By JoAnne Powers

New York Mayor Bloomberg has asked the federal government to pay prevailing union wages for rebuilding work after Hurricane Katrina. The Bush administration suspended the Davis Bacon Act in the Gulf Coast following the hurricane. Mayoral spokesman Jordan Barowitz says the cleanup after the September 11th attacks should be a model:

[Barowitz] "We paid our workers a prevailing wage that, in hindsight, was an excellent decision. Using skilled labor we were able to clean the Trade Center site a year ahead of schedule. It was 1.4 billion dollars under budget and, most importantly, there were no fatalities and no serious injuries despite working in unbelievably dangerous conditions."

Edward Malloy, President of the Building and Construction Trades Council of Greater New York:

[Malloy] "We did it because we had skilled craftspeople and we had reputable contractors with experience to do that type of work, and with the massive project on the Gulf Coast, we think that President Bush is being short-sighted by deleting Davis-Bacon."

Malloy says that Bush should consider New York's model:

[Malloy] "He'll get quality workers, jobs will get done on time, and he's gonna get a better product."