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Construction employment increased in 152 out of 339 metropolitan areas between March 2012 and March 2013, declined in 126 and was stagnant in 61, according to a new analysis of federal employment data released today by AGC of America.
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a joint interim final rule regarding prevailing wages for the H-2B guestworker program. The rule establishes a new methodology for calculating prevailing wages under the H-2B low-skilled, nonagricultural guestworker program. It took effect on April 24, the date it was published in the Federal Register.
On March 12, 2013, AGC submitted comments to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) concerning its proposal to collect information from workers about their employment experiences and knowledge of laws regarding the misclassification of independent contractors as employees. The proposed survey would involve prescreening nearly 18,000 households leading to over 10,000 interviews of workers from various industries over a two-year period. Since construction has often been mentioned by the WHD as an industry of focus with regard to worker misclassification enforcement, it is expected that construction workers will be targeted for survey participation.
On July 30, 2012, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued its decision in Banner Health System d/b/a Banner Estrella Medical Center, 358 N.L.R.B. No. 93 (2012), holding that an employer may not maintain a blanket rule prohibiting employees from discussing ongoing investigations of employee misconduct. In Banner Health, the Board rejected the employer’s argument that the confidentiality instruction was necessary to protect the integrity of its investigations and found the employer’s “generalized concern” insufficient to outweigh employees’ rights under Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act. Instead, the Board concluded, in every investigation, an employer must identify a specific need to protect witnesses, avoid spoliation of evidence or fabrication of testimony, or prevent a cover-up, before instructing employees to maintain confidentiality. Consequently, in the Board’s view, the blanket confidentiality instruction at issue in Banner Health violated the Act.
AGC Advocacy Efforts Help Bring Large Bipartisan Victory
On May 15, the Senate overwhelmingly passed its version of the Water Resources Development Act of 2013 (WRDA) by an 83-14 vote. Although the Senate passed the bill by a large, bipartisan margin, 14 senators voted against the bill. Those senators include: Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.), Richard Burr (R-N.C.), Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), Dean Heller (R-Nev.), Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Lee (R-Utah), John McCain (R-Ariz.), Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Tim Scott (R-S.C.). Please click here to thank or to express disappointment to your senators on their vote.
Today, the House of Representatives Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure passed legislation on a bipartisan basis to approve construction of the Keystone XL pipeline. The legislation, The Northern Route Approval Act (H.R. 3) was passed by a vote 33-24 with Democrats Cheri Bustos (Ill.) and Sean Patrick Maloney (N.Y.) joining all committee Republicans in voting yes. Congressman Dan Lipinski (D-Ill.) voted present.
The Senate Judiciary Committee continued consideration of S. 744, the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act. This week, the committee discussed sections dealing with temporary worker visas. The committee will meet tomorrow and again next week with the goal of finishing Committee consideration of S.744 before the week’s end. The bill mandates e-verify; requires photo identification as part of the documentation; eliminates the patchwork of local immigration laws; provides new avenues for legal immigration; and creates a legal status for undocumented workers currently in the United States. The bill also prohibits employers from “knowingly” hiring an undocumented worker. In addition, the bill includes a temporary worker program. However, the program places unique restrictions on the construction industry that prevent construction from fully utilizing the future temporary worker visa program. There was an effort this week to eliminate the arbitrary cap on the construction industry’s use of what are known as “W” visas. This amendment by Senator John Cornyn (R-Texas) was not adopted by the Committee.
AGC Seeking Further Member Input
The Occupational Health and Safety Administration’s (OSHA) Advisory Committee on Construction Safety and Health (ACCSH) recently released a revised version of a proposed health and safety checklist. ACCSH is seeking to mandate that federal contractors submit this checklist as a source selection evaluation factor for the award of contracts directly from the federal government.
On May 15, the Ways and Means Subcommittee on Select Revenue Measures (SRM) held a hearing on the small business and pass-through entity tax reform Discussion Draft, which was released on March 12 by Chairman Dave Camp (R-Mich.). The Committee released the Discussion Draft to solicit feedback on the details of the draft proposals, which the Committee intends to include as part of comprehensive tax reform legislation that broadens the tax base, lowers tax rates, and simplifies the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) for households, small businesses, and corporations.
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