Newsom signs law prompted by Berkeley housing projects that dodged labor standards

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

By Berkeleyside

Two Berkeley housing projects that used a powerful state program to exempt themselves from local labor mandates have inspired a new law barring future developments from following their playbook.

Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday signed a bill from state Sen. Jesse Arreguín requiring that large developments comply with local labor standards — such as the Berkeley ordinance Arreguín championed as mayor that mandates builders of major projects provide apprenticeship programs and health care coverage to workers.

The ordinance, which went into effect in 2024, was backed by unions in the building trades who argued it would provide job training to boost the construction workforce and ensure workers who do dangerous jobs have coverage if they are injured. Developers opposed it, saying the mandates add millions of dollars in new costs and can make projects too expensive to build.

The companies Laconia Development and Collab Home asserted they could exempt their projects — a 23-story development at 2029 University Ave. and a 20-story building at 2425 Durant Ave., respectively — from the labor mandate because of California’s “density bonus” law.

That law lets developers bypass certain local regulations if they include a share of affordable housing in their project. It’s commonly used to let developments exceed physical regulations such as height limits, but the law also allows builders to claim exemptions from other local requirements that might increase their costs. In addition to the health coverage and apprenticeship requirement, Collab Home also used the density bonus to exempt itself from a requirement that major projects in the Southside neighborhood near UC Berkeley pay workers a prevailing wage.

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Updated federal grant guidance will help create good jobs

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

Bart Sheard
June 28, 2024

Recently, the Biden-Harris administration issued important updates to the Office of Management and Budget’s Guidance for Federal Financial Assistance, also known as the “Uniform Grants Guidance,” which sets parameters for how states and localities, and others, can spend federal money and award it to private entities.

These updates streamline and clarify requirements that will give state and local governments more opportunities to ensure federal funds are used efficiently while also advancing specific community goals and initiatives like good jobs, equity in recruitment and hiring, environmental sustainability, and uninterrupted delivery of services.

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City apprenticeship program raises standards for workers and taxpayers (AZ)

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

By Jennifer Grøndahl| Karla Walter
November 5, 2019

It’s no secret that Phoenix has become a Baby Boomer mecca. America’s largest generation has been flocking here for years, bringing with them revenue for local businesses and tax dollars for the city, but also their garbage. Garbage that the city now needs to collect.

Phoenix, like many cities, has struggled to keep up with the growing demand for government services like garbage collection, while also facing high retirement rates among aging municipal workers.

But unlike many cities, Phoenix has also come up with an original solution to meet this demand. When the city and LIUNA Local 777, which represents many municipal workers, realized they were facing a shortage of qualified sanitation workers, they partnered to create an innovative apprenticeship program that trains area residents to become skilled sanitation workers while maintaining a high level of service for taxpayers.

As a local leader who helped implement these apprenticeships and a researcher at a national think tank focused on policies to make government work better, we believe the Phoenix-LIUNA Local 777 partnership should serve as a national model.

Through the city’s solid waste equipment operator apprenticeship, workers obtain their commercial driver’s license and receive specialized instruction on operating trucks through narrow city streets and customer service skills. Previously, the city required applicants to have a commercial driver’s license before being hired, which was a significant barrier to employment, because tuition for commercial trucking schools costs thousands of dollars.

By giving sanitation workers an opportunity to earn these skills and credentials while on the job, the city ensures that workforce training is of high quality. Moreover, the Phoenix-LIUNA Local 777 partnership focuses recruitment on women, veterans and youth, attracting employees who reflect Phoenix’s diversity and who might not otherwise have had access to high-quality city jobs.

For apprentices, who are often transitioning from near minimum-wage jobs, city employment offers a significant earnings boost and a clear career path. The involvement of existing city employees makes the apprenticeships a success. Veteran employees help with recruitment and program graduates informally mentor new apprentices.

As a result, the apprenticeship graduates have higher levels of loyalty and motivation to both the City of Phoenix and the union. Nearly all who start the program finish, and despite their more junior status, graduates are among the most successful employees, at times outshining more senior workers.

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Roseville adds labor standards to subsidies after union criticizes developer’s use of subcontractors (MN)

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

By J.D. DUGGAN
PUBLISHED: September 20, 2019 at 6:58 pm

Roseville has begun adding labor standards to development tax break deals after union officials raised concerns about how developers are using subcontractors.

Earlier this week, prompted by a dispute over a $29.4 million Fairview Avenue apartment building, the city required developers to obey all environmental, labor, health and zoning laws and restrictions, as well as to pay all contractors, subcontractors and laborers before requesting a Certificate of Completion. If a developer is found guilty of wage theft, the city can withhold payments.

“How are we going to make sure people are treated fairly and paid fairly and not given these promises?” said Roseville City Council member Wayne Groff. “I don’t know how much this will affect this exact development.”

The requirements will become standard language in all future agreements where the Roseville Economic Development Authority provides financial assistance.

Roseville’s move comes after members of the North Central States Regional Council of Carpenters told members of the Roseville Economic Development Authority at a meeting that some developers use subcontractors who allegedly break labor laws such as using child labor, stealing wages and exploiting workers.

DEVELOPER IN THE CROSSHAIRS

Minneapolis-based Reuter Walton is planning an apartment building in the 2700 block of Fairview Avenue in Roseville. A $3.5 million tax increment financing deal would be part of the package.

