Operating Engineer - Summer 2013

Passing of Frank Lautenberg Temporarily Re-aligns U.S. Senate
Frank R. Lautenberg, the
five-term Democratic U.S. Senator
from New Jersey, passed away June
3, 2013. He was 89 years old. The
multi-millionaire owner of the payroll
processing company ADP never forgot
about working men and women
during his long and distinguished
Senate career. He will be remembered
as a champion of the middle class,
organized labor and the Operating
Engineers.
Greg Lalevee, Local 825 Business
Manager and International General
Vice President, said that, “Frank
U.S. Senators Robert Menendez, left, and Frank Lautenberg pose for a photo during the
topping off ceremony in 2009 at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey.
Photo: Mike Stobe/Getty Images
Lautenberg will be missed by Local
825. He fought every day for blue-collar
workers. He never forgot what makes
New Jersey and America strong.”
Senator Lautenberg’s passage
allowed Republican Governor Chris
Christie to appoint a successor. He
tapped the state’s Republican Attorney
General Jeff Chiesa to fill the seat until
Garden State voters have their say
in a special election on October 16.
Governor Christie’s appointment adds
another Republican Senator to Capitol
Hill, giving the Democrats a slim 54-46
majority in the upper chamber, at least
temporarily.
The special election features a
hotly contested Democratic primary,
where the winner is expected to go
onto victory in October. Newark Mayor
Cory Booker, State Senator Barbara
Buono, Congressman Rush Holt, and
Congressman Frank Pallone will square
off in an August primary election for
the right to take on an outmatched
Republican candidate.
Attack on Prevailing Wage Turned Away Again in House
In June, Congressman Steve
King (R-4 Iowa) introduced an
amendment to repeal Davis-Bacon
prevailing wage requirements on
construction of military facilities and
veteran’s hospitals. Every Democrat
in the House of Representatives,
along with 36 Republicans, voted in
support of Davis-Bacon prevailing
wages for a final vote of 192-231.
“This amendment will drive
down wages for every worker,
union and non-union, and
damage the overall economy,” said
General President Callahan on the
introduction of the amendment.
Since 2011, anti-worker
Republicans have attempted to repeal
the Davis-Bacon prevailing wage
law on nine separate occasions, with
Representative Steve King responsible
for three of the nine votes. The
IUOE and our allies have defeated
these attacks from right wing antiworker
Republicans every time.
Congressman Sanford Bishop
(D-Georgia), a longtime ally of the
Operating Engineers, vigorously
fought for preserving the Davis-
Bacon Act on the House floor during
debate on the amendment. As
Rep. Bishop said, “Driving wages
down will not help balance the
Federal budget…Davis-Bacon wages
actually save construction costs.”
The Davis Bacon Act is a commonsense
policy that requires that workers
on federally-assisted construction
projects be paid no less than the
wages paid in the community for
similar work. The law simply prevents
the federal government – a large,
influential construction owner –
from using precious tax dollars to
undercut wage standards of local
workers. It ensures that construction
contractors compete for public-works
contracts on a level playing field.
You can see how your member
of Congress voted by going to the
IUOE web site at www.iuoe.org
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