Please join AGC of America, and its partners on the Construction Industry Safety Coalition, in planning to participate in the COVID-19 Vaccine Awareness Week in Construction, April 19-23. The goal of the campaign is to raise awareness of the safety, effectiveness, and benefits of COVID-19 vaccination among construction workers.

We are proud to report that we have had a strong year in 2020 as the contents of our Annual Report - The Power of Engagement - make clear. The digital report catalogues the many accomplishments of AGC of America. In our catalogue of some of the association’s most significant accomplishments, you will see how we work to support the entire construction industry as The Construction Association.

President Biden’s $2 trillion infrastructure plan includes new workforce investments, labor preferences and the PRO Act. The overall labor intent of the plan is to prioritize the construction investments are made with union labor. And, the Administration hopes to do just that with including the PRO Act in its plan. The PRO Act continues to be a top priority of the AFL-CIO to overturn decades of federal labor policy to arm unions with practically every legal and tactical advantage to gain the most favorable terms possible. While the PRO Act passed the U.S. House earlier this year, it has stalled in the Senate as Democratic leaders debate whether to change the filibuster rules to make its passage possible.

Employers Have from April 26 Until July 19 to Submit Component 1 Data After delaying the opening of the 2019 EEO-1 Component 1 Data Collections on May 8, 2020 in light of the COVID-19 public health emergency, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has announced that the collections will now open on Monday, April 26, 2021.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) recently announced the Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA) hiring benchmark for 2021. Effective March 31, 2021, the hiring benchmark will be 5.6 percent, slightly down from 5.7 percent in 2020. This benchmark is an annual goal for the percentage of hires who are veterans at each affirmative action plan (AAP) establishment

AGC of America has released an analysis of how the Protecting the Right to Organize Act of 2021 (PRO Act) would affect open-shop construction contractors, as well as a shorter summary on the same topic. The papers are posted on AGC’s PRO Act web page along with similar papers addressing the bill’s potential impact on union contractors, an AGC ConsructorCast recording, and other PRO Act resources.

On March 22, the Senate confirmed the nomination of Boston Mayor Marty Walsh to become the next Secretary of the U.S. Department of Labor by a bipartisan final vote of 68-29. Mayor Walsh has a long history with the construction industry, as he is the former head of the Boston Building Trades Council and began his career with a local Boston Laborers’ union. President Biden campaigned on a robust and aggressive labor agenda that included providing greater rights to organizing and unions. Walsh will now be responsible for implementing much of that agenda.

On March 22, the United States Senate confirmed the nomination of Boston Mayor Marty Walsh to become the next Secretary of the U.S. Department of Labor by a bipartisan final vote of 68-29.

In accordance with the Biden administration’s recent regulatory freeze memorandum, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) Wage and Hour Division (WHD) issued proposals to roll back two of the Trump administration’s rulemakings. One DOL proposal is to withdraw a final rule clarifying the standard for employee versus independent contractor status under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The previous final rule originally was to be effective on March 8, 2021, however, a recent proposal delayed that date to allow the agency “the opportunity to review and consider the questions of law, policy, and fact raised by the rule[s].”

CARES Act Section 3610 Extended to September 30, 2021