Ninth Circuit Upends Idaho’s Anti-Union Law

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

Wednesday, September 16, 2015

By MIKE HEUER
(CN) – Since federal labor law controls what workers do with their pay, Idaho cannot block union contractors from using portions of wages as a subsidy to better compete for work, the Ninth Circuit ruled Wednesday.

Construction unions developed the strategy, known as “job-targeting” or “market-recovery” programs, as the percentage of workers they represent continued to decline.

The program involve unions collects funds from workers it represents and using those funds to subsidize bids by union contractors, “allowing the contractors to lower their labor costs and so more effectively compete with non-union contractors,” a ruling from the Ninth Circuit says today.

When Idaho banned the practice with a law called the Fairness in Contracting Act, unions filed suit for an injunction.

Before the law could take effect in 2011, Chief U.S. District Judge Lynn Winmill ruled that the law conflicts with Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA).

An appellate panel with the Ninth Circuit in Portland, Ore., affirmed today.

In addition to private jobs, Idaho’s law would apply to federal contractor jobs that are governed by the Davis-Bacon Act, a federal statute that determines labor and pay standards on federal projects.

(Read More)

Michael F. Sabitoni: I’m thrilled to see crackdown on bad R.I. businesses

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on
By Michael F. Sabitoni

Posted Sep. 18, 2015 at 2:01 AM

A $730,000 fine! That is what a construction subcontractor hanging drywall recently voluntarily agreed to pay to Rhode Island for misclassification and wage and hour violations on just one public works project.
According to the Sept. 1 news story “R.I. construction firm settles with DLT to pay more than $730,000 in back wages, penalties,” the subcontractor’s lawyer actually commended the owner of the company for coming “to the plate” and working “to make things right” rather than fleeing the country and/or filing bankruptcy. Wow, what an upstanding citizen!

When someone blatantly exploits workers in such an egregious way, we in the trades do not know how anyone could commend the perpetrator in any respect. The fact of the matter is the only reason this contractor is coming “to the plate” is not because of character, it is because of money and/or profits. It goes to show you how lucrative cheating is in the construction industry.

(Read More)

[New York] City Council wants to track bad building contractors to stop construction accidents

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

BY GREG B. SMITH / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Monday, May 11, 2015, 8:51 PM

With construction accidents on the rise, the City Council Monday pressed the Buildings Department to aggressively pursue “bad actor” contractors.

“People who are doing bad things are not being stopped,” Housing & Building Committee Chairman Jumaane Williams (D-Brooklyn) said. “We want to make sure we’re doing a lot more of connecting the dots.”

From 2013 to last year, the number of building permits rose 10% while the number of accidents jumped by 24%, Buildings Commissioner Rick Chandler said at a housing committee hearing.

Decisions of the DOL Administrative Review Board – April 2015

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

DAVIS-BACON ACT; ARB FINDS IN SPLIT DECISION THAT A BALANCING OF BENEFITS’ TEST APPLIES TO DETERMINE WHETHER AN EMPLOYER IS OBLIGATED TO REIMBURSE EMPLOYEES FOR LODGING EXPENSES

DAVIS-BACON ACT; REIMBURSEMENT FOR LODGING EXPENSES SHOULD BE BASED ON ACTUAL EXPENSES WHERE EMPLOYER LEFT IT TO EMPLOYEES TO FEND FOR THEMSELVES; PER DIEM MAY BE CONSIDERED, HOWEVER, WHERE IT WAS A PARTIAL PAYMENT FOR SUBSISTENCE COSTS

(Read More)

(See Full Decision Here)

2015 National Alliance for Fair Contracting (NAFC) Membership

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

May 14, 2015

 

 

Have you renewed your membership this year with NAFC???  Stay up to date on all the recent developments related to fair contracting.  See the link below and support NAFC today!!!

Please make checks payable to:

National Alliance for Fair Contracting or NAFC
905 – 16th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20006

Please be advised that a fee of membership in the National Alliance for Fair Contracting is not deductible for tax purposes under IRC § 6113.