As the project neared its final approval stages, members of the carpenters union jammed an Economic Development Authority meeting and objected to Reuter Walton’s use of subcontractors. One of those past subcontractors – Ricardo Batres – was charged with labor trafficking, theft by swindle and insurance fraud.

The union has taken its criticisms to other cities where Reuter Walton is considering projects, including St. Paul, where an apartment complex was approved last month.

“Reuter Walton continues to profit off of these (subcontractors) that are engaging these violations repeatedly,” said Richard Kolodziejski, spokesperson for the carpenters union.

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U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR RECOVERS $2,772,977 FOR 6,450 DISASTER RECOVERY WORKERS

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

Agency- Wage and Hour Division
Date – May 8, 2019
Release Number – 19-0721-NEW

PHILADELPHIA, PA – After an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD), WSP USA Services Inc. – based in Winchester, Virginia, and doing business as WSP USA Inspection Services, Inc. – has paid $2,772,977 in back wages to 6,450 employees for violating the McNamara-O’Hara Service Contract Act (SCA) and the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

Under contract with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), WSP USA Services Inc. performed disaster-related housing inspections in U.S. territories and states – including Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Texas, Florida, Georgia, and California – following hurricanes and other natural disasters.

Investigations by WHD’s Caribbean and New York City District Offices found the contracting agency’s failure to amend the contract at renewal to include the most recent wage determination led WSP USA Services Inc. to underpay SCA-required prevailing wages and fringe benefits to employees. The employer also failed to post the wage determination, which lists the required pay rates for each category of work performed, and the SCA poster, as required. The FLSA violations stemmed in part from WSP USA’s failure to include bonuses in employees’ regular pay rates when determining their overtime rates. This exclusion resulted in the employer paying overtime at rates lower than those required by law.

“Contractors that bid on government contracts must exercise due diligence and be aware of – and pay – the required rates and benefits to their employees,” said Wage and Hour Division Northeast Deputy Regional Administrator Maria Rosado. “All federal contracting agencies advertising for bids and awarding contracts are required to include the McNamara-O’Hara Service Contract Act labor standards and a current wage determination stating the minimum wages to be paid various classes of service employees. Our enforcement of these requirements help to level the playing field for all contractors doing business with the government.”

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Milwaukee Building and Construction Trades Council Statement on Gov. Evers’ signing Executive Order to Protect Wisconsin Workers (WI)

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

“Standing with working families, Governor Tony Evers’ took a huge step to protect Wisconsin from corrupt employers who cut costs by scamming workers and the state of Wisconsin.”

By Milwaukee Building and Construction Trades Council
Apr 15th, 2019 02:39 pm

MILWAUKEE – Milwaukee Building and Construction Trades Council Statement President Dan Bukiewicz released the following statement in response to Gov. Evers’ signing Executive Order #20 to Protect Wisconsin Workers:

“Standing with working families, Governor Tony Evers’ took a huge step to protect Wisconsin from corrupt employers who cut costs by scamming workers and the state of Wisconsin. It’s refreshing to have a governor not only focused on what is best for workers and Wisconsin’s future. I applaud Governor Evers for taking immediate action to protect the middle class,” said Milwaukee Building and Construction Trades Council Statement President Dan Bukiewicz.

“Contracted work is an often-overlooked driver of eroding labor standards, rising income and wealth inequality, persistent structural racism and occupational segregation, and the shifting of power away from workers and toward corporations.

Many industries in which people of color are over represented are characterized by the widespread use of independent contractors. These contracted jobs offer no unemployment insurance protections or even a minimum wage,”added Bukiewicz.

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(See PDF Copy of Executive Order)

Illegal Labor Practices in the Philadelphia Regional Construction Industry: An Assessment and Action Plan (PA)

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

Authors: Russell Ormiston, Stephen Herzenberg
Publication Date: January 11, 2019

This brief, buttressed by the companion national literature review by Professor Russell Ormiston of Allegheny College, presents multiple sources of complementary evidence that point to a single, simple conclusion: US and Pennsylvania labor law and labor standards are routinely violated by many contractors in the Southeast Pennsylvania regional construction industry. These violations threaten to transform growing shares of the construction sector-an industry that still provides significant numbers of well-paid jobs to highly skilled non-college workers-into low-wage, low-skill jobs, further undermining the region’s middle class and increasing already-gaping inequality.

Labor standards violations victimize workers and their families, taxpayers, law-abiding contractors, and construction customers including public sector entities.

* Workers get cheated of the pay they have earned and need to support their family.

* Local businesses suffer because lower-wage workers, some from outside the region, consume less.

* Taxpayers lose because worker victims of wage theft pay less in taxes. Taxpayers also lose in some cases because irresponsible contractors win public contracts awarded to low bidders and then use “change orders” to increase project cost beyond the original bid.

* As well as losing income, workers and their families may suffer because of injuries suffered on the job. Such injuries are more common among contractors who violate labor standards and, in some cases, rely on informal labor markets essentially outside the purview of labor law.

* Law-abiding contractors lose business and profits-and pay higher unemployment insurance taxes and workers compensation premiums-because their competitors underpay. Law-abiding contractors also face pressure to begin violating standards and cheating workers themselves-in a potential “if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em” downward spiral that spreads destructive competition.

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