Author: agcnews

The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) has issued an interim final rule implementing the special financial assistance provisions of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) to assist financially troubled multiemployer pension plans. (Click here for more background on ARPA’s multiemployer pension provisions.) The interim final rule outlines the following aspects of the special finance assistance (SFA), which are discussed in greater detail below: The rule was published on July 12 and became effective upon publication, although the PBGC indicated that it may revise the rule based on public comments due by August 11, 2021. Based on early feedback to the rule from…

Negotiators conducting collective bargaining between January and June of this year agreed to raise construction craft workers’ wage and fringe benefits by an average of 2.6 percent or $1.57 during the first contract year, according to the Construction Labor Research Council’s (CLRC) latest Settlements Report. This compares to 2.8 percent or $1.58 for the same period in 2020 and 2.8 percent or $1.62 for all of 2020. The latest data reflect a continuation of a slightly downward trend in increases that began last year, following several consecutive years of higher increases. CLRC notes, however, that the average dollar increase negotiated…

New York, Wyoming Post the Worst Job Losses Since February 2020, As Utah and Idaho Add the Most; New York and Vermont Iowa Have Biggest Declines in June, While Georgia and Kentucky Top Gainers Construction employment in June remained below the levels reached before the pre-pandemic peak in February 2020 in 39 states, according to an analysis by the Associated General Contractors of America of government employment data released today. Association officials noted that many construction firms are struggling to cope with supply chain challenges and rising materials prices, which is undermining demand for new projects and impacting firms’ ability to hire new…

In part two of this series, we explore how artificial intelligence (AI) can streamline critical construction project workflows by automating time-consuming and repetitive processes like building a submittal log and tracking changes to specs over the course of a project. Bryan Rumple of Mortenson and Sameer Merchant of Autodesk Construction Solutions discuss document management challenges and how AI technology can improve productivity and reduce project risk. Guests:Bryan Rumple, Lead Project Management Controls Engineer at Mortensonwww.mortenson.com/ Sameer Merchant – VP of product development at Autodesk Construction Solutionsconstruction.autodesk.com/ About Pype: pype.io/ Pype, part of Autodesk Construction Cloud, is a suite of construction software…

On July 14, AGC outlined its priorities for the bipartisan infrastructure package to the group of bipartisan senators who are drafting the legislation. In addition to significant investments in physical infrastructure, AGC calls for investing in the construction workforce, streamlining the federal environmental review and permitting process, improving the construction supply chain, as well as ensuring provisions restricting the expansion of highway capacity are not included. AGC and industry stakeholders continue to meet with the Senate offices working on this legislation to highlight construction industry priorities. The timing for when the legislation will be released and ultimately voted on continues to be…

AGC recently submitted extensive comments on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) draft 2022 National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Construction General Permit and supporting materials, based on member input. AGC addressed the construction industry’s main concerns with EPA’s proposed CGP and offered recommendations on how to improve it in communications with the agency’s construction stormwater leads through e-mails, conference calls, and, most recently, via AGC’s comment letter (as well as part of a coalition effort). To the extent that EPA adopts more stringent permit provisions, it affects construction firms everywhere because states that run their own stormