On January 30, President Obama issued three executive orders favorable to organized labor. The orders include:
- Notification of Employee Rights Under Federal Labor Laws - reverses an order issued by Pres. Bush requiring federal contractors to post a notice informing workers of "Beck" rights (the right not to join a union).This executive order also requires contracting agencies to include a new clause in government contracts. Under this contract clause the contractor agrees to post a notice containing content issued by the Secretary of Labor in its workplaces. Failure to post the notice or failure to comply with the provisions of the notice and related rules, regulations, or orders established by the Secretary can result in contract cancellation, termination or suspension, or debarment. The contractor is also required to include the contract clause in subcontracts. AGC is concerned about the vagueness of the executive order regarding the content of the notice and regulations and about the extreme remedies established for simple failure to post a notice without any finding of substantive labor law violation.
- Economy in Government Contracts - prevents federal contractors from being reimbursed for "persuader" activity expenses (expenses incurred in trying to influence workers' decision about whether to form a union or engage in collective bargaining).
- Nondisplacement of Qualified Workers Under Service Contracts - requires service contractors, when contracts change, to offer jobs to qualified workers already working on the project.