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JOHN McCAIN'S BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION TRADES RECORD
MCCAIN OPPOSES IMPORTANT WAGE AND SAFETY PROTECTIONS
McCain Has Tried Repeatedly to Undermine Davis-Bacon Prevailing Wages. McCain voted to prohibit application of Davis-Bacon laws in federal disaster areas, repeatedly supported exceptions to Davis-Bacon prevailing wage rules and even opposed a “sense of the Senate” resolution that would have expressed support for Davis-Bacon and opposition to its repeal. (S. 1650, Vote 320, 10/7/99; S. 2019, Vote 119, 5/18/94; H.R. 5132, Vote 105, 5/21/92; H.R. 2916, Vote 181, 9/19/89; S.Amdt. 4031, Vote 134, 5/22/96)
McCain Voted to Lower Standards for State Apprenticeship Programs. McCain voted to allow the Labor Department to implement a Bush administration regulation weakening rules governing state apprenticeship programs and forcing them to accept lower federal standards for training programs. The new class of workers created, called “helpers,” would have no formal training and would not fall under Davis-Bacon wage requirements. (H.R. 2518, Vote 289, 9/28/93)
McCain Supported a Deal That Failed to Provide Fair Compensation for Asbestos Victims. Decades of uncontrolled use of asbestos in many industries—and a deliberate cover-up of its health effects on workers—have caused a crisis of asbestos-related diseases. A backroom deal between insurers and defendant companies in asbestos-related lawsuits resulted in grossly inadequate legislation that failed to provide fair compensation for victims of asbestos disease or any certainty that claims would be paid. It also would leave the asbestos trust fund more than $40 billion short of the amount needed to pay fair claims. McCain voted to block efforts to improve the bill. (S. 2290, Vote 69, 4/22/04)
McCain Voted to Allow Federal Contractors to Hire Permanent Striker Replacements. McCain voted to block President Bill Clinton’s order barring federal contractors from hiring permanent workers to replace workers on strike. (H.R. 889, Vote 103, 3/15/95)
McCain Supported Bush’s Effort to Take Away Overtime Pay Rights from 6 Million Workers. McCain voted against an amendment that guaranteed workers’ overtime pay rights by repealing Bush’s new rules weakening overtime protection. In April 2004, the Bush administration issued final overtime eligibility regulations that threaten the overtime pay rights of 6 million workers. (S. 1637, Vote 79, 5/4/04)
McCAIN VOTED AGAINST JOB-CREATING PROJECTS
McCain Voted Against 2004 and 2005 Highway Bills. McCain voted against the 2004 $318 billion highway and transportation bill that would create about 5 million jobs over six years. The legislation contained Davis–Bacon prevailing wage protections. McCain also voted against a six-year $286 billion reauthorization of the federal highway and transit construction program in 2005. The massive infrastructure modernization bill would create 1 million family-supporting jobs, protected by Davis Bacon prevailing wage standards. (S. 1072, Vote 14, 2/12/04; H.R. 3, Vote 220, 7/29/05)
McCain Criticized Federal Funding for Construction of Border Patrol Station and Border Fence in Arizona. In 2003, McCain criticized a $25.6 million earmark for construction of a U.S. Border Patrol station in Tucson, Ariz. McCain’s 2005 Congressional Pig Book criticized $500,000 in federal funding for the construction of a border fence in Nogales, Ariz. (Gannett, 4/10/03; 2003 and 2005 Congressional Pig Book; DNC Public Information, 1/5/08)
McCain Opposed $1.6 Billion in School Construction Funding. McCain voted against authorizing $1.6 billion in fiscal year 2002 to help states and local school districts repair their most dilapidated public school buildings. (S. 1, Vote 108, 5/16/01)
McCain Sought to Eliminate $12.6 Million in Construction Funding. McCain tried to eliminate $12.6 million in construction funding for a swine-research center proposed at Iowa State University. (Des Moines Register, 12/12/99)
McCAIN INSULTED BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION TRADES WORKERS
