Speakers Decry Out-of-State Firms in Louisiana

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Speakers Decry Out-of-State Firms in Louisiana
By Mark F. Bonner
The Advocate

Sunday 30 October 2005

Demonstrators demand bigger share of reconstruction work.


Mary Howard of Lake Charles shouts out Saturday at the New Opportunities for Action and Hope Rally to rebuild New Orleans. About 500 people attended the event on the steps of the Louisiana State Capitol.
(Photo: Richard Alan Hannon / The Advocate)

Upwards of 500 people rallied at the State Capitol Saturday, where national labor organizers, civil rights leaders and Louisiana state officials demanded a larger share of the reconstruction effort from the federal government in the aftermath of a catastrophic hurricane season.

Gov. Kathleen Blanco and the Revs. Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton took turns calling for Louisiana to gain a priority in jobs and contracts, as well as better wages, job training and access to affordable housing.

"Unfortunately, some Louisiana workers are not doing enough of the work," Blanco told the crowd. "We are not earning enough of the federal dollars that have poured into Louisiana."

Ken Haggard, one of the people who attended the rally, said he has seen it himself - South American workers living in a vacant, rat-infested building in downtown New Orleans, working for substandard wages.

"How can these companies be so callous to bring in people from other countries to rebuild the city of New Orleans?" asked Haggard, 61, a labor liaison official with the Red Cross in New Orleans.

"People are angry about this, and it is morally bankrupt," he said.

Blanco said nearly 300,000 filed unemployment claims with the state as a result of the storms, costing $300 million in unemployment insurance to workers who lost their jobs or lost work after the hurricanes.

After Hurricane Katrina wiped out much of New Orleans, Blanco said, President George Bush allowed out-of-state companies dealing with storm recovery efforts to pay their workers non-prevailing wages.

"We have already been devastated by a hurricane; we did not need to be hurt by out-of-state companies giving incredibly low wages to workers from outside Louisiana," Blanco said.

Last week, after weeks of nagging, Blanco said, Bush reversed his decision to suspend wage protections for workers rebuilding the Gulf Coast.

AFL-CIO president John Sweeney told the crowd the prevailing-wage issue reversal is a political victory for labor, but it is shameful that it took so long for Bush to act.

Sweeney said Bush and "his conservative and corporate cronies have broken faith with the God-fearing, hard-working families of our country."

Jackson said his Rainbow/PUSH Coalition would open an office in New Orleans, to see the reconstruction through.

"This is not just a New Orleans struggle. Our national character is on trial," Jackson said. "Somebody is accountable, and it is time for a change."

New Opportunities for Action and Hope, a coalition of labor unions and civil rights groups, staged the rally to demand a bigger slice of the reconstruction effort for Louisiana.

When Sharpton took the lectern, however, he slammed the gavel down on the federal government, saying it is awarding bids to politically connected firms at the expense of local contractors.

He specifically named Halliburton and Bechtel - two companies awarded contracts by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Earlier this month, FEMA announced plans to competitively bid contracts for ongoing hurricane recovery work and to rebid four major contracts already awarded, including one to The Shaw Group of Baton Rouge.

The Shaw Group and three other companies received $100 million no-bid FEMA contracts to build emergency housing. The other $100 million contracts for emergency housing that will now be rebid went to Fluor Corp. of Aliso Viejo, Calif., Bechtel of San Francisco and CH2M Hill of Denver.

In addition to rebidding the major contracts, FEMA announced a plan to competitively award recovery contracts to small disadvantaged businesses and to consider the geographic location of prime contractors and subcontractors to ensure a preference for local hires.

FEMA officials said they always intended to renegotiate the rates, terms and conditions of the large emergency recovery contracts.

But, Sharpton said, "There are those who are trying to make profit off of this crisis and trying to turn rebuilding into reconfiguration.

"Just like Rosa Parks wouldn't move, you can't move!" Sharpton shouted. "We are gathered here today to tell you, 'Keep your seat!' Just Like Rosa Parks did, keep your seat! Bechtel is trying to take your seat - get in your seat! They are trying to give Halliburton your contract - get in your seat!"

Gail Mazyck from Algiers said she was a dispatcher with the New Orleans Police Department for eight years before being laid off along with 3,000 other city employees last month.

She spoke at the rally Saturday, calling for the federal government to step in and help the city of New Orleans rehire its work force.

"I think the city is more concerned that tourists come back, whether Mardi Gras will return or whether businesses will come back to the convention center," Mazyck said. "City workers are last on the list."

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