Washington, D.C. — Today, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) joined with the U.S. Department of Transportation and the General Services Administration to announce the relaunch of the Mega Construction Project Program to foster pay equity and workforce diversity among contractors and subcontractors working on large federal construction projects. The launch will support extensive front-end compliance assistance on targeted projects to help ensure that construction projects funded through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, Inflation Reduction Act, and CHIPs and Science Act provide equal access and pay for women, people of color, disabled workers, LGBTQI+ workers, and veterans. President Joe Biden has also requested $40 million in his fiscal year 2024 budget to increase funding for the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs—the DOL office that will oversee the program. Following the announcement, Karla Walter, senior director for Employment Policy at the Center for American Progress, issued the following statement:
Despite making up nearly half of the American workforce, women are substantially underrepresented in the construction industry. For too long, discrimination pushed talented women out of the field and deterred new generations of women from entering the industry. Relaunching the Mega Construction Project Program on Equal Pay Day signals to women—specifically women of color, as well as disabled and LGBTQI+ women—that the Biden administration will fight to ensure that the president’s signature economic investments benefit workers from all walks of life and help ensure that a new generation of diverse workers will benefit from stability across the construction industry.
Related resources:
For more information or to speak to an expert, contact Julia Cusick at [email protected].