Newsline

Local media outlets welcomed this year’s National Craft Championships (NCC) by covering several individual competitors trips to NCC. Newspapers from Alabama, Louisiana, Pennsylvania and Texas published stories on competitors in the Welding-Structural, Sheet Metal, HVAC, and Electrical: Commercial-Industrial competitions.

The ABC New Orleans/Bayou Chapter broke ground April 11 in St. Rose, La. on Phase Two of their training campus master plan expansion, which includes an additional 18,000 square feet of classrooms, laboratories and welding booths for its apprenticeship and craft training program, as well as its safety and management education program.

Nonresidential fixed investment decreased 2.1 percent and residential fixed investment fell 5.7 percent during the first quarter, according to an April 30 release by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Overall, real gross domestic product (GDP) expanded just 0.1 percent (seasonally adjusted annual rate) during the first quarter of 2014 following a 2.6 percent increase in the fourth quarter of last year. 

The ABC student chapter at Montgomery College, Rockville, Md., was named the 2014 Student Chapter of the Year, which recognized them for their outstanding and extensive programming, community service and involvement with ABC during the past year. The student chapter will be honored at the Careers in Construction Awards ceremony May 2 in Birmingham, Ala.

ABC awarded Lloyd Evans, hiring and training administrator for Watson Electrical Construction Co. LLC, Wilson, N.C., as its 2014 Craft Instructor of the Year. Evans will be honored during ABC’s Workforce Development Conference May 2 in Birmingham, Ala.

ABC's quarterly Regulatory Alert provides an overview of the federally mandated rules, regulations and enforcement actions from the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and other federal agencies. Below are brief summaries of current issues, as well as links to more detailed information and guidance. If you have any questions, please email [email protected].

ABC is seeking volunteers with recognized experience and expertise in a craft to judge the 2014 National Craft Championships on May 1 in Birmingham, Ala. ABC members who are interested in participating should submit a judge’s form, found on the NCC website, to [email protected] indicating which craft competitions they would like to judge.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers April 21 published a proposed rule that aims to clarify the definition of "waters of the U.S." under the Clean Water Act which would significantly expand federal control of land and water resources across the nation—creating additional permitting and regulatory requirements. The public has until July 21 to submit written comments on the proposed rule.

On April 10 and 11, ABC General Counsel Maury Baskin testified in front of the National Labor Relations Board in Washington, D.C., on the board’s proposed “ambush” election rule.  In his testimony, Baskin asked the NLRB to withdraw the proposed rule, which would shorten the amount of time from when a union files a representation petition and an election takes place to as few as 10 days.

Many ABC members were greeted with a significant tax increase this tax day, April 15. Construction contractors who survived the recession already paid the highest effective tax rate of any sector, and now they face even higher taxes thanks to rising marginal rates, reinstated limits on deductions, and new surtaxes on wages and income stemming from the health care law.

Registration is still open for the 2014 Workforce Development Conference being held April 29-May 2 in Birmingham, Ala. which will feature education sessions spanning six topics, keynote speakers, networking receptions and the National Craft Championships. Members interested in learning more can view the agenda and plan their week in Alabama by visiting wdc.abc.org.

U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) Secretary Thomas Perez faced tough questions from House appropriators on two ABC-opposed Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) actions at an April 2 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Subcommittee hearing.

To coincide with Equal Pay Day, President Obama April 8 issued two executive actions dealing with equal pay for women, specifically prohibiting federal contractors from retaliating against employees who discuss their compensation with fellow employees and requiring federal contractors and subcontractors to submit compensation data to the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL). 

ABC and more than 1,200 members filed comments requesting the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) withdraw its controversial“ambush” election proposed rule. In addition, the ABC-led Coalition for a Democratic Workplace filed comments against the proposed rule with support from more than 140 local organizations, including over 40 ABC chapters.

ABC members are invited to join their peers and industry professionals at the 2014 Legislative Conference in Washington, D.C. June 11 to meet with members of congress to discuss important legislative issues affecting the industry and their businesses. 

ABC today celebrated an important decision limiting the scope of the Davis-Bacon Act issued by a U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.  In a March 31 decision granting summary judgment to the District of Columbia (the District) and private developer CCDC Office LLC (CCDC), Judge Amy Berman Jackson rejected the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) unprecedented ruling that the Davis-Bacon Act can be expanded to include privately funded projects.

ABC along with a group of business organizations March 31 shared their support to Senate and House Leadership of a bipartisan proposal that would repeal the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) statutory cap on deductibles for health plans in the small group market. In addition, ABC sent a letter April 1 to the U.S. House of Representatives in support of the Save American Workers Act (H.R. 2575), which would replace ACA’s definition of “full time” as 30 hours or more per week with the traditional definition of 40 hours.

The U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate March 27 introduced three bills to reverse key elements of the National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) contentious “ambush election” rule. The NLRB’s proposed rule dramatically shortens the amount of time between when a union files a representation petition and when an election takes place to as few as 10 days in addition to requiring employers to submit their employees’ personal contact information to union organizers.

In an effort to raise funds for the Trimmer Construction Education Foundation and ABC’s National Craft Championships, Construction Executive magazine is donating $1 for every new “like” on its Facebook page throughout the month of April.