Posts tagged construction
Blue-Collar Jobs Are the New Flashpoint in Data-Center Fight
September 3, 2026 // During construction, data centers need people who can pour concrete, wire electric panels and install equipment like power generators and chillers to keep servers cool. Once the centers are built, they don’t employ as many workers but provide steady streams of tax revenue to fund local schools and other projects. Some locals have opposed the tax breaks that attract the investment, prompting some states to pause or claw them back. The build-out has pushed Meta Platforms and other tech companies to invest in training skilled workers. OpenAI, Alphabet’s Google and Microsoft also have partnerships with unions and have highlighted worker shortages as a key bottleneck for the U.S. in the AI race.
America Invented Elevators. Now We Suck at Building Them.
August 12, 2026 // The second big problem is labor unions. Specifically, the International Union of Elevator Constructors (IUEC), which has a near monopoly on elevator installation and repair work in America. Labor costs are the single biggest part of installing a new elevator, and the IUEC likes it that way. Elevator construction is the highest-paid speciality construction job in the U.S., with hourly wages in excess of $51 in 2024. The union keeps those costs high by strictly controlling how many members it has: In 2021, more than 1,500 people applied to join New York City's local union of the IUEC. Only 115 were allowed to join.
Op-ed– MY TURN: Washington’s one-size labor law doesn’t fit Alaska
July 9, 2026 // Forced arbitration doesn’t resolve disputes. It delays them and adds uncertainty to project timelines that are already difficult to manage. For the major energy and infrastructure projects Alaska is now positioned to advance, that uncertainty isn’t just an inconvenience. It could be catastrophic. America needs bold steps toward a more robust energy future, and shortsighted federal mandates stand in the way of that.
Commentary: Faster Contracts, Bigger Problems
July 7, 2026 // TThe FLCA isn’t just about wages and hours. Some argue that it is also a backdoor for big unions to impose radical left ideology into the workplace. The Wall Street Journal editorial board recently warned, “Unions, allied with Democrats, have long supported a progressive agenda that includes collective bargaining for abortion coverage and transgender healthcare.” Under the FLCA, government arbitrators could force provisions for things like abortion coverage, gender-affirming care, and DEI mandates into a contract and lock them in for two years. Employers and workers alike would have little recourse. Not only is this bill flawed, but it also skipped the normal legislative process.
Opinion: A win for 11.9 million workers
March 1, 2026 // Advocates for classifying more self-employed workers as employees are generally speaking on behalf of people who don’t want their help. Of the estimated 11.9 million Americans for whom independent contract work is their sole or main job, 80 percent prefer it to traditional employment, according to a 2023 survey from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Empowering Idaho’s self-employed workforce with portable benefits
November 15, 2025 // What’s notable is that these workers aren’t asking for government mandates or subsidies. They’re asking for the freedom to participate in modern systems of security without sacrificing the independence they’ve chosen. Portable benefits meet that need — offering stronger financial security without compromising the initiative and determination that define Idaho’s workforce. By removing outdated barriers to voluntary portable benefits, Idaho can prove that independence and security not only coexist — they make each other stronger.
DOL Awards $86M for Skilled Trades Training
October 29, 2025 // Administered by the department’s Employment and Training Administration, these grants will provide outcome-based reimbursements to employers for providing training in high-demand and emerging industries that align with President Trump’s Executive Order 14278, Preparing Americans for High-Paying Skilled Trade Jobs of the Future, and Executive Order 14629, Restoring America’s Maritime Dominance. These priorities are also in line with the goals published in America’s Talent Strategy and America’s AI Action Plan. “President Trump has directed the Labor Department to Make America Skilled Again by providing states with the resources they need to expand on-the-job training opportunities,” said Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer.
The next major film studios could be in Nevada if some unions have their way
October 21, 2025 // “We believe if we can get the public behind us, we’ll be able to get the legislators to understand what a big change this can bring to Southern Nevada,” said Tommy White, business manager-secretary treasurer of Laborers’ International Union of North America, Local 872 in Las Vegas. Trade unions formed a political action committee called Nevada Jobs Now, which has raised over $1 million to be used for digital advertisements, mailers and some TV commercials, White said. The production companies behind the project say it would create 19,000 construction jobs.
Op-ed: Democrats and Republicans agree: The clocks are ticking on union contracts
September 29, 2025 // Despite these clear benefits, the process of reaching a first contract can often drag on for well over a year. Unions are met with delay and silence while trying to negotiate. According to Bloomberg Law, it takes an average of 458 days for workers and employers to reach a contract after a union is formed. And that’s after workers have already won a union election — a process that is too often met with stiff resistance or outright union-busting.
Op-ed: Can Zohran Make NYC a Union Town Again?
September 9, 2025 // The new mayor could host big online unionization trainings with the Emergency Workplace Organizing Committee, as Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio Cortez have already done. If this led even a small fraction of Zohran’s 60,000-plus volunteers and over 6 million social media followers to start organizing their own workplaces—or to take a strategic job to unionize it—this could potentially generate thousands of new unionization campaigns. And were Mamdani to act upon our proposal to launch a broad Movement for an Affordable New York (MANY), then the pool of new potential workplace organizers would grow significantly.