act now > gulf coast commission on reconstruction equity

Report Card | Report | Press Release

Last updated, January 2, 2007

Gulf Coast Commission on Reconstruction Equity Calls for Fair Contracting and Enforcement of Labor Laws

Seeks Employment That Benefits Local and Minority Businesses and Workers

Interfaith Worker Justice, in partnership with Good Jobs First, convened the Gulf Coast Commission on Reconstruction Equity in early 2006, whose mission was to shine a light on our government’s contracting and rebuilding efforts and call for desperately needed reforms. The Commission:

• Evaluated the Gulf Coast clean-up and rebuilding contracts and promoted ethical contracting standards and incentive packages, including hiring local and minority contractors.
• Promoted strong labor standards, including enforcing prevailing wage, overtime, and health and safety laws, and preventing wage theft and other worker abuse
• Supported public policy options for fast-track job training and apprenticeships, first source hiring and housing for people displaced and disenfranchised by hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma.

On Tuesday, February 28, 2006—six months after Hurricane Katrina and with Mardi Gras being celebrated in the battered city of New Orleans—Interfaith Worker Justice and the Gulf Coast Commission on Reconstruction Equity released a Report Card grading the government’s effort to rebuild the region. The Report Card and accompanying report, "Good Work and Fair Contracts: Making Gulf Coast Reconstruction Work for Local Businesses and Residents" analyzes two main government functions: awarding federal cleanup and rebuilding contracts, and enforcing existing laws, particularly wage and hour rules and worker health and safety regulations.

Companies with histories of contract fraud and violations of labor and environmental laws were awarded contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars, while many employers currently operating in the Gulf are even guilty of stealing workers' labor without pay—wage theft.

NEW–New Orleans 'Dangerously Unprepared' as Hurrisane Season Begins (June 1, 2006)

Bill Quigley, a member of the Gulf Coast Coast Reconstruction Commission and the Board of Interfaith Worker Justice, runs the Loyola Poverty Law Clinic in New Orleans. Bill documents how in the post-Katrina Gulf Coast region, large corporations worked with federal, state and local government to "systematically steal hurricane relief funds to enrich themselves." To learn more, download his report, "Robin Hood in Reverse: The Looting of the Gulf Coast."

You can find all of the latest reconstruction news on the Gulf Coast Reconstruction Watch website, a project of the Institute for Southern Studies.

A Golden Opportunity: Making Gulf Opportunity Zone Bonds Work for Those Most in Need (by Philip Mattera, Research Director of Good Jobs First, Published by Good Jobs First & Interfaith Worker Justice for the Gulf Coast Commission On Reconstruction Equity, April 2006)

Social Justice Groups Call Gulf Opportunity Zone Bonds a "Golden Opportunity" for States to Promote Equity and Accountability in Katrina Reconstruction (press release announcing A Golden Opportunity: Making Gulf Opportunity Zone Bonds Work for Those Most in Need, April 2006)

Profiles of 12 companies that have received large contracts for cleanup and reconstruction work related to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita (Prepared for Interfaith Worker Justice by Philip Mattera, Research Director of Good Jobs First and Director of its Corporate Research Project, March 2006)

Gulf Coast Commission on Reconstruction Equity Report Card (02/28/06) [PDF]

Good Work and Fair Contracts: Making Gulf Coast Reconstruction Work for Local Residents and Businesses full report (02/28/06) [PDF]

Faith-Based Group Calls for New Gulf Coast Recovery Initiative, Grades Federal Contracting Process press release (02/28/06) [PDF]

Religious Leaders and Worker Advocates Investigate Contracting Abuses in the Gulf Coast press release (02/14/06)

Gulf Coast Commission on Reconstruction Equity Members list (released 2/13, updated 01/02/07)

Criteria for Assessing Efficacy of Contracts and Economic Development Subsidies In Gulf Coast Relief, Recovery, and Reconstruction (released 2/13, updated 01/02/07)

Contractors in New Orleans Allowed to Violate Worker Safety Standards (02/13/06)

Labor Standards and Oversight Lacking in Gulf Coast Rebuilding (01/11/06; excerpted from the January 2006 Faith Works)
Billions of dollars continue to be spent in a piece-meal approach to Gulf Coast clean up and reconstruction without any plan for comprehensive rebuilding and oversight. Nearly 250 hurricane-related bills were introduced in Congress while a patchwork of committees and subcommittees of the U.S. House and Senate continue to convene public hearings on various aspects of recovery. [Click here to read more]

Background on Recommendations for an Ethical Reconstruction Commission

Inter-Faith Groups and Survivors of Hurricane Katrina Want Fair Distribution of Jobs for Misplaced and Underemployed Workers from the Region (9/23/05)
The rebuilding of the Gulf Region is an opportunity for those devastated by Hurricane Katrina to rebuild their lives. Unfortunately, those who were left behind in the evacuation of the Gulf Coast Region are being left behind again in the rebuilding effort. [Click here to read more]

Press Release (9/23/05)

Nelson Johnson Statement (9/23/05)

Kim Bobo Statement (9/23/05)–Click here for an audio file of Kim's statement. (MP3, 2.4 MB)