ABC opposes Democrats’ partisan reconciliation package, which would raise taxes in an economy pointed toward recession, exacerbate inflation and cost American jobs. New, restrictive labor policies included in the most recent proposal make the package even more damaging.
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Wednesday, July 27, 2022 11:46 AM |
ABC News
ABC is gearing up for Careers in Construction Month in October, a nationwide campaign held annually to increase public awareness of construction careers and inspire the next generation of craft professionals.
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The Biden administration’s controversial rule requiring anti-competitive and costly government-mandated project labor agreements on federal construction projects of $35 million or more is one step closer to being published in the Federal Register for public comments.
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The Occupational Safety and Health Administration recently issued an updated suicide prevention poster that you can customize with your logo and post in the workplace. Everyone can help prevent suicide. Do your part to raise awareness of the warning signs of suicide and how to get help if a colleague is in crisis.
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There’s a brand-new 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline for anyone experiencing a mental health crisis. The 988 lifeline connects callers to an existing network of more than 200 local crisis call centers across the United States, and the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline’s number—1 (800) 273-8255—will route calls to 988. The goal is to aid those seeking help through safe, immediate intervention, similar to the 911 hotline for emergencies.
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ABC has added Greater Houston Chapter member Bill Brown of Austin Commercial to the Beam Club Presidential Level.
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In a letter to U.S. House Representatives, ABC urged members to support an amendment to the House appropriations bill (H.R. 8294) that would prevent the use of federal funds to support flawed, inflationary Davis-Bacon prevailing wage requirements. The amendment failed by a vote of 165-264.
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On July 18, ABC submitted comments on the U.S. Department of Labor and U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s temporary rule on H-2B visas, authorizing 35,000 supplemental temporary work visas for hiring through Sept. 30.
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According to a recent press release from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration, 22 workers have died in the first half of 2022 as a result of the hazards present in trenching and excavation work, prompting OSHA to launch enhanced enforcement initiatives to protect workers. In keeping with its National Emphasis Program for excavations, OSHA compliance officers will perform more than 1,000 trench inspections nationwide where they may visit and inspect any excavation site during their daily duties.
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On July 13, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued its quarterly update on compliance assistance resources.
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On July 12, the ABC-led Coalition for a Democratic Workplace issued a new report criticizing unions’ newest efforts to implement electronic voting in union representation elections.
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The U.S. Department of Labor announced on July 12 the selection of the initial cohort of 207 officials and organizations chosen to serve as Apprenticeship Ambassadors to share their experiences and collaborate with the department to champion apprenticeship opportunities. ABC’s Virginia, New Mexico and Pacific Northwest chapters were among those selected.
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ABC recently launched the updated ABC Action app, an advanced advocacy tool that enables members to become a vital part of ABC's grassroots advocacy efforts and allows you to make your voice heard.
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ABC sent an action alert on to members July 11 urging them to oppose to Democrats’ proposal to impose a new tax hike on small businesses in their partisan reconciliation bill.
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ABC chapters across the country recently hosted events to educate members on the value of construction technology both on and off the jobsite. ABC’s Tech Alliance and Tech Marketplace members were featured speakers at these events.
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On June 30, ABC submitted comments on the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s proposed amendments to its occupational injury and illness recordkeeping regulation and urged the agency to withdraw the harmful rule.
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On June 21, the Biden administration released its Spring 2022 Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions. The agenda lists upcoming rulemakings and other regulatory actions from each agency that the administration expects to publish this year and into 2023. ABC has prepared a summary of the actions of interest to ABC members by agency.
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On June 15, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division published a notice of a proposed revision to the Information Collection Request titled, “Report of Construction Contractor’s Wage Rates.” This ICR governs the WD-10 form used in wage surveys to determine the prevailing wage rate under Davis-Bacon and Related Acts requirements. The WHD’s stated goal of the revision is to streamline the wage survey process and increase response rates.
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Tuesday, June 28, 2022 4:46 PM |
ABC News
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division will host sessions for its third annual virtual Prevailing Wage Seminar on Tuesday, September 13, from 1:30-3:30 p.m. ET, which will include a question-and-answer session focused on Davis-Bacon topics. Registration for the sessions is now open on the WHD’s website.
