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Labor woes must be addressed to solve California’s housing crisis (CA)

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

Scott Littlehale, Guest Columnist
Published 3:47 p.m. PT – March 5, 2019

If you are concerned about California’s housing affordability crisis, remember these three numbers – 15, 33, and 200,000.

Fifteen is the percentage of total residential project costs consumed by construction labor. The other 85% is the stuff really driving up the cost of your homeland acquisition: Zoning, permitting, environmental compliance and related costs.

Thirty-three (percent) is how much less, on average, residential construction workers earn compared to construction workers who build our commercial facilities and public works.

Put in perspective: The last time California produced housing quantities similar to what Governor Newsom is calling for today – the 1970s – there was no wage gap between residential and non-residential construction work.

Two hundred thousand is the minimum number of new residential construction workers that California needs – under current levels of labor productivity – in order to build enough new housing units to keep our affordability crisis from getting worse.

Obviously, if you want to build more housing units, the last number is the most concerning. Construction is one of the nation’s most dangerous occupations. The industry’s jobs are amongst the most economically volatile – often the first to go during cyclical downturns and recession. Employers must be willing to offset these risks with higher compensation to attract new workers.

But most are not.

Recent research shows that the cost of living adjusted compensation for California construction workers ranks now 46th among US states. One in six construction workers faces some form of wage theft. Residential construction workers earn 24% less per year than other jobs on average, and more than half do not get health insurance at work.

Complicating matters for the housing industry is that there are no longer any shortcuts available to meet its labor force needs. The nation is near full employment, net immigration flows have been negative since 2005 and California’s population of young men without a college degree is shrinking.

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Bill aims to better classify California construction workers (CA)

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

AUTHOR – Kim Slowey
PUBLISHED – April 2, 2019

Dive Brief:

  • California legislators are considering a new test for contractors to use when deciding if construction workers qualify as independent contractors, according to the San Francisco Chronicle, making the misclassification of workers more difficult.
  • The proposed state law would require employers to use the “ABC” method of determining whether a worker is a legitimate independent contractor or an employee. Under ABC, which was upheld by the California Supreme Court in April 2018, a worker can be classified as an independent contractor if he or she is free from the control and direction of the employer as it relates to the performance of the work; performs work that is normally outside the scope of work of the hiring contractor; and is usually engaged in the same type of work as part of the business. Through the legislation, legislators are seeking to codify the court’s decision.
  • A University of California Berkeley Labor Center study found that construction workers were one of three occupations in California routinely misclassified and not paid employee benefits due to them. Independent contractors, according to UC Berkeley, make up about 26% of the state’s construction workforce.

Dive Insight: 

Three other states – New Jersey, Massachusetts and Connecticut – also use the ABC test in their wage and hour laws, according to a report from the National Employment Law Project, and about half of all states apply it in some form in their unemployment laws. Ten states use it in relation to their labor laws for high-risk sectors like construction.
There are other tests contractors can use to determine whether a worker is an independent contractor, including one from the Internal Revenue Service that considers how the worker is paid, if the relationship with the hiring business is permanent, and whether the individual will achieve a profit or loss as part of his or her operations, among other factors.  
There are still some contractors, however, that leapfrog over the responsibility to classify workers correctly. They often count on not having to pay for things like workers’ compensation coverage, health insurance, federal and payroll taxes, figuring those savings into their bids.

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‘Put The Exploiters In Jail’: Wage Theft Bill Cracks Down On Employers (CO)

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

By Shaun Boyd
April 2, 2019 at 11:59 pm

DENVER (CBS4) – State lawmakers want to crack down on bosses who don’t pay up. Wage theft is a big problem in Colorado.

The Colorado Fiscal Institute says more than 500,000 Colorado workers are victims of wage theft each year, losing an estimated $750 million. And right now, there’s little prosecutors can do about it.

Under current state law, wage theft is a misdemeanor, no matter if it’s $100 or $100,000. Representatives Jonathan Singer and Meg Froelich plan to change that.

“When a hard day’s work is put in, an honest day’s pay is deserved,” said Singer.

