unnamed

New Prevailing Wage Papers: Effect of Prevailing Wage Repeals on Construction Income and Benefits and a second one on Effects of Enactments on Injuries and Disabilities

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

January 22, 2019

Economists from the University of Utah have published two papers over the last year on the relationship of prevailing wage laws first to income and benefits and second to injuries and disabilities. Both are published in Public Works Management & Policy, a peer reviewed academic journal. See below for abstracts and links to the papers.

While considerable research has examined the effects of prevailing wage law repeals on construction wages, little has been done on the repeals effect on benefits. … we find that depending on sample and model specification, statewide annual average construction blue-collar income fell by 1.9% to 4.2%. Statewide annual average legally required benefits (social security, workers injury-compensation insurance, and unemployment insurance contributions) for blue- and white-collar construction employees combined fell from 3.8% to 10.1%. Statewide annual average voluntary benefits (primarily health insurance, pension contributions, and apprenticeship training) for blue- and white-collar construction employees combined fell from 11.2% to 16.0%.

(PDF Copy of Paper on the “Effect of Prevailing Wage Repeals on Construction Income and Benefits”)

State prevailing wage law repeals have been shown to lower wages and benefits- including benefits providing safety training and associated with worker retention in construction. … we find that repealing state prevailing wage laws increase construction injury rates across various types of injuries from 11.6% to 13.1% as the seriousness of injuries increases. Disabilities increase by 7.5% to 8.2% depending on the model specification.

(PDF Copy of Paper on the “Effect of Prevailing Wage Repeals and Enactments on Injuries and Disabilities in the Construction Industry”)

Could Gov. Newsom’s ambitious housing goals be sidelined by a worker shortage? (CA)

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

Labor think tank says California would need at least 200,000 new construction workers

By LEONARDO CASTAÑEDA
PUBLISHED: January 14, 2019

Gov. Gavin Newsom has said he wants to build as many as 3.5 million new houses by 2025 to solve California’s housing crisis.

But those ambitious goals could be derailed without hundreds of thousands of new construction workers needed to dramatically accelerate the pace of California home building, even assuming that cities agree to zone for more housing and there’s money available to build it all. And it’s hard to imagine, given recent trends, where that many additional workers in the low-wage, high-risk industry would come from.

Newsom took an early stab at the money question in his first budget, offering $500 million in state funding for middle-income housing, But he wants California’s companies to take on a bigger role funding new homes. And he said he’s already talked with some Silicon Valley tech companies who are open to cooperating.

Ramping up housing construction from about 100,000 units in 2016 to 1980s levels – about 300,000 new homes were built in 1986 – would require some 200,000 new workers, according to the researcher behind a new study for Smart Cities Prevail, a pro-union nonprofit. But even that influx of workers wouldn’t be enough to meet the goal of 500,000 new houses a year that Newsom floated during his campaign.

“Workers are not going to fall out of trees,” researcher Scott Littlehale said.

Littlehale’s study found that California housing construction isn’t just failing to attract new workers. It’s losing the workers it already has, many of whom are low wage and lower-skilled.

From 2006 to 2017, California lost about 200,000 construction workers. And within the construction trade, many workers are opting for commercial building jobs, which pay more, have better benefits and steadier work.

During the boom building years, the construction industry was “dependent on young workers without a college degree and on immigrant workers,” Littlehale said. Today, both populations are on the decline.

(Read More)

(View PDF of Study – Rebuilding California: The Golden State’s Housing Workforce Reckoning)

Prevailing wage and collective bargaining boost labor market competitiveness and productivity

  • The housing industry currently lacks the wage competitiveness and career training pipeline needed to offset the physical and economic risks of construction. This is hindering its ability to attract and retain the workers needed to increase production of new units.
  • Prevailing Wage standards and collective bargaining agreements are consistently associated with higher wages, increased apprenticeship enrollment, more production efficiency, and fewer workplace safety problems.
  • Most peer reviewed studies have concluded prevailing wage has no significant effect on overall project costs.

Housing builders’ reservoir of low-wage, less-skilled labor is not refilling itself. Background regulations that promote labor-management cooperation around the vital elements of skilled construction workforce development can play a vital role in restoring California residential building to the production engine that it once was.

(Executive Summary)

(Rebuilding California – Video)

Council bill aims to impose prevailing wage on all city-subsidized projects (NY)

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

Wage and safety bills would incentivize union labor, but critics fear higher price tag.

By JEFF COLTIN
JANUARY 8, 2019

New York City Councilman Ben Kallos is reintroducing a stalled bill that would require all construction workers to get paid the prevailing wage on any projects getting city subsidies.

Under state law, any project built under a government contract must pay workers the prevailing wage. Kallos’ bill would cast a much wider net, mandating the prevailing wage for not just direct government contracts, but for any projects getting grants, bond financing, tax abatements or any other sort of support valued over $1 million from the New York City government.

“The same rules should apply when the city is doing the work directly or when they’re subsidizing somebody else to do the work,” the Manhattan lawmaker told City & State.

…

Critics like the Real Estate Board of New York, which represents developers, have spent heavily in the past to oppose efforts to expand the prevailing wage requirements, claiming higher labor costs would discourage private developers from building affordable housing.

Kallos countered that paying workers less than prevailing wage actually makes the affordable housing crisis worse by creating demand for housing at deeper levels of affordability.

“I’m disappointed to learn even the construction workers can’t afford the affordable housing that they are building,” he said.

(Read More)

Calif. Prevailing Wage Law Applied to Recycling Plant Employees (CA)

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

By Joanne Deschenaux
January 4, 2019

California’s prevailing wage law requires that all workers employed on “public works”-generally, construction projects-be paid at least as much as is generally paid for the performance of similar work in the same geographic area. A California appellate court has ruled that this law was not limited to construction projects and applied to workers who sorted recyclable materials at two publicly owned and operated recycling facilities.

The plaintiffs, who worked as sorters, sued a staffing company that provided employees to the two facilities under contracts with Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts, alleging, among other claims, that the defendant had failed to pay them the prevailing wage.

The trial court granted the staffing company’s motion to dismiss the prevailing wage claims, ruling that the work done by the plaintiffs did not come within the prevailing wage law’s definition of “public works” because it was not construction work. The plaintiffs appealed.

The appellate court reversed the trial court’s decision. One provision of the prevailing wage law defines public works as “construction, alteration, demolition, installation or repair work done under contract and paid for in whole or in part out of public funds.” But this is not the only definition in the statute, the court said.

Another provision further defines public works as work done for “irrigation, utility, reclamation, and improvement districts, and other districts of this type.” The recyclable sorting work here was done for a county sanitation district, and so the work at issue fell within this second statutory definition and the plaintiffs were entitled to receive the prevailing wage, the court said.

(Read More)

(PDF Copy of Decision)

Some Workers Need Jobs as Much as Builders Need Workers. Cities Connect Them. (CA)

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

By Joe Gose
Jan. 8, 2019

A year ago, Jeromy Gaviola was struggling to find steady and meaningful work in San Francisco. Living in the working-class neighborhood of Hunters Point, he heard about a program that was training residents to build the Chase Center, the $1 billion, 18,000-seat arena in Mission Bay that will be the new home of the Golden State Warriors when it opens this fall.

Mr. Gaviola, 33, applied to the program, was accepted and completed six weeks of training in early September. He then began working at the arena and was recently installing insulation and acoustical ceiling tiles above the Warriors’ practice court.

…

Facing a tight labor pool, developers, public officials and community organizations are using commercial projects to provide residents with careers in construction. Together, they’re making an effort to recruit men and women from impoverished neighborhoods or challenged populations, such as former prison inmates. In booming markets like San Francisco, Denver and Miami, where gentrification is squeezing affordable housing, demand for these types of programs is growing.

