESIDENT BUSH TO  
> SUSPEND DAVIS-BACON PREVAILING WAGE PROTECTIONS IN THE WAKE OF  
> HURRICANE KATRINA
>
> I’m deeply disappointed that President Bush has decided to suspend  
> vital wage protections in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Haven’t  
> these workers and their families suffered enough? We are providing  
> tens of billions of dollars in relief, and we should be sure that  
> it goes toward decent wages for workers as they rebuild the  
> infrastructure that is so desperately needed.
>
> Many people harmed by this disaster were already struggling to make  
> ends meet, and now the jobs and businesses they relied on have  
> disappeared. As many as 1 million workers may become jobless, with  
> the unemployment rate reaching 25% or higher in the Gulf region.
>
> Many of the good new jobs created will be in the recovery and  
> rebuilding of the area. And these important protections simply  
> ensure that jobs like these pay a fair wage. But the President  
> apparently believes that workers in Louisiana, Mississippi, and  
> Alabama don’t even deserve to earn a fair wage for a hard day’s work.
> ###