Posts tagged construction
A Fresh Look at the Independent Workforce with New BLS Data
November 27, 2024 // New BLS data reveal the size and growth of the independent workforce, preferences for independent work over W-2 employment, and key demographic and industry trends
‘That’s our job’: Union workers claim they were left out of Portsmouth water plant project
October 13, 2024 // Cincinnati-based Dugan and Meyers won the contract and work began last August. A short distance away,Laborers Local 83 of Portsmouth and the International Association of Iron Workers from Ashland, Kentucky are holding an informational picket. "Our problem right now is with the city," Randy McGuire of the Ohio Laborers District Council said. "First of all, this is city tax dollars that we pay. The city manager says he just wants his water treatment plant built. Then why is he using an out-of-area contractor? Why not use local people who that pay the taxes?"
Should Large Housing, Retail Developments Built in OC Require Local Union Labor?
October 3, 2024 // The delay in the vote came after representatives from unions like the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 441 raised concerns that developers have not reached an agreement with the LA/OC Building Trades Union.
Get Ready for NLRB Rule Making It Harder to Decertify Unions: 5 Key Steps for Employers
September 27, 2024 // The Board’s final amendment reinstates its 2001 decision in Staunton Fuel, establishing a low threshold for demonstrating majority union employee support in the construction industry. Under Staunton Fuel, a union can become a duly authorized representative under section 9(a) of the NLRA based solely on collective bargaining language – that the impacted employees may never see – negotiated under Section 8(f) (often referred to as a “pre-hire agreement”). Under section 8(f), construction industry employers may choose to become “union” without any showing of employee support. By readopting this standard, the Board concludes that the mere presence of language suggesting that the union obtained recognition in the 8(f) agreement is enough to confer majority status under Section 9(a).
The real impact of the Teamsters’ non-endorsement
September 20, 2024 // “Union endorsements are valuable because they usually come with access to resources, particularly volunteers to knock on doors and work phone banks,” Squire said. “Leadership may be able to persuade some members to vote the way they would like, but the real value is in campaign assistance.” Besides the setback of having fewer volunteers, there’s also some possibility that the non-endorsement could sway non-union voters sympathetic to labor issues.
Op-Ed: Greszler: Harris, Walz policy records undermine pro-worker rhetoric
August 23, 2024 // the Biden-Harris Administration is also picking winners and losers among blue-collar workers. Its regulations governing wages and labor agreements on government contracts are disastrous. They almost exclude non-union workers from federal contract jobs, including 89% of construction workers who aren’t unionized; force many workers who perform federal contract jobs into unions, including requiring them to pay into union pensions they’ll never receive. Not only that, but despite the Biden-Harris Administration’s efforts to empower and unionize more workers, the unionization rate hit a new record low of 10% in 2023 (6% among the private sector), and the gap between union and non-union wages also hit a record low. That’s because union wages increased 6.4 percentage points less than non-union wages between 2019 and 2023. For Walz’s part, he’s signed a slew of labor laws ostensibly aimed at helping workers, but by driving up the costs and legal liabilities of employing people in Minnesota, they have instead hamstrung job growth in the state.
Freelancers sue over new rules on independent contractors
July 8, 2024 // “It really coerces a lot of companies to try to put people, put workers in the employee box just so that they can be sure that they have their bases covered,” says Wen Fa, an attorney and vice president of legal affairs at the Beacon Center of Tennessee, a nonprofit think tank that advocates for individual rights and free market public policies. “Ultimately, what we’re fighting for is the right to freelance.” Fa is representing Margaret Littman and Jennifer Chesak — Nashville-based freelance writers and authors whose bylines collectively include The Washington Post, Men’s Health, National Geographic, and Condé Nast Traveler.
Biden Administration Unveils Historic Rules for High-Paying Clean Energy Jobs The White House
June 19, 2024 // Clean energy projects that meet the requirements of these final rules will receive a fivefold increase for clean energy tax credits for deployment of wind, solar, nuclear, hydrogen, and other clean energy technologies, as well as for projects receiving allocations under the Section 48C Advanced Energy Projects credit., providing a significant incentive for project developers to pay prevailing wages to workers for construction, alteration, and repair of clean energy projects and to hire registered apprentices to earn while they learn by working on those projects. Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen and Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su also published a blog highlighting the use of Project Labor Agreements as a best practice for large construction projects and a tool to help project developers comply with the prevailing wage and apprenticeship requirements. Project Labor Agreements, or pre-hire collective bargaining agreements that set the terms and conditions for employment on a construction project, help workers and developers alike by providing strong worker and wage protections while ensuring a reliable supply of skilled workers to help deliver projects on time and on budget.
Strike Halts Work At Many SE Wisconsin Construction Sites
June 10, 2024 // Roughly 800 members of the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 139 went on strike last Saturday for better pay. That’s caused work stoppages at construction sites in Milwaukee, Waukesha, Racine, Kenosha, Washington and Ozaukee counties. Some of the job sites where work came to a standstill include a parking garage near Froedtert Hospital, apartments on the east side of Milwaukee, the Milwaukee County Human Services building and a new recreation center at Marquette university, union officials said.
Mike Rowe calls Gen Z the next ‘toolbelt generation’ amid increasing vocational enrollment
April 22, 2024 // Rowe doubled down on the demand for electricians, pipe fitters and plumbers, among others, despite emerging technologies. "Look, plumbers are not going to be outsourced," he added. "Electricians, steam fitters, pipe fitters, the people my foundation tries to assist — they have a level of job security that the article in the Journal is referencing, and it's a big deal, because those jobs have always been here for the last 20 years, as long as I've been doing this, they've been open, and it's starting to tip where we're literally turning a tanker around with regard to perceptions."