CONTENTS Connelley, Paul, safety director, United Brotherhood of Carpenters, accompanied by W. Vernie Reed, first vice president of the Laborers Haggerty, C. J., president, Building & Construction Trades Depart- ment, AFL-CIO, read by Walter Mason, director of legislation, Building & Construction Trades Department, accompanied by Alan F. Burch, director of safety, standing committee on safety; V. E. Whitehouse, safety director, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers; Paul Connelley, representative, United Car- penters & Joiners of America; Jack Curran, legislative director, Laborers International Union of North America; James Bailey, legislative representative, Carpenters; George Riley, representative, Iron Workers; Mel Boyle, IBEW_ Kelley, James J., chairman, Wayne L. Christensen, cochairman, Accident Prevention Committee, National Constructors Associa- Miller, Burton F., executive vice president, American Road Builders' Association, accompanied by Daniel Hanson and Eugene Robbins.. Shultz, Hon. George P., Secretary of Labor, Department of Labor, Naumann, William E., chairman, Legislative Committee, Associated General Contractors of America accompanied by Art Schmul, safety director, AGC, and Grant Shotwell, legislative director, Philo, Harry M., attorney.. Prepared statements, letters, supplemental material etc.: Associated Builders & Contractors, Inc., statement of Burton, Phillip, a Representative in Congress from the State of Cali- fornia, analysis of the rollcall vote in the House on last year's con- Carlough, Edward F., general president, Sheet Metal Workers' 36 Department of Housing and Urban Development, statement of the_- Fosco, Peter, general president, Laborers' International Union of 37 Location of various occupational safety functions in State govern- Holmes, Lee B., statement of American Mutual Insurance Alliance__ Hutcheson, M. A., general president, United Brotherhood of Car- Kassabaum, George E., president, American Institute of Architects, 137 Lyons, John H., general president, International Association of Bridge, 34 (III) Prepared statements, letters, supplemental material, etc.—Continued Comparison of the construction_safety legislation (H.R. 2567, Federally assisted projects covered by the bill. Public Law 87-581, Contract Work Hours Standard Act_ Safety committee activity report National Association of Home Builders, statement of the.... Naumann, William E., chairman, legislative committee, Associated Philo, Harry M., attorney, Detroit, Mich., statement of Pillard, Charles H., international president, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, statement by Raftery, S. Frank, general president, Brotherhood of Painters, Decora- Page 28 29 31 30 13 142 100 38 138 145 140 TO PROMOTE HEALTH AND SAFETY IN THE BUILDING TRADES AND CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY WEDNESDAY, MARCH 26, 1969 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SELECT SUBCOMMITTEE ON LABOR OF THE The subcommittee met at 10 a.m., pursuant to notice, in room 2257, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Dominick V. Daniels presiding. Present: Representatives Daniels, O'Hara, Meeds, Burton, Gaydos, Scherle, Steiger, Erlenborn, Collins. Also present: Daniel H. Krivit, counsel, Loretta Bowen, clerk; and Martin LaVor, minority research assistant. (The text of H.R. 3290 follows:) [H.R. 3290, 91st Cong., first sess.] A BILL To promote health and safety in the building trades and construction industry in all Federal and federally financed or federally assisted construction projects Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Contract Work Hours Standards Act is amended by adding at the end thereof the following: "SEC. 107. (a) It shall be a condition of each contract entered into under legislation subject to Reorganization Plan No. 14 of 1950 (64 Stat. 1267) that no contractor or subcontractor contracting for any part of the contract work shall require any laborer or mechanic engaged in the performance of the contract to work in surroundings, or under working conditions, which are unsanitary, hazardous, or dangerous to his health or safety. In the event of a violation, as determined by the Secretary of Labor, of any such condition of a contract of a type described in clause (1) or (2) of section 103 (a) of the Contract Work Hours Standards Act, the governmental agency for which the contract work is done shall have the right to cancel the contract, and to enter into other contracts for the completion of the contract work, charging any additional cost to the original contractor. In the event of a violation, as determined by the Secretary of Labor, of any such condition of a contract of a type described in clause (3) of section 103 (a), the governmental agency by which financial, guarantee, assistance or insurance for the contract work is provided shall have the right to withhold any such assistance attributable to the performance of the contract. "(b) (1) Sections 4 and 5 of the Act of June 30, 1936 (41 U.S.C. 38, 39) as amended shall govern the Secretary's authority to enforce this section, issue orders, hold hearings, and make decisions based on findings of fact, and take other appropriate action hereunder. Section 554 of title 5, United States Code, shall apply to any adjudication under this section. 66 "(2) All questions relating to the interpretation and application of the provisions of this section or the standards, regulations, rulings, interpretations, and procedures promulgated by the Secretary, shall be referred to the Secretary for appropriate ruling or interpretation and such rulings and interpretations shall be final and binding upon all agencies of the United States except the courts of the United States. "(3) Section 104 of this Act shall not apply to the enforcement of this section. "(c) The Comptroller General is directed to distribute a list to all agencies of the Government giving the names of all persons or firms that the Federal agencies of the Secretary have found to have violated this section. Unless the Secretary otherwise recommends, no contract subject to this section shall be awarded to the persons or firms on this list or to any firm, corporation, partnership, or association in which such persons have a substantial interest until three years have elapsed from the date of publication of the list containing the name of such persons or firms." SEC. 2. The first section and section 2 of the Act of August 13, 1962, are each amended by inserting "and Safety" after "Hours" each time it appears. Mr. DANIELS. The Select Subcommittee on Labor will come to order. We meet today to consider H.R. 3290, a bill to promote health and safety in the building trades and construction industry in all Federal and federally financed or federally assisted construction projects. The legislation to be considered provides that no construction contractor or subcontractor may require an employee to work under any conditions that are unsanitary, hazardous, or dangerous to the worker's health or safety. The Secretary of Labor would have the power to determine violations of the Act. In the event of a violation, the Government agency for which the contract work is done shall have the right to cancel the contract. Suppliers, service contractors, and construction contractors constitute the great bulk of Government contractors. In two of these three categories, safe and healthful working conditions must be provided for the employees. Only in the case of construction workers is the law silent on the question of safety in their working conditions. This bill would fill this anomalous gap. By all indicators, accident rates in the construction industry are substantially higher than rates in other industries. According to one noted expert: While impressive efforts of a few individual contractors can be cited, the typical construction safety program is still fairly limited. Because jobs are usually of short duration, there is a strong tendency to overlook hazardous conditions and to take dangerous risks. In 1960, Congress passed the Maritime Safety Act. This law authorized the Secretary of Labor to establish rules and regulations and promote safety in the stevedoring and ship repairing industry. Opponents to that legislation took the view that that bill would cripple the industry. Facts have proved just the opposite. As a matter of fact, between 1960 and 1966 there was a 31-percent reduction of injuries in longshoring and a 41-percent reduction of injuries in shipbuilding. As a result, the maritime people actually saved thousands of dollars in compensation rate reductions. The legislation we are considering today will bring us into a new era for the construction industry-the protection of the health and safety of the millions of men who daily risk their lives in one of our Nation's most hazardous occupations. Our first witness today is Mr. Walter Mason, director of legislation in the Building and Construction Trades Department of the AFLCIO. Mr. Mason is testifying today in place of Mr. C. J. Haggerty. president of the Building and Construction Trades Department of the AFL-CIO. Welcome, Mr. Mason. Will you introduce your colleagues who are sitting with you? First, are you acquainted with the gentlemen who are sitting here at the head table with me? To my right is the next ranking member of this subcommittee who has done a yeoman's job in this field of labor and has been primarily responsible for much legislation already enacted into law. I refer to my colleague, Mr. James O'Hara of Michigan. To his right is the distinguished gentleman from the State of Washington, Mr. Lloyd Meeds, also a very hard worker in this field of labor legislation. And, of course, to my left are counsel for the majority and minority sides of this subcommittee, Mr. Dan Krivit, who represents the majority, and Mr. Marty LaVor, for the minority. Now, we do expect several other members of this subcommittee to appear here today. They are tied up at other hearings that are presently taking place, so you will see them appearing probably sometime during the course of your testimony, and when they appear, I will introduce them to you. STATEMENT OF C. J. HAGGERTY, PRESIDENT, BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION TRADES DEPARTMENT, AFL-CIO, READ BY WALTER MASON, DIRECTOR OF LEGISLATION, BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION TRADES DEPARTMENT; ACCOMPANIED BY ALAN F. BURCH, DIRECTOR OF SAFETY, STANDING COMMITTEE ON SAFETY; V. E. WHITEHOUSE, SAFETY DIRECTOR, INTERNANATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF ELECTRICAL WORKERS; PAUL CONNELLEY, REPRESENTATIVE, UNITED CARPENTERS AND JOINERS OF AMERICA; JACK CURRAN, LEGISLATIVE DIRECTOR, LABORERS' INTERNATIONAL UNION OF NORTH AMERICA; JAMES BAILEY, LEGISLATIVE REPRESENTATIVE, CARPENTERS; GEORGE RILEY, LEGISLATIVE REPRESENTATIVE, IRON WORKERS; MEL BOYLE, IBEW Mr. MASON. Mr. Chairman, my name is Walter J. Mason. I am legislative director of the Building and Construction Trades Department, AFL-CIO. I am appearing here today on behalf of President Haggerty, who is unable to appear personally before the committee. President Haggerty asked me to convey to you his deep regrets that he cannot be present, and he asked me to present to this committee his statement in support of H.R. 3290. With the committee's permission, I will proceed in a moment with President Haggerty's statement. Before doing so, however, I would like to introduce those officers and representatives of unions affiliated with the building and construction trades department who have accompanied me here today. On my left is Alan Burch, representing the standing committee on safety of the building and construction trades department, and also the International Union of Operating Engineers; Jack Curran, legislative director, Laborers' International Union of North America. On my right, Victor Whitehouse, safety director of International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and next to him is Mr. Paul Connelley, representative of the United Carpenters and Joiners. |