He and Froelich have introduced a bill that would align wage theft with other thefts. If it’s over $2,000, it would be a felony.

“Wage theft is perpetrated against the most vulnerable workers,” said Froelich.

It is especially common in the construction and food service industries. Jim Gleason, a carpenter, says he was a victim.

“We were getting paid every week until about the 4th or 5th week and we were informed that there wasn’t enough money to make payroll so if we didn’t mind waiting a week, we’d pay for two weeks the next week,” he said. “Well, the next week came and there was no check. It’s time we put the exploiters in jail and got the penalties that they deserve and give the wages to the people who deserve them.”

The Colorado District Attorney’s Council agrees.

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Colorado bill set to make wage theft a felony (CO)

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

AUTHOR- Kim Slowey
PUBLISHED – April 8, 2019

Dive Brief:

  • The Colorado General Assembly’s House Judiciary Committee approved a proposed wage theft bill that would make intentional underpayment of certain wages a criminal offense. 
  • In Colorado it is a misdemeanor to willfully short employees on their paychecks, but the new measure would make it a felony theft to intentionally underpay them by $2,000 or more. The bill includes migratory and foreign workers under the definition of employee.
  • One of the bill’s stated intentions is to provide an additional vehicle for state law enforcement to fight labor trafficking by recognizing labor as a thing of value that is subject to theft. According to the General Assembly, labor trafficking each year costs Colorado workers hundreds of millions of dollars and the loss of tens of millions of dollars to the state.  

Dive Insight: According to the Colorado Fiscal Institute, more than 500,0000 workers in the state – many of them in the construction industry – lose $750 million a year because of wage theft. The institute’s analysis shows that the most common methods employers use to short employees on their pay are:

  • Nonpayment, which includes late payments and not paying employees what they’ve earned.
  • Underpayment.
  • Misclassification of employees as independent contractors in order to avoid having to pay benefits.  
  • Unauthorized payroll deductions for expenses like transportation, materials and tools.

There has been a push by some states and cities to address wage theft and misclassification of workers as independent contractors. In California, lawmakers are considering codifying a state Supreme Court ruling that sets the parameters of which workers qualify as independent contractors. The “ABC” test asks whether the person claiming to be an independent contractor is free from the control and direction of the employer; performs work that the hiring employer doesn’t typically do; and engages in the work as part of a business.

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Wage theft bill heads to governor’s desk (ID)

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

NATHAN BROWN
3-13-2019

A bill to give employees a year rather than six months to file claims for partial payment of wages is headed to the governor’s desk.

The bill, which was sponsored by House Minority Leader Rep. Mat Erpelding, D-Boise, passed the Senate unanimously Tuesday. It had already passed the House, also without opposition.

Sen. Grant Burgoyne, D-Boise, who sponsored the bill in that chamber, said people often discover they were partially shorted on pay when filing their taxes. With the current statute of limitations, that means if they file a complaint with the Department of Labor they can only recover part of the year’s pay they may be owed.

“I believe this legislation corrects a problem that affects too many wage earners, and there is no known opposition to this bill,” Burgoyne said.

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Guest opinion: Idahoans should get what they’re paid for (ID)

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

Rep. Mat Erpelding and Jason Hudson
3-5-2019

Working Idahoans believe in receiving a fair day’s wage for a fair day’s work. If you agree to do a job for an agreed upon wage, that money should show up in your paycheck. Unfortunately, it doesn’t always work that way. For reasons innocent and sinister, hundreds of (if not more) Idahoans get shorted every year. As leaders who represent hard-working Idahoans, we don’t think that’s right. For the first time in a long time, your elected leaders can do something about it.

Every year, hundreds of working Idahoans file “wage theft” claims with the state Department of Labor. They seek to recover wages they were promised but never paid. This is their right under state law. The problem is, they can only recover unpaid wages for six months. If they’ve been shorted on payday for a full year, too bad.

