Benefits of Lorain High School PLA start with bids 6% lower than estimates

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

You may recall last month’s ACT Ohio progress report where I detailed how the North Central Building Trades Council (“NCBT”), working in partnership with ACT Ohio, initiated suit to enforce the Project Labor Agreement on the $62 million Lorain High School project.

A favorable ruling by the judge overseeing the case on our request for injunctive relief led to positive negotiations with the Attorney General’s Office and significant discussion with the Kasich Administration. The result was a settlement agreement that allowed the PLA to stand for the project.

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OSHA Head: Some Valid Whistleblower Claims Tossed

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The head of the agency that runs the U.S. Department of Labor’s whistleblower program said strict time frames dictated by an older whistleblower law lead the agency to dismiss more than 200 cases a year, some of which have merit.

Assistant secretary for labor for occupational safety and health David Michaels asked lawmakers Tuesday to pass legislation giving some prospective whistleblowers more than 30 days to file complaints.

“The statute of limitations is a very serious problem,” said Mr. Michaels in a Tuesday hearing by a subcommittee of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.

“There are [more than] 200 cases a year which we dismiss simply because they’re untimely. Some of them involve what we think are very meritorious cases of workers who file 32, 34, 35 days after the event. That simply isn’t fair,” he said

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Demolition Company Operators Sentenced In Manhattan Federal Court For Scheme To Underpay Employees In Violation Of Federal Prevailing Wage Law

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Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that JOVER NARANJO, the owner and president of Enviro & Demo Masters, Inc. (“Enviro”), and LUPERIO NARANJO, SR., a foreman for Enviro, were sentenced today in Manhattan federal court to six and four years in prison, respectively, for perpetrating a scheme to underpay employees in violation of the federal prevailing wage law and for tampering with witnesses and using other people’s identities to further this scheme. Both defendants were convicted in November 2013 after a two-week trial before U.S. District Judge Jed S. Rakoff, who imposed today’s sentences.

 

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said: “Today’s sentences ensure Jover Naranjo and Luperio Naranjo, Sr., will pay a steep price for underpaying their staff, abusing federal funds, and then lying to cover it all up – loss of their liberty.”

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$150M available to states to implement or expand job-driven training programs for laid-off workers

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WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced the availability of up to $150 million in funding through a new Job-Driven National Emergency Grant program to train workers who have lost their jobs through no fault of their own for jobs in high-demand industries.

These investments will help create or expand employer partnerships that provide opportunities for on-the-job training, Registered Apprenticeships or other occupational training that results in an industry-recognized credential. Funding will also be used to provide services, such as coaching, counseling and direct job placement, that help connect laid-off workers, including the long-term unemployed, with available jobs. Focusing funding on proven, job-driven training strategies is a key component of the Obama administration’s agenda to connect ready-to-work Americans with ready-to-be-filled jobs.

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Manafort fined $2.4M for minority-contractor breach

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Plainville contractor Manafort Brothers Inc. will pay a $2.4 million federal fine and undergo independent monitoring for lying about its use of minority contractors on a state highway project, authorities say.

The Connecticut U.S. Attorney’s office and other state and federal investigators announced Monday Manafort’s agreement to settle its role in a criminal and civil probe into the corporation’s misconduct surrounding the relocation of Route 72 in Bristol, work that dated to April 2007.

According to investigators, Manafort admitted lying to the state Transportation Department about its use of socially and economically disadvantaged contractors for its $39.7 million roadwork contract.

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Harkin Statement on Senate Approval of David Weil to Serve as Administrator of the Wage and Hour Division at the Department of Labor

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WASHINGTON, D.C.-Today, Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, issued the following statement after the Senate approved David Weil to serve as the Administrator of the Wage and Hour Division at the U.S. Department of Labor. Weil was approved by the Senate HELP Committee in January 2014.
“The Wage and Hour Division is a relatively unknown agency, but it plays a huge role in how Americans experience their day-to-day working lives.  It ensures that people are paid fairly, it protects vulnerable children from abusive child labor, and it ensures that workers can spend time with their families when a new baby arrives or a health crisis is looming.  I can think of no one better to lead the Division than Dr. David Weil,” Harkin said.

Obama Seeks Wage Transparency With Executive Orders

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President Barack Obama will commemorate Equal Pay Day on Tuesday by signing two executive orders aimed at achieving pay equity among federal contractors, which make up an estimated one-quarter of the U.S. workforce.

The first executive order will prevent federal contractors from retaliating against employees who discuss how much money they make, as many employers have contracts prohibiting workers from disclosing information about their salaries, White House officials said during a conference call with reporters on Monday. The second executive order involves requiring federal contractors to disclose compensation data to the Department of Labor to increase transparency on payment for women and minorities, Betsey Stevenson, a member of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, said during the call.

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Maryland becomes second state to set minimum wage to $10.10/hour

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Following Connecticut’s lead, Maryland became the second state to raise its minimum wage to $10.10 an hour Monday, the mark set by President Obama in his push to persuade Congress to set that standard nationally.

By an 87-47 vote, Maryland lawmakers approved a wage hike from the federally-mandated $7.25 an hour to $10.10 an hour by July 2018 – two years later than Gov. Martin O’Malley advocated. The hike will be achieved in five incremental raises, starting with a jump to $8 an hour on Jan. 1, 2015. Counties can vote to set their own minimum wage even higher.

In a statement, O’Malley congratulated lawmakers “for giving so many Maryland families the raise they deserve.” It had been a top legislative priority for the Governor in his final term.

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Construction poised to be CT’s growth industry

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Construction will lead Connecticut’s industries in job growth over the next 10 years, economists and labor analysts say.

The industry hit hardest by the Great Recession is poised for a strong rebound this year and beyond as public projects move forward and the backlog of private projects built up during the economic downturn starts to clear, said Andrew Condon, director of the state Department of Labor office of research.

“It is coming back, but it is coming back from a very big fall,” Condon said. “You have to put that in context because construction was coming from a very low place.”

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NYC: Firms building city-backed affordable housing repeatedly caught cheating workers out of wages

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Last week, Mayor de Blasio promised to “lift up working families” with soon-to-be built affordable apartments the city is sponsoring on a vacant lot in Brownsville, Brooklyn.

 But at an affordable housing project a few blocks away, builder MDG Design and subcontractor F. Rizos, settled federal wage-cheating charges in April 2013 by agreeing to pay $960,000 in back wages.

Just one month later, MDG was hit with more wage-cheating charges on another city project, this time for $4.5 million in back wages, a city record.

Yet MDG was chosen by the former Bloomberg administration that very month to turn a city-owned warehouse in Williamsburg into 55 affordable apartments and stands to build hundreds more in the coming years.

Many taxpayer-funded developments in New York City require contractors and their subcontractors to pay “prevailing wages.” Some contractors jump through hoops to avoid this.

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