"There are thousands of workers in my district alone that could benefit from this bill over the next few years," Norwood says.  "We¡ve lost Georgia textile jobs because of NAFTA; but we¡ll have new jobs available when construction of the Fall Line Freeway and Savannah River Parkway gets started.  It would be a disgrace to tell our displaced textile workers they aren¡t allowed to apply for those jobs because of an outdated,  60-year old federal law."

Under current Davis-Bacon regulations, semi-skilled workers, or helpers, are not recognized as a "prevailing job classification."   The Workstart bill would allow helpers to work under the supervision of  skilled workers, providing basic unskilled assistance such as carrying and furnishing materials, tools, equipment, and supplies, and cleaning and preparing work areas. 

On many current federal work sites, high-wage skilled workers such as licensed electricians and plumbers are paid to perform low-skill tasks because of Davis-Bacon restrictions.  The practice frequently results in the payment of inflated wages to out-of-state migrants, who displace local workers on federal construction sites. The measure would also save the federal government an estimated $1.4 billion dollars through lower construction costs over the next five years, and $3.5 billion over 10 years.   

In addition to pushing for passage of the bill, Norwood is simultaneously pressuring the U.S. Department of Labor to unilaterally re-write the Davis-Bacon  regulations to allow more local workers to apply for jobs on federal construction sites.