The long-delayed plan for reforming federal contracting rules-known to critics in industry as "blacklisting regulations"-has advanced another step.
The proposed reforms to federal purchasing rules appeared in today's Federal Register. That brings them one step closer to implementation, two and a half years after they were first proposed by Vice President Al Gore in an address to an AFL-CIO executive board meeting.
Labor leaders have long supported the proposal, arguing that it fairly targets companies with poor labor-relations records. But as expected, the announcement provoked an immediate counterattack from business groups.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, in a release, promised "an all-out fight" to defeat what Thomas J. Donohue, the group's president, called "a political payoff to big labor." The release pointedly notes that the Chamber has successfully sued to stop federal initiatives it disliked, including striker-replacement legislation, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's "Cooperative Compliance Program" and federal clean-air regulations implemented by the Environmental Protection Agency.
In a separate statement, the Business Roundtable (BRT) also announced its "strong opposition" to the proposal. Both the Chamber and BRT are longstanding members of the National Alliance Against Blacklisting, a coalition has fought the plan ever since it was first suggested.
The proposed regulations in the Federal Register today would change Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 9, including new "responsibility criteria"-such as a company's labor-relations record-that must be used when agencies consider potential contractors. The proposal would also amend FAR Part 31 to prevent the reimbursement of companies for costs they incur defending themselves from unfair labor practice complaints or for actions that oppose union organizing efforts.
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