The training programs are also occurring in smaller markets. In Milwaukee, for example, Gorman & Company, an apartment developer, has teamed up with city, state and community agencies to give former inmates on-the-job training restoring dilapidated, tax-foreclosed homes, which are then rented to low-income earners.

“There’s a very limited number of jobs that people re-entering society can do, but they are key to our success,” said Ted Matkom, president of the Wisconsin market for Gorman. “They can earn a good wage and are motivated.”

In some cases, contractors are required to meet local hiring targets, particularly on big projects that include incentives or are providing a public benefit. Cities and community organizations are recruiting and training workers to help builders meet the thresholds.

In addition to classes, the programs typically provide tools, boots and other equipment to the candidates, and they pay for items such as apprentice application fees, child care and gas. Case managers at the organizations even make sure newly employed graduates receive wake-up calls.

The developers of Chase Center are getting a hand from San Francisco’s CityBuild Academy, a program that has trained about 1,400 workers since it was introduced in 2006. Among other services, the academy provides 18 weeks of training for apprenticeships in partnership with City College of San Francisco. JPMorgan Chase, which acquired the naming rights to the arena, has also kicked in $350,000 to fund special training courses.

To date, those programs and others have provided union apprenticeships to 81 graduates, according to representatives from CityBuild and the National Basketball Association’s Warriors. The workers can make hourly wages of $20 to $30, not including overtime, said Joshua Arce, director of work force development for San Francisco.

(Read More)

Gov. Pritzker Strengthens Working Families with Actions for Higher Wages and Protections on First Full Day in Office (IL)

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

Standing with Working Families, Gov. Pritzker Takes Critical First Steps, Including Women’s Pay Equity, Prosecuting Wage Theft, Using Project Labor Agreements, Requiring Prevailing Wage and Promoting Diversity in State Contracts and Moving Employees to Appropriate Steps

Tuesday, January 15, 2019 – Office of the Governor

Springfield, Ill. – Standing with working families on his first full day in office, Governor JB Pritzker took important first steps to raise Illinoisans’ wages by signing a robust initial package of legislation and executive orders designed to raise and protect their wages.

“This administration is putting Springfield back on the side of working families and these measures are a critical first step in the work that will define my administration, especially as we move toward raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour,” said Governor JB Pritzker. “On the first day of a new administration, we’re enshrining our state’s values to create real and lasting opportunity for the middle class.

“For hardworking people across Illinois, know that your state government has your back. Whether it’s pay equity for women, prosecuting employers who engage in wage theft, instituting prevailing wage requirements, using project labor agreements, restoring state employees’ steps, or promoting diversity in state contracts, these steps are the first of many to take bold action to support working families. This work is far from done, and I look forward to continuing to work with the General Assembly to advance core priorities so working families across Illinois can thrive.”

Today, Governor Pritzker signed Executive Order 2019-02, which will:

* Require that the Department of Central Management Services and the Department of Human Rights shall review the state’s pay plan to eliminate bias generated by asking employees for salary history, which often disadvantages women, particularly women of color. The State of Illinois will no longer ask prospective employees questions about salary history, because of historic salary disadvantages women face.

* Help protect workers from wage theft. The order directs the Illinois Department of Labor to expeditiously handle all cases of wage theft and day labor exploitation, including referring appropriate cases to the Attorney General. This will allow the administration to hold bad actors accountable and protect workers.

* Require that all state agencies comply with the Project Labor Agreements Act.

(Read More)

(PDF Copy of Executive Order)

Lee Carter’s Campaign for Labor Rights in Virginia Is Important for All Working Americans

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

His fight against “right-to-work” should inspire more Democrats to challenge the atrocious Taft-Hartley law.

By John Nichols
JANUARY 7, 2019

Congressman Mark Pocan and Senator Bernie Sanders sent an important-if, sadly, little noted-signal last year about how to stand up for worker rights. They introduced a national Workplace Democracy Act that proposed to knock down the barriers to union organizing and collective bargaining that have been erected by politicians who serve as errand boys for corporate power.

