Taking Davis-Bacon to Court
Associated Builders and Contractors and the Associated General Contractors of America had the same reaction to the U.S. Department of Labor’s recent rule change to the Davis-Bacon Act’s prevailing-wage regulations: Not so fast.
The rule change, which went into effect on Oct. 23, is intended to raise the hourly rate paid to workers for general contractors and subcontractors on federally funded projects. Both ABC and AGC have protested that, in addition to being unlawful, the new rule would increase the cost of crucial infrastructure projects. Last month, they filed simultaneous lawsuits against the federal government to prevent its implementation—ABC in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, AGC in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas.
“Our concerns are with the administration’s unconstitutional exercise of legislative power and not with the wage rates themselves,” AGC CEO Stephen E. Sandherr said in a statement, while ABC Vice President of Regulatory, Labor and State Affairs Ben Brubeck noted: “The onerous new requirements, reduced competition and artificial inflation of construction costs imposed by this rule will only exacerbate economic headwinds and undermine taxpayer investments in infrastructure.”
The Brothers Bobcat
The two brothers who brought the world the Bobcat loader have been inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame.
In 1956, Minnesota machinists Cyril and Louis Keller invented a compact front-end loader for a farmer neighbor looking for a maneuverable, lightweight machine to clear manure from the second floor of his turkey barn. Melroe Manufacturing Co. bought the rights to the loader from the Kellers two years later, after which the brothers went to work for the company, which launched the Bobcat brand in 1962.
NIHF inducted the Keller brothers posthumously during a ceremony at the NIHF Museum in Alexandria, Virginia, last month. Louis passed away in 2010, Cyril in 2020—long after their invention had become an industry-defining jobsite workhorse.
