The U.S. Department of Labor announced enhancements to its online enforcement database designed to improve public access to and understanding of the department’s enforcement actions.  The updated website includes a number of new features, including map displays of inspection and violation data, as well as the ability to view individual inspection records and the enforcement history of a particular company.

On June 7, 2011, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (the “Corps”), the division of the Army responsible for investigating, developing and maintaining the nation's water and related environmental resources, issued a Procurement Instruction Letter to its contracting officers giving the authority to use electronic systems for processing certified payroll records in Corps construction projects covered by the Davis-Bacon Act.  The letter was issued to offer guidance and to “encourage the use of an electronic, commercially available system to process and submit Davis-Bacon certified payrolls to the Government.”

The National Labor Relations Board has ruled in the second of two bannering cases brought by the San Diego Chapter AGC, finding lawful a union’s display, at business locations of secondary employers, of banners announcing a “labor dispute” and seeking to “shame” the employers or to persuade the public not to patronize the employers.  The ruling is the final Board decision in a series of bannering cases originating in 2003-2004.  The Board first ruled a year ago, and in each case since then, that such activity did not constitute picketing and did not “threaten, coerce, or restrain” the secondary employers as proscribed by the National Labor Relations Act.

There is still time to register for AGC’s 2011 HR Professionals Conference, Training, Education & Development (TED) Conference, and Federal Contracting Compliance Construction HR Workshop, but the hotel discount ends Friday, Sept. 9, so act fast.Both conferences will take place at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Downtown Kansas City, Mo., with the TED Conference beginning on Oct. 3, lasting to midday on Oct. 4, and the HR Professionals Conference beginning on the morning of Oct. 4, and concluding at noon on Oct. 5.  There will be one joint session on the morning of Oct. 4 with a keynote address by Jay Forte, president of Humanetrics, LLC, on how HR and training professionals drive results in the workplace.New this year is the Federal Contracting Compliance Construction HR Workshop, which will be held Oct. 5-6, directly after the HR Professionals Conference.  This workshop is designed to help HR HRHHRRstaff responsible for compliance on federal and federally-assisted projects by providing practical information and best-practice advice from experts and peers experienced in the area.  Attendees can register for this workshop for a discounted price in conjunction with the HR Professionals Conference, or independently.Find complete session descriptions, schedule, registration, and hotel information at www.agc.org/HR_TED.

On August 15, 2011, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that “Self Check,” a free online service of E-Verify that allows individuals to check their own employment eligibility status, is now available in Spanish and accessible to residents in 16 additional states: California, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, South Carolina, Texas, Utah and Washington. This announcement expands on the initial launch of Self Check in March 2011 for residents who reside in Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Mississippi, Virginia and the District of Columbia.

Starting November 14, 2011, employers have yet another poster to post along with other employee notices.  The new poster informs employees of their rights under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) and is mandated by a final rule published by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in the August 30 Federal Register.  The rule establishes the size, form, and content of the notice, and remedies for noncompliance.

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB or Board) should withdraw a proposed rule to amend procedures in union representation cases, AGC argued in comments submitted yesterday.  AGC submitted the independent comments in addition to signing onto comments submitted by the Coalition for a Democratic Workplace (CDW) in order to detail how the proposed rule would impact the construction industry.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) on July 27 announced its approval of a new financial disclosure standard for employers with multi-employer pension plans.  AGC is very proud of the successful, painstaking efforts by our Tax and Fiscal Affairs Committee and our Construction Industry FASB Coalition in getting the most dangerous provisions of the originally proposed standard removed, including disclosures about withdrawal liability and retiree health and welfare benefits (though the latter might be addressed in a future initiative).

In proposed rules issued within one day of each other, two federal labor agencies have taken significant steps toward making union organizing easier.  While the proposed rules, if implemented, would likely have less of an effect in the construction industry – where “bottom-up” union organizing is less common – than in other industries, they still raise serious concerns about employer and employee rights for AGC members.

While the percentage of construction craft workers represented by a union declined modestly between 2008 and 2010, the number of such workers declined substantially, according to the Construction Labor Research Council’s (CLRC) latest Union/Non-Union Trends report.  CLRC reports that unions represented 18 percent of craft workers in 2010, a decline of just two percent from 2008.  The total number of union-represented craft workers declined by 31 percent – or 342,000 workers – during the two-year period.