Decrying “a corporate-driven agenda that makes it harder for middle class families to get ahead,” Pocan, the Congressional Progressive Caucus co-chair who is a member of the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades union, announced that “The Workplace Democracy Act restores real bargaining rights to workers and repeals the right to work laws like those that [Wisconsin Governor Scott] Walker has used to undercut American workers.”

Rejecting the caution that many Democrats have displayed with regard to struggles for labor rights, Pocan and Sanders went to the heart of the matter. Their legislation proposed to “end right to work for less laws by repealing Section 14(b) of the Taft Hartley Act, which has allowed 28 states to pass legislation eliminating the ability of unions to collect fair share fees from those who benefit from union contracts and activities.”

So-called “right to work” laws were enacted more than 70 years ago in many Southern and border states, where segregationist politicians (most of them Democrats) sought to block the rise industrial unions that organized workers of all races. But, in recent years, these laws have moved north-to historic industrial states such as Wisconsin and Michigan. They’re not popular. Just last year, Missouri voters rejected a right-to-work proposal by a 2-1 margin.

(Read More)

California needs 200K construction workers to help affordability (CA)

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

by Steve Randall
20 Jan 2019

The lack of housing supply has multiple factors including the cost of borrowing and materials; but a shortage of labor is also a major factor in many areas.

In California, the Housing and Community Development Department has said that the sector needs improved productivity to tackle housing affordability. But a new study says there is a key barrier to this – a workforce shortage.

Smart Cities Prevail, a construction industry-focused non-profit, says that the residential construction industry in California must do more to attract the 200,000 workers it needs to meet the ambitious goal to improve affordability.

“The data shows residential construction work is more dangerous, economically risky, and lower paying than most other jobs in our economy,” said study author Scott Littlehale. “When you consider these dynamics alongside the industry’s aging workforce, its failure to institutionalize investments in apprenticeship training, and a shrinking supply of young workers and immigrants, it is clear why the housing sector is struggling to attract the new workers it needs.”

Littlehale found residential construction workers earn 24% less per year than all other jobs on average, and less than half have health insurance coverage through their employer. This is exacerbated by a typically longer commute.

(Read More)

3d_money_construction_dreamstime_xxl_21903206

Palm Springs should back unions by denying Virgin Hotel project timeline extension (CA)

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

Robert Julian Stone, Special to The Desert Sun
Published 8:00 a.m. PT Jan. 6, 2019

On Wednesday, Jan. 9, Palm Springs’ City Council will consider Grit Development’s request for an extension of completion timelines for the Virgin Hotel. The developer is asking for a three-year extension but, despite the Planning Commission’s 5-2 vote recommending that more time be granted, there is simply no justification for any extension on this project.

On Nov. 15, 2017, the council granted Grit a rebate of 75 percent of the transient occupancy taxes (TOT) for 30 years on the new Virgin Hotel and set forth a timeline for completion. The city estimates the value of this TOT rebate to be between $18 and $50 million.

This year, the State Department of Industrial Relations opined that a TOT rebate and other public funding agreements between the city and Grit Development for downtown work done so far, including on the completed Kimpton hotel, make Grit responsible for paying its construction workers a prevailing wage.

Grit wants a three-year extension because the developer intends to keep the promised TOT rebates while appealing the prevailing wage determination to the state. If that appeal fails, Grit’s attorney has indicated the developer will litigate the issue in court.

It appears the developer simply refuses to pay a living wage to workers on this project – and is willing to sue to be relieved of that responsibility.

Even with an extended construction deadline, it’s likely we will be exactly where we are now in three years. Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration; the Democrat legislative super-majority; and the courts are unlikely to look favorably upon such a request.

It is disappointing that City Council did not pro-actively require prevailing wages for the project at the time they approved the generous TOT rebate for the Virgin project in 2017. Palm Springs is an increasingly expensive place to live. It is incumbent upon our legislators to protect the livelihood of local workers and advocate for a living wage

(Read More)