AFL-CIO leaders have called on Congress to override an order by President George Bush suspending local prevailing wage standards and affirmative action requirements on federally financed projects in storm-damaged areas along the Gulf Coast, and laid out a program, "America Needs a New Direction," that includes town hall meetings across the country and a mass march in November, as well as lobbying and organizing campaigns. Meanwhile, the Change to Win Coalition, comprised of unions that split from the AFL-CIO in July, announced that it will unveil a worker training program that will call for building training centers to recruit, certify and place thousands of workers from the Gulf Coast in good-paying jobs in construction, hospitality and health care.
See "Wages anger AFL-CIO; coalition to train workers", Barbara Rose, Chicago Tribune, September 22, 2005