I don’t know if I’d want to be a called a “puddler.” James J. Davis did. He titled his memoir “The Iron Puddler.” Puddling is part of the method for making iron, and Davis wanted it known that he started at the bottom of industry and worked his way up in the world of politics. He spent all of the '20s as Secretary of Labor, serving under three presidents. Davis was then elected to the Senate, representing Pennsylvania.

In 1931, he co-sponsored a bill with Robert L. Bacon to regulate wages on federal construction projects. Low had been pushing for such legislation for years. The country was in the throes of Depression and seeking all types of solutions to the bleak economic situation, so the bill became law.

More than 90 years later, the Davis-Bacon Act is still making headlines. In August, the U.S. Department of Labor finalized a rule to determine the wages paid on federal projects. It’s expected to increase the pay for hundreds of thousands of workers. The move comes at the same time the number of federal projects is booming due to the Inflation Reduction Act.

So is this new rule good or bad? The answer, of course, depends on if you are an employer or an employee.

Sean McGarvey, president of North America’s Building Trades Unions, issued a release applauding the new rule. “Today’s DOL final rule strengthens federal prevailing wage regulations and restores the law to its original intent after it has been watered down over the last 40-plus years. This ruling is a win for all construction workers, both union and nonunion, for good and fair contractors, and for America's taxpayers."    

Ben Brubeck, vice president of regulatory, labor, and state affairs for Associated Builders and Contractors, had the opposite response. 

“This is yet another Biden administration handout to organized labor on the backs of taxpayers, small businesses, and the free market,” Brubeck said in a release.

ABC’s release goes on to say the DOL opted for a system that supports union wages rather than creating a fair method of calculating how much workers are paid. It claims administrators ignored input from ABC members.

A release from the Associated General Contractors of America states the group is cited more than 60 times in the 800-page rule. Still, AGC CEO Stephen E. Sandherr said in the release that the DOL ignored its advice for how to collect data used to set these wages.

“While we look forward to working with the DOL on implementation of the rule, we will continue to evaluate all our options on behalf of our members,” Sandherr said.

While the AGC seemed cautious in its take on the rule, the Sheet Metal and Air Conditioning Contractors' National Association (SMACNA) left no doubt it supports every aspect of the bill, from the way it sets wages to protections for its anti-retaliation protection provisions.

“These expertly crafted and reasoned reforms to the prevailing wage regulations have been a long time in coming and will put union sheet metal contractors on a fair and level playing field with our nonunion competition,"  said SMACNA CEO Aaron Hilger in a release.

So, there you go. The new rules are either great for taxpayers or terrible. They are either expertly crafted or a missed opportunity. It all really depends on if you are paying the wages or being paid the wages.