House Bill 113 would allow workers to recover up to one-year of the money they worked for, earned, but were never paid. It’s a modest step toward ensuring an honest payday for working Idahoans. The legislation passed through the House unanimously and is heading to the Senate floor. We are hopeful our elected Senators vote to support our hardworking men and women who deserve – and could use – every cent they’ve worked for.

Chances are you know someone who has gotten shorted in their pay envelope. The workers affected by wage theft run the full spectrum of trades and professions – from constructions workers, to retail employees, food service and the healthcare industry. Most victims are blue collar workers who lose hundreds and even thousands of dollars over the course of a year. Those dollars add up quickly for someone who is trying to support a family, put food on the table and make rent every month. Giving those people the tools to recover the wages they’ve earned is not just the fair thing to do, it’s vital to their well-being and the security of their families.

…

Rep. Mat Erpelding is the House Democratic Leader and Jason Hudson works with the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations

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Illinois lawmakers again vote to criminalize local right-to-work measures (IL)

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

POSTED 12:27 PM, MARCH 14, 2019
BY WQAD DIGITAL TEAM

SPRINGFIELD (Illinois News Network) – Illinois lawmakers have resurrected and are moving ahead with legislation that would make creating local right-to-work zones at the municipal level a criminal offense.

While reporters in the Capitol building were peppering Gov. J.B. Pritzker with questions about his newly-unveiled progressive tax rates, state Senators voted to send a measure to the House that would make it illegal for local governments to create right-to-work zones in their jurisdictions. Such zones allow employees to refuse union membership and still be employed.

Sponsor Ram Villivalam, D-Chicago, said the bill will support economic development, protect the quality of essential services and confirm a commitment to a highly-trained workforce.

“Local right-to-work zones have no place in the state of Illinois,” he said. “The regulation of collective bargaining should be the responsibility of state government.”

Some Republicans objected to the bill. They said the state shouldn’t take away local control.

“We ought to allow communities to make their own decision,” said state Sen. Jim Oberweis, R-Sugar Grove.

The bill, which is similar to one Gov. Bruce Rauner vetoed in 2017, says any local official who supports a right-to-work zone will be charged with a Class A misdemeanor. That carries a sentence of up to a year in jail and a fine of up to $5,000.

The bill passed with bipartisan support and now sits in the House to be heard.

It would only affect private-sector workers because a U.S. Supreme Court decision last summer prohibited public workers from being required to pay into a union as a condition of employment.

(See Article)

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Your Turn: Project labor agreement needed in Worcester Red Sox deal (MA)

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

By Frank Callahan
March 14, 2019

The city of Worcester, the Worcester Red Sox and Madison Downtown Holdings, a private developer, are building a $240-million downtown project that includes a new, $90-million, 10,000-seat stadium for the Boston Red Sox Triple-A Minor League affiliate team. Most see this as good news for the community. And it can be if the stakeholders embrace the use of a project labor agreement to ensure safety, equity and fairness for the workers who build the stadium.

Unfortunately, some contractor lobbying groups who advocate to pay workers lower wages are engaged in a cynical campaign aimed at ensuring the prosperity generated by this large proposal isn’t shared with the actual workers doing the work. They also don’t care if the project is done in the safest way possible, or with the best-trained workers possible.

Every fan sitting in that stadium over the decades that will follow its opening deserves to know that Worcester built its stadium in the safest way possible with the best-trained workforce. That’s just one reason why the union building trades are speaking up for a project labor agreement to ensure the safety of workers and the public in Worcester.

Project labor agreements, also called community workforce agreements or project stabilization agreements, emerged in the early 20th century as basic pre-hire agreements between the owner or contractor and the local building trades unions.

By the 1980s, these agreements were common in both the public and private sectors. Modern PLAs are negotiated on a case-by-case basis, and include sophisticated provisions that keep jobs running smoothly, promote efficiencies, and nurture the development of a skilled workforce. Most importantly, they prevent worker exploitation, wage theft and other illegal or unsafe acts that can harm local workers on a non-PLA job site.

