Posts tagged construction workers
Commentary: Percentage of Construction Industry Workers in a Union Continues to Decline
April 6, 2024 // Third, construction employers that avoid all unionized projects might leave money on the table. For example, President Joe Biden issued a rule that will require large-scale federal construction projects to be covered by project labor agreements (PLAs) between contractors and unions. Some states have also passed legislation requiring or strongly preferring PLAs for construction projects in developing industries, such as wind power and legalized cannabis. It therefore may make sense to enter into PLAs for certain projects. (Although a PLA usually should only apply to a specific project, employers need to ensure the PLA does not arguably create a long-term relationship with a union.) The rate of unionized construction employees may continue to slowly decline, but union interaction will remain a regular part of the industry. Employers should remain vigilant in their awareness of the NLRA, union organizing, and PLA opportunities, among other legal issues.
New Law Redefines Employees and Contractors
March 7, 2024 // Data suggest worker misclassification may be the exception rather than the rule in many industries. Surveys consistently show that most independent contractors prefer their independence. Around 79% of them prefer their arrangement over a traditional job, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, while fewer than one in 10 contractors want a traditional work arrangement. "Since a lot of older Americans do seek out these flexible forms of work as they near retirement — or after — this rule will likely lead to reduced work opportunities for them." Implemented in 2020 when acting U.S. Labor Secretary Su was California's labor commissioner, California's Assembly Bill 5, or AB5, similarly set out to protect workers by getting more people on the payrolls. But many Californians working as legitimate contractors suddenly lost income after businesses and nonprofits stopped working with them as freelancers and didn't hire them as employees.
Commentary: Biden’s Independent-Contracting Rule Destroys Worker Independence
January 16, 2024 // A recent regulatory change by the Biden administration is so poorly designed, there’s no telling exactly how many workers will be hurt.
Micron Seals Labor Deal for $15 Billion Plant, Boosting Bid for US Funds
December 11, 2023 // Micron Technology Inc. has struck a union deal for construction of a $15 billion chipmaking facility, potentially giving the company an advantage in the fierce competition for federal funds. The accord for the Boise, Idaho, plant is a rare example of an organized labor agreement in the country’s semiconductor industry, which Washington is trying to rebuild with subsidies worth $100 billion under last year’s Chips Act.
In Philly, VP Harris details new labor rules for federal construction projects
August 9, 2023 // Vice President Kamala Harris, on Tuesday, visited Philadelphia to announce changes to labor rules that could give higher wages to construction workers on federal projects. At the headquarters of labor union DC 21, in Northeast Philly, Harris detailed the Labor Department's first update in decades to the Davis-Bacon Act of 1931, a law that requires the payment of prevailing local wages on public works.
Will offshore wind bring “good-paying, union jobs”? Texas workers aren’t so sure
October 25, 2022 // The Biden administration is gearing up to turn the Gulf of Mexico, long a hub for offshore oil and gas drilling, into a new city of skyscraping offshore wind turbines. Opening up the Gulf to wind development is part of President Joe Biden's goal to employ "tens of thousands of workers" to establish 30 gigawatts of offshore wind by 2030. But in Texas, workers are worried that the new industry will continue the low-wage, unsafe, exploitative conditions that pervade the construction and offshore oil industries there. For the past year, a coalition of Texas labor unions, along with their allies in Congress and in the environmental movement, have been lobbying the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, or BOEM, to make sure that doesn't happen.
Employee Rights Act Would Protect Hardworking Latinos & Expand Freedom for All American Workers
May 9, 2022 // The LIBRE Initiative supports the ERA and its efforts at protecting American workers from anti-choice legislation like the PRO Act and ensuring that they have the flexibility to succeed in today’s rapidly evolving economy.
Editorial: Biden’s favors to unions keep costing taxpayers
March 16, 2022 // Pitching the executive order as a cost saver is disingenuous, as collective bargaining inherently drives up costs. It’s the same faulty logic used to defend prevailing wage laws that force union-level pay and benefits on publicly funded construction projects.
Biden’s Proposed Davis-Bacon Act Reforms Are More Pork for Special Interests
March 11, 2022 // “While ABC is still reviewing the 432-page rule, it appears the DOL missed an opportunity for meaningful Davis-Bacon reform. For example, the proposed rule reverts back to 1983 regulations that do not result in actual prevailing rates, as required by statute. Reversing course by 40 years is not modernization. Instead, it is even worse public policy catering to special interests embedded in the Biden administration that benefit from the broken status quo.