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On June 16, House Committee on Oversight and Reform Ranking Member James Comer, Ky., and 12 other House Republicans sent a letter to the Office of Management and Budget raising concerns about the implementation of President Biden’s Executive Order 14063, “Use of Project Labor Agreements for Federal Construction Projects,” highlighting concerns that the proposal will raise taxpayer costs, cut nonunion workers out of federal projects and force right-to-work states to freeze local workers out of cooperative federal projects. The executive order mandates PLAs on federal construction projects of $35 million or more.
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On June 16, the ABC-led Coalition for a Democratic Workplace and several other employer organizations filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court requesting review of the Washington Supreme Court’s recent decision in Glacier Northwest, which stated that the National Labor Relations Board preempts state tort suits, allowing unions and their supporters to intentionally destroy an employer’s property while claiming to be engaged in protected concerted activity.
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More than 500 ABC members and chapter staff are in Washington, D.C., for ABC’s 2022 Legislative Week, meeting with leaders on Capitol Hill to advocate for fair and open competition and fight the Protecting the Right to Organize Act, project labor agreement mandates and burdensome regulations. Highlights of the fly-in included keynotes from Rep. Steve Scalise, R- La., House minority whip, and Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind., who spoke in favor of free markets and condemned the Biden administration’s regulatory overreach and the PRO Act.
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The Biden administration has pledged to support the installation of 500,000 electric vehicle chargers across the country by 2030 as part of a domestic push to shift away from gas-powered vehicles. On June 9, the Federal Highway Administration announced a proposed rule for the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Formula Program that requires contractors to use government-registered apprentices and the controversial union-backed Electric Vehicle Industry Training Program.
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On June 6, ABC responded to the Office of Management and Budget’s request for information on new “Buy America” requirements for construction materials on federally assisted projects. Enacted in November 2021, the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act expanded and made significant changes to Buy America requirements for federally funded infrastructure projects.
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Wednesday, June 8, 2022 10:28 AM |
ABC News
ABC recently sent an action alert to ABC members to urge their members of Congress to include the Employee Retention Tax Credit Act bill in the federal spending package. ERTCRA would restore the Employee Retention Tax Credit through the end of the 2021.
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On June 3, the U.S. Department of Labor stated that it plans to engage in rulemaking on determining employee or independent contractor status under the Fair Labor Standards Act.
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Of the nation’s top 25 construction companies, 19 are ABC members, according to Engineering News-Record’s recently published annual list of the Top 400 Contractors. These successful contractors were ranked based on 2021 revenue.
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Tuesday, May 24, 2022 11:54 AM |
ABC News
The departments of Homeland Security and Labor recently released a new H-2B visa rule authorizing 35,000 supplemental temporary work visas for hiring through Sept. 30. As of May 18, employers can begin petitioning for the visas. The supplemental allocation includes 23,500 visas for returning workers who received an H-2B visa in the previous three fiscal years. Another 11,500 are designated for nationals of El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Haiti, to address irregular migration from those countries.
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On May 11, ABC, as a steering committee member of the Partnership to Protect Workplace Opportunity, as well as 92 other organizations, sent a letter to Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh urging him to abandon or at least postpone issuing the U.S. Department of Labor’s announced proposed rulemaking altering overtime regulations under the Fair Labor Standards Act. Read PPWO’s press release on the letter.
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On May 17, ABC, as a steering committee member of the Construction Industry Safety Coalition, submitted comments to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration voicing compliance and cost concerns on the proposed rule on Powered Industrial Trucks Design Standard Update. While CISC members are not manufacturers of powered industrial trucks, certain types of PITs are frequently used on construction worksites and, thus, CISC members are interested in this proposal.
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ABC highlighted its achievements in recruiting diverse audiences to careers in construction nationwide and outlined goals championing inclusion, diversity and equity in a letter to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission for a May 17 hearing on race, sex and national origin discrimination in construction.
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The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act delivers $550 billion of funding to improve our nation’s infrastructure, and the construction industry stands ready to deliver on the law’s promised revitalization of America’s roads, schools, bridges, utilities, and transportation systems.
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ABC sent out an action alert for ABC members to urge their members of Congress to remove unnecessary, job-killing provisions in the US Innovation and Competition Act/America COMPETES Act bills.
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ABC recently surveyed contractor members regarding Davis-Bacon Act prevailing wage regulations, and the results clearly demonstrate that ABC members oppose Davis-Bacon Act regulations and have serious concerns about the sweeping changes recently proposed by the U.S. Department of Labor.
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On May 9, ABC and the Coalition for a Democratic Workplace sent a letter to the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee to voice concerns with the current tension between federal anti-discrimination laws and federal labor relations laws as implemented by the National Labor Relations Board and its general counsel.
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The U.S. Department of Transportation recently published a proposal to waive “Buy America” requirements for construction materials used on DOT projects for 180 days and requested public comments with a deadline of May 13.
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With the May 17 deadline for public comments on the Department of Labor’s proposed changes to Davis-Bacon and Related Acts prevailing wage regulations fast approaching, ABC urges interested members to consider submitting comments on these sweeping changes to federal contracting rules.
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Monday, May 2, 2022 6:30 PM |
ABC News,
Legislation,
Regulations,
Workforce Development,
GA-Workplace Safety,
GA-PLAs,
GA - Employment,
GA - Federal Procurement,
GA - Private-Public Partnerships,
GA-PLAs-Federal,
GA-PLAs-State & Local,
Ga-PLAs-Federal-Legislation
On April 27, ABC sent a letter to a congressional subcommittee warning of the negative impacts of imposing government-mandated project labor agreements on infrastructure spending.
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On April 20, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division released its schedule of upcoming Davis-Bacon and Related Acts Wage Surveys. These voluntary surveys are used by the WHD to determine the prevailing wage rate for construction workers on federal and federally assisted projects over $2,000.
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On April 22, ABC, as a steering committee member of the Construction Industry Safety Coalition, submitted comments in response to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s request for additional comment on its “potential provisions or approaches” to a final Occupational Exposure to COVID-19 in Healthcare Settings rule. CISC opposes OSHA’s proposal to expand coverage under any promulgated final rule and include certain construction work in health care settings.
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From May 2-6, ABC will observe Construction Safety Week and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s National Safety Stand-Down to prevent falls in construction with a social media campaign sharing tools and resources. ABC encourages its members to participate in these events and renew their commitment to keep all workers safe on all jobsites.
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Wednesday, April 20, 2022 1:15 PM |
ABC News
On April 18, the Biden administration’s Office of Management and Budget issued a memo providing initial implementation guidance to federal agencies on the application of a “Buy America” preference for materials used in infrastructure projects.
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Unfortunately, the Biden administration’s rulemaking reverses the much-needed efforts of the previous administration to update and streamline the federal environmental review and permitting process. Modernizing this process would be a bipartisan win, as both sides of the aisle have long identified the need for faster, more efficient permitting. While Congress recently passed legislation providing an unprecedented investment in our nation’s infrastructure, including language specifically calling for streamlined environmental review, today’s rulemaking will delay the completion of these critical projects and increase costs for the construction industry and taxpayers without providing meaningful environmental benefits.
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ABC continued to fight against government-mandated project labor agreements through a media campaign publicizing a letter recently sent to the White House with more than 1,200 signatures from members and chapters. The campaign garnered coverage of the importance of fair and open competition for construction projects on Fox Business (reach: 13.5 million) and in The Washington Post (67.7 million), among others.
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The ABC Florida East Coast and Central Pennsylvania chapters recently hosted their first construction technology events in order to help their members use technology to develop people, win work and deliver that work safely, ethically and profitably. ABC’s Tech Alliance and Tech Marketplace members were featured speakers at the event.
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Earlier this month, the U.S. House and Senate established a conference committee to continue debate on the House-passed H.R. 4521, the America COMPETES Act, and the Senate-passed S. 1260, the United States Innovation and Competition Act. Both bills contain troubling, restrictive labor policies that would dilute the effectiveness of the legislation and limit opportunities for much of the construction industry to participate in new programs authorized under these bills.
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On April 12, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced a National Emphasis Program—Outdoor and Indoor Heat-Related Hazards, which expands on the agency’s ongoing heat-related illness prevention initiative and campaign by setting forth a targeted enforcement component and reiterating its compliance assistance and outreach efforts.
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The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division previously announced that it is reviewing its overtime regulations. DOL is now offering five regional virtual listening sessions in May and June and would like to hear feedback from employers on possible revisions to the regulations. Learn more about the dates, times and how to register for the virtual regional meetings.
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On April 5, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced that it is starting an enforcement program that identifies employers who failed to submit Form 300A data through the agency’s Injury Tracking Application. The enforcement program will begin in early April and was developed in response to recommendations from the Government Accountability Office to improve reporting of summary injury and illness data.
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On March 31, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs announced new directive 2022-02: Effective Compliance Evaluations and Enforcement, which rescinds directives issued under the Trump administration aimed at increasing the certainty, efficiency and transparency of the department’s operations for the contractor community.
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