Contractors May Be Held to Union Labor Practices

By Elizabeth Newell

Congrats to our former colleague Gautham Nagesh for digging this up. According to Gautham, now with the Daily Caller, the administration is considering a proposal which would give preference to companies which adopt practices "designed by organized labor."

The proposal, which Gautham writes is being called the "High Road Contracting Policy" and is being developed with input from the Center for American Progress and the Service Employees International Union, would give preference to contractors that provide hourly workers with a "living wage", health insurance, an employer-funded retirement plan and paid sick days. Labor policies would be considered alongside standard proposal evaluation measures such as price and past performance in determining which contractor is given the award.

Gautham reports that the Labor Department would be responsible for collecting information on the labor practices of federal contractors and assigning a score to their practices. Professional Services Council Vice President Alan Chvotkin told Gautham the policy would give the Labor Department and unprecedented role in federal contracting.

Republican lawmakers also expressed concern about the proposal; Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, sent a letter to OMB Director Peter Orszag requesting a briefing on the proposal. The letter, cosigned by a number of other Republican senators, expresses concern that the change "could have serious, negative consequences."