For years, wealthy special interests have tried to undermine workers’ rights and advance narratives around the concepts of unions being outdated and unneeded. Despite the anti-worker spin promoted by organizations like the Merit Construction Alliance, public support for unions is growing. Meanwhile, union membership and the need for PLAs are also both on the rise in Massachusetts.

The building trade unions have been creating economic prosperity and a pathway to the middle class for workers throughout Central Massachusetts for generations. Right now, many Worcester area families could benefit from a good, union job in the construction industry.

Sadly, efforts are afoot in Worcester to lower safety, wage and training standards for working people on the new stadium project, putting Worcester workers at risk of losing life or limb, and in the position of earning less for the same work that is done elsewhere in the state. That simply would not be fair.

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Worker claims employer had him arrested based on his reporting of safety concerns (MA)

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

AUTHOR – Kim Slowey
PUBLISHED – March 11, 2019


Dive Brief:

  • The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) filed suit against a Boston-based contractor, alleging that the company took retaliatory measures against one of its employees – facilitating his U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrest – after he reported a workplace injury, an event that kicked off an OSHA investigation. 
  • According to the lawsuit, José Martin Paz Flores (Paz) was working as a drywall taper for Tara Construction when he fell from a ladder and broke his leg. Based on Paz’s report to a foreman and a referral from the local fire department that day, OSHA began an investigation into safety conditions at the jobsite.
  • The DOL alleges that Tara CEO Pedro Pirez subsequently contacted law enforcement with concerns about Paz’s identity and facilitated Paz’s arrest outside of Tara’s offices, which resulted in his detention by ICE for days. 

Dive Insight:

The DOL is seeking back pay and damages from Tara on behalf of Paz, as well as other relief such as a neutral letter of recommendation for Paz, who has since been cleared to work, to present to prospective future employers. Reporting an injury and causing an OSHA investigation to be initiated are protected acts under federal whistleblower laws, which blanket all workers, regardless of immigration status. 

These protections, such as regulations prohibiting employer retaliation, are important because fear of adverse action can prevent employees from reporting illegal and/or unsafe activities. In Paz’s case, the retaliation came in the form of an arrest, but employers could also lash out at workers who report malfeasance of some sort through employment termination, demotion, denial of overtime or promotions, intimidation, harassment and reduction of pay or hours.

(Read More)

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Getting the Word out about Wage Theft (MA)

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

by Sue Woodcock * March 22, 2019

Quite simply, wage theft happens when someone does work and is not paid for it.

“Immigrants are easy targets, most don’t realize it’s a crime,” said Kathleen Santora, a member of the recently appointed to the Lynn Wage Theft Taskforce and a union painter representing the Painters Union District Council 35 Local 939. “But wage theft can happen to anyone in any industry.”

“We have a very strong ordinance in Lynn, it has some teeth in it and can actually do something,” Santora said. Having a taskforce in place also makes a difference.

The Wage Theft Taskforce, comprised of one (1) designee submitted by the Lynn City Council, one (1) designee submitted by the Mayor, one (1) representative chosen by the Lynn City Council from a list provided by the North Shore Labor Council, one (1) representative chosen by the Lynn City Council from a list provided by the Lynn Area Chamber of Commerce, one (1) representative chosen by the Lynn City Council from a list provided by the North Shore Latino Business Association, one (1) representative chosen by the Lynn City Council from a list provided by the North Shore Building Trades Council, one (1) representative chosen by the Lynn City Council from a list provided by the Lynn Worker Center, and one (1) representative from the Lynn community chosen by the Lynn City Council from a list provided by New Lynn Coalition. Members of the Wage Theft Advisory Committee may be reappointed annually and must be appointed no later than the second meeting of the new year.

The wage ordinance was passed by the Lynn City Council in March 2018 after it was offered as a motion by then City Councilor and now State Representative Peter Capano.

“A business owner has the opportunity to do the right thing and pay up. Then they can continue doing business as usual with a bond to cover paying the employee for a year or it can end up in the attorney general’s office,” said Santora, who is a leading advocate for the building trades. She was nominated to the committee by the North Shore Labor Council.

(Read More)