McCain Booed by Construction Workers. McCain was booed by members attending the 2006 AFL-CIO Building and Construction Trades conference when he said none of them would be willing to pick lettuce in Arizona for $50 an hour. He told the union members, “You can’t do it, my friends.” Some accepted his job offer—shouting “I’ll take it!”—and others protested his mistaken assumption about their work ethic. (Associated Press Online, 4/5/06)
McCAIN BACKS TRADE DEALS THAT SEND JOBS OVERSEAS
McCain: “If I were president, I would negotiate a free trade agreement with almost any country willing to negotiate fairly with us.” (Speech to the National Press Club, 5/20/99)
McCain Supported the Most Devastating Trade Agreements in Our History: NAFTA and Allowing China into the WTO. McCain voted for NAFTA and CAFTA and wants to expand agreements like these although the United States has lost more than 1 million jobs because of NAFTA. He also voted to normalize trade relations with China, making it easier for toxic products to enter the country and disregarding the Chinese government’s long history of worker abuse. This country has lost 1.8 million jobs since China entered the WTO. (H.R. 3450, Vote 395, 11/20/93; S. 1307, Vote 170, 6/30/05; H.R. 4444, Vote 251, 9/19/00; Economy Policy Institute, 10/9/07; Des Moines Register and www.BigThink.com interview, 11/07)
McCain Has Voted for Every Other Bad Trade Agreement. McCain votes in support of any and all trade agreements regardless of their negative impacts on U.S. workers. He voted for CAFTA and trade agreements with Oman, Singapore, Chile and Morocco, among others, as well as for Fast Track bills to make it easier for the president to enact trade deals without strong worker protections. (S. 33569, Vote 190, 6/29/06; S. 1307, Vote 170, 6/30/05; H.R. 2739, Vote 318, 7/31/03; H.R. 2738, Vote 319, 7/31/03; H.R. 434, Vote 353, 11/3/99; H.R. 3009, Vote 115, 5/16/02, Vote 117, 5/21/02, Vote 207, 8/1/02; S. 1269, Vote 292, 11/4/97)
HE HAS HELPED SEND GOOD U.S. JOBS OVERSEAS
McCain and the Lobbyists on His Campaign Helped Airbus Get a $35 Billion Contract Over Boeing. McCain stepped in to make it easier for EADS/Airbus rather than Boeing to get the contract for Air Force refueling tankers. Three of his campaign advisers lobbied for EADS, and his campaign received $28,000 in contributions from EADS execs, lobbyists and employees after he started speaking out on EADS’ behalf. If Boeing had won the contract, it would have supported 44,000 good jobs in more than 40 U.S. states, many of which would have been union jobs. (Lobbyist Disclosure Act Database, accessed 3/11/08; Associated Press, 3/11/08; Time.com, 3/11/08; OpenSecrets.org, accessed 3/12/08; Mobile Register, 1/16/07; Seattle Post Intelligencer, 3/7/08)
McCain Voted Against Limiting Tax Breaks for Companies That Re-Import Foreign Manufactured Goods. McCain voted against a bill to tax multinational companies on income from foreign factories when goods are shipped back to the United States and to require companies to notify employees and give a reason before they move their jobs overseas. (S. 1637, Vote 83, 5/5/04)
McCain Supported Waiving and Weakening Buy American Laws. McCain voted to allow the secretary of defense to waive Buy American laws for defense systems and place our defense manufacturing industry in jeopardy. He also voted to exempt defense goods made in six European countries from Buy American requirements that traditionally have required most military equipment and defense systems to be manufactured in the United States. (S. 2400, Vote 135, 6/22/04; S. 1050, Vote 191, 5/21/03)
EVEN McCAIN ADMITS HIS POLICIES ARE WRONG FOR WORKING FAMILIES
McCain Admits His Policies Are Wrong for Working Families. Responding to the AFL-CIO’s efforts to inform union members about his record on working families’ issues, McCain told Fox News that unions were right to oppose his economic policies. “I understand why the AFL-CIO and maybe other unions may oppose my free market, less regulation, right to work,” he said. (John McCain in New Hampshire, Fox News, 3/12/08)
