Public Policy
Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces Executive Order
During the past several decades, labor advocates have worked hard to enact policies and laws protecting workers – especially with contractors receiving federal money. Each of these victories was an excellent reason to celebrate, however, we now know that despite the passage of these laws, they have not been enforced for these federal contractors. In order to rectify this situation, President Obama recently signed the Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces Executive Order.
We need to take action to ensure that this Order is upheld! We need comments submitted to the Department of Labor by August 26. Because this process is complicated, OTI is collecting comments which we will submit as a group. Please send your comments to us before 9:00 am on Tuesday, August 25!
The executive order is backed by unions and will ultimately protect all workers by setting compliance standards and practices for laws that already exist. Currently, the federal government is awarding contracts to contractors who are known to have violated labor laws – and this practice needs to end. Violating contractors have received over $81 billion in contracts, despite violating labor laws more than 1,800 times.
“Today, President Obama took a stand for American workers by signing an executive order that will promote fairer and safer workplaces for employees of government contractors. While many federal contractors already play by the rules and try to treat their workers fairly, thousands of hard-working Americans end up being denied the pay they deserve, or being exposed to health and safety risks, because some contractors insist on cutting corners in the name of profits.” – Leo W. Gerard, International President of the United Steelworker Union
We are encouraging tradeswomen to submit their comments, to make their voices heard in support of government actions that improve the lives of working people, deliver superior construction projects to the public, and ensure that contractors have a fair playing field.
While the executive order extensively covers many aspects of labor law, we are highlighting just a few:
- Paycheck transparency – specifically showing hourly rates used to calculate payments so that workers can more easily identify when wage theft is happening
- Strengthens protections against discrimination by not allowing contractors to force mediation as the primary solution to discrimination complaints
- Requiring contractors to reveal labor law violations when bidding for contracts
- Strengthening collective bargaining
Your comments will be most effective when you highlight your own personal experience in the industry. The National Women’s Law Center and the AFL-CIO Building Trades are encouraging comments specifically demonstrating the importance of the paycheck transparency and any evidence folks have about how law abiding contractors perform better on projects.
Call to Action: Tell Congress You Support Funding WANTO
The Women in Apprenticeship and Non-Traditional Occupations (WANTO) Act is a small pool of money that organizations like Oregon Tradeswomen rely on to run pre-apprenticeship classes for women. WANTO appropriations amounted to less than $2 million over the last two years, but the program’s impact on women’s economic security is colossal. With the support of this crucial funding source, WANTO grantees (including Oregon Tradeswomen) have helped thousands of women access meaningful careers in male-dominated industries with quality, family-supporting wages. Regions where WANTO-funded organizations work have more than twice the national average of women employed in construction trades. WANTO works!
Oregon Tradeswomen needs your help: The federal budget under currently under consideration by Congress provides zero dollars for WANTO. But with your help, we can change that and get WANTO back in the budget. We need your voice for our message to be heard in Congress.
The best way to support Oregon Tradeswomen’s efforts to keep WANTO alive is to contact your elected representatives and tell them how vital WANTO is to women in the trades. We’ve made it easy – you can write to your representative with the simple template linked below. (Make sure to read through and personalize your message.) Support tradeswomen, support OTI, and support our sister organizations around the nation. Tell Congress that programs that work should be expanded, not cut out of the budget. Fund WANTO, WANTO works!
The Commission on Equitable Contracting and Purchasing
The first meeting of the Commission on Equitable Contracting and Purchasing, formed to increase utilization of minorities and women-owned businesses in City of Portland contracting, and increase inclusion of minorities and women in the workforce on City-funded projects was held on July 30, 2015.
The nine Commissioners: Marcela Alcantar, Michael Burch, Andrew Colas, Herb Fricke, Vicqui Guevara, Tony Jones, Rosa Martinez, Andrew McGough, and Maurice Rahming, represented a wide spectrum of minority and women-owned business and workforce interests.
Mayor Hales expressed his enthusiastic support for the Commission. As he witnessed their oath of office, he said, “This oath goes with real power and reflects the seriousness and heft of what you are about here – about real change to help make this a City of opportunities for more people.”
OTI is thrilled with the establishment of this commission and looks forward to hearing more about the results of their work.
Links of Interest:
Ordinance that established the Commission
List of Commissioners and their affiliations