Pressured by members of both parties, President Bush agreed Wednesday to lift an order that had allowed federal contractors on Hurricane Katrina reconstruction projects to pay workers less than the local prevailing wage.
His decision elated Democrats, labor unions and moderate House Republicans in districts where organized labor is active.
The prevailing wage is usually close to the wage level set in local union contracts. Critics had said that waiving the prevailing-wage requirement allowed employers to pay "poverty wages."
The White House did not announce the action. Instead, Andrew H. Card Jr., the White House chief of staff, revealed Bush's decision to several House Republicans during a meeting at the executive mansion, and the lawmakers happily disclosed the news afterward on Capitol Hill.
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