Posts tagged construction
Millions of men missing from US labor force
February 17, 2025 // Roughly 7 million American men are missing from the U.S. labor force. Vice President of General Economics and Trade at the Cato Institute Scott Lincicome says the trend started in the 1960s, but the vast majority of the men who aren’t working are unemployed for reasons other than labor market issues. However, the economy still needs workers.
Op-Ed: The Case for Gig Worker Benefits
December 19, 2024 // Independent workers miss out on many fringe benefits associated with regular employment, such as disability insurance, life insurance, or health insurance. They are also ineligible for paid family or medical leave. In 2022, the proportion of self-employed adults lacking health insurance (18 percent) was substantially higher than that among all working-age adults (12 percent). These disparities result to some extent from tax policy. For the best part of a century, businesses have provided health insurance, pensions, and other fringe benefits to employees with pretax dollars—perks that self-employed workers did not enjoy.
Oregon’s largest union rejoins labor federation AFL-CIO after two decades
November 29, 2024 // Nationally, SEIU and the Teamsters union split from AFL-CIO in 2005, citing disagreements over how to stem the decline in union membership and the AFL-CIO’s focus on national politics over labor organizing. The Oregon affiliate, SEIU 503, followed its national organization. SEIU members spent the past year, following 2023′s “summer of strikes,” talking about what they wanted out of the labor movement, which has grown and seen workers emboldened by a tight labor market push for higher wages and better benefits. One key theme was that they wanted to be in solidarity with other workers, SEIU 503 Executive Director Melissa Unger said.
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.