OPPOSING ATTACKS ON LABOR PROTECTION LAWS

WHEREAS, the Federal Occupational and Safety Health Act of 1970 is the single, most important law in protecting the health and safety of millions upon millions of American workers; and

WHEREAS, the Davis-Bacon Act is a crucial feature of federal contracting policy in that it prevents the federal government from undermining locally negotiated wage standards by requiring payment of prevailing wages in federal construction projects; and

WHEREAS, the Fair Labor Standards Act provides a floor for wages below which no one should fall; and

WHEREAS, the Reagan administration has announced policies designed to eliminate, undermine and subvert the purposes of these vital labor protective laws by requiring a cost-effective analysis of life-saving OSHA regulations and by reducing the number and scope of accident-preventing on-site safety inspections and by supporting a subminimum wage for teenagers which would undermine the employment Standards of their parents by permitting employers to hire teenagers at less cost than adults; and

WHEREAS, assaults on the Davis-Bacon Act are currently being formulated by the Reagan administration designed to destroy the concept of prevailing wages:

RESOLVED, that the 65th annual convention of the American Federation of Teacher call upon the Congress to assist the administration's plan to destroy the protections of the OSHA and to provide adequate funding so that OSHA safety inspections can continue to be made; and

RESOLVED, that the 65th annual convention of the American Federation of Teachers urge the Congress to reject any subminimum wage as discriminatory toward both teenagers and their parents who work at the minimum wage; and

RESOLVED, that the AFT call upon the Congress to resist changes in the Davis-Bacon Act that would permit federal contracting to become a weapon in the undermining of hard-won prevailing wage standards in the construction industry; and

RESOLVED, that the AFT do all in its power to lobby the Congress in opposition to this unprecedented attack on the rights and standards of working people everywhere.