(2015 NAFC Membership Form)

(Visit NAFC’s Website)

U.S. House Overwhelmingly Rejects Attack on Davis-Bacon Act

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on
52 Republicans Express Support for Prevailing Wage Statute 

5/1/2015

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

WASHINGTON, DC (May 1, 2015) — The following statement was released today by North America’s Building Trades Unions, in reaction to the defeat of an amendment to H.R.2029 – The Military Construction and Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 2016 – that would have denied enforcement of the Davis-Bacon Act prevailing wage statute on military construction projects:

“With the support of 52 Republican members, an overwhelming bi-partisan majority in the United States House of Representatives has once again rejected an attempt to eradicate the Davis-Bacon Act, which ensures the protection of local community wage and benefit standards on federally-funded construction projects.  The amendment, sponsored by Representative Steve King (R-IA) was defeated by a decisive vote of 186-235.

G.O.P. Expands Labor Battle to Laws Setting State Construction Wages

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

By MONICA DAVEY | 

A bill that would end prescribed wages on public construction projects in Indiana awaits the signature of Gov. Mike Pence. And Henry Burks, a union electrician who lives near Indianapolis, is bracing.

Mr. Burks, 57, is putting off plans to build a patio at his house. He is delaying painting and landscaping, too. And he said he is worried about how to continue helping his grown children with college costs if his income drops, as he firmly expects.

“This is going to inhibit me from taking care of my family,” Mr. Burks, who makes about $60,000 a year, said the other day as he took a break from installing conduit inside a corn processing plant in Lafayette. “Our wages will go down. The contractors we work for won’t get as many jobs. Maybe I’ll have to find work outside of Indiana.”

Prevailing wage law good for Wisconsin

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

Steve Lyons, Wisconsin Contractor Coalition
9 a.m. CDT April 25, 2015

 

Currently there is an effort to repeal or substantially minimize Wisconsin’s prevailing wage law. This would hurt Wisconsin businesses, its skilled labor force and our economy.

Wisconsin’s prevailing wage regulations require that construction workers on public works be paid a specified combined wage and benefit package, broken down by trade and location. The rates are set based on the wages and benefits paid on projects similar to public works in the local area.

This public procurement regulation has recently raised two questions: Should the government interfere with the “free market?” Should construction on public works have a special minimum wage regulation?

Government is the single largest purchaser of local construction services. In 2012, in Wisconsin, 20 percent of all construction purchases were public works.

(Read More)

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Officials warn of repeal ramifications

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

By Karen Caffarini and Carrie Napoleon Post-Tribune
April, 17, 2015, 5:04 PM

 

Local elected and union officials and contractors are expressing concern about the area’s economy, quality of life for its residents and the safety of those using public roads and buildings if Gov. Mike Pence signs into law a bill repealing the common construction wage as expected.

The bill is on its way to Pence, who has strongly pushed for the measure and has touted the bill on social media.

Pence and other repeal supporters say the bill would save as much as 20 percent from the cost of public building projects by allowing more contractors to pay wages below union scale. Opponents dispute such savings will occur and argue the change will open the door for low-paying, out-of-state contractors.

3d_money_construction_dreamstime_xxl_21903206

Study: Prevailing Wage Adds 17.5K Jobs to California Economy

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

by Valerie Gotten on Tue, 14 Apr 2015

SACRAMENTO, Calif. /California Newswire/ – Prevailing Wage policies add 17,500 jobs and $1.4 billion in output across California’s economy, according to a new study released today by Smart Cities Prevail – a leading construction industry education and research organization.

Titled, Building the Golden State – The Economic Impacts of California’s Prevailing Wage Policy, the first-of-its-kind report was co-authored by Colorado State University-Pueblo Economist Dr. Kevin Duncan and Smart Cities Prevail Researcher Alex Lantsberg. The study was conducted using IMPLAN software (the industry standard for analyzing the effects of government policy choices on the economy) to model the impact of eliminating California’s prevailing wage standards.