AGC Opposed to New Rule Overall, but Attained Some Improvements Over Proposed Rule

On March 23, 2016, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued final regulations revising the “advice exemption” and requiring employers and consultants (broadly defined) to report labor relations advice and services under the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act's (LMRDA) "persuader activity" regulations. The effective date of the new regulations is April 25, 2016. The rule will be applicable to consultant arrangements and agreements as well as payments made on or after July 1, 2016.

Two of the industry’s top labor leaders addressed contractors at AGC of America’s 2016 Annual Convention on March 10 in San Antonio, TX. AGC CEO Steve Sandherr engaged Terry O’Sullivan, general president of the Laborers’ International Union of North America, and Eric Dean, general president of the International Association of Bridge, Structural, Ornamental & Reinforcing Iron Workers, in a discussion about their unions’ current initiatives and other matters of concern to union contractors. The session was hosted by AGC’s Union Contractors Committee and opened by Committee Chairman Vic DiGeronimo, Jr.

From Columbine High School to the rock concert in Paris, active shooter scenarios have become all too common. And while we remember most the students and concert attendees who tragically lost their lives, we must also remember that before these establishments were schools or concert venues, they were first workplaces -- workplaces that employed teachers, janitors, and office staff. And before that, they were workplaces that employed construction workers. During AGC’s 2016 Construction HR and Training Professionals Conference, retired police commissioner Bo Mitchell, will share best practices for planning and training employees for active shooter and other workplace violence situations.

This week the Senate Finance Committee held a hearing titled, “The Multiemployer Pension Plan System: Recent Reforms and Current Challenges”, which examined benefit suspension tools for deeply troubled plans under the Multiemployer Pension Reform Act of 2014; the proposed benefit suspensions for participants in the Central States Pension Fund; the funding challenges of the United Mine Workers Pension Plan; the projected insolvency of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC); and the proposed new composite plan design.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced a proposal that would revise the Employer Information Report (EEO-1). The new report would require all employers with 100 or more employees to submit compensation data and hours worked in addition to the racial, ethnic and gender status data currently required by the federal government. The new form would also apply to federal contractors with more than 100 employees, and, if implemented, will replace the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Program’s (OFCCP) proposed Equal Pay Report for federal contractors.

AGC’s Construction HR & Training Professionals Conference will feature two of the most sought-after presenters in workforce development today: Buddy Hobart and J. Doug Pruitt. Both speakers have a passion for attracting and retaining the next generation of workers.

Union representation in the construction industry (covering all occupations) fell from 14.7 percent to 14.0 percent in 2015, according to an annual report recently issued by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (“BLS”). The number of union-represented employees in the industry also declined over the year, from 1,023,000 to 992,000. Likewise, both the percentage and number of employees in the industry who were members of a union decreased over the year – from 13.9 percent to 13.2 percent, and from 968,000 to 940,000 people.

Recently, AGC sent letters opposing the possible use of a project labor agreement (PLA) mandate posted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Nashville District. The letters address the possible use of mandatory PLAs involving the construction work on the Chickamauga Lock in Chattanooga, Tennessee and Kentucky Lock Addition near Paducah, Kentucky.

Construction-industry collective bargaining negotiations completed during 2015 resulted in an average first-year increase in wages and benefits of $1.10 per hour or 2.5 percent, according to the annual year-end Settlements Report issued by the AGC-supported Construction Labor Research Council. For newly negotiated multi-year contracts, the average negotiated second-year increase was $1.40 or 2.7 percent, and the average third-year increase was $1.50 or 2.7 percent.