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.

The Union Contractors Committee will hold two events for union contractors and their chapters on October 17, 2011, in Washington, D.C.:  an AGC-Basic Trades Forum and a Union Contractors Committee Meeting.  Chapter executives, chapter staff, and member leaders involved in collective bargaining or other labor relations matters for AGC union contractors are invited and encouraged to attend both meetings.

On June 14, 2011, a U.S. Department of Labor Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ruled that two affiliated companies operated as a “single entity” federal contractor, even though neither company met federal contractor status requirements independently.  This was the outcome of a case involving the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) and Manheim Auctions, Inc., along with its subsidiary, Manheim Auctions Government Services.  As a result, the companies were jointly and individually liable for meeting the requirements set forth in the laws regulated by OFCCP, including Executive Order 11246, Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act, and the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act.

Collective bargaining settlements reported to the Construction Labor Research Council (CLRC) between January and June of this year resulted in an average first-year wage-and-benefits increase of $0.98 or 1.9 percent.  This average is up moderately from the $0.55 or 1.1 percent average reported at the same time last year but still significantly lower than the $1.49 or 3.1 percent average reported two years ago.  As reported in CLRC’s latest Wage and Benefit Settlements Report, nine percent of year-to-date settlements included no increase at all in first-year wages and benefits, as compared to nearly a quarter of settlements at this time last year.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB or Board) at a June 29 meeting held further redeliberations of its proposal to update accounting standards related to disclosure of an employer’s participation in a multi-employer benefit plan.  The discussions are largely continuing in a direction favorable to AGC and to the Construction Industry FASB Coalition (CIFC), of which AGC is a member.  The original proposal – which was over broad and potentially very damaging to AGC members that contribute to multi-employer plans – has now been significantly pared back to a compromise that should achieve FASB's goal of greater transparency but without the severe consequences for construction firms.

On July 11, 2011, AGC submitted comments on the April 26, 2011, Office of Federal Contract Compliance Program (OFCCP) notice of proposed rulemaking, which would implement significant revisions of the regulations governing affirmative action requirements for direct federal contractors and subcontractors with respect to protected veterans. AGC fully supports OFCCP’s stated overall goal of increasing employment opportunities for covered veterans; however, AGC does not support the burdensome requirements of this proposed rule, nor does AGC believe more covered veterans will be hired as a result of the proposed requirements.

In recent weeks, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), a division within the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, issued 1,000 Notices of Inspection (NOI) beginning its second round of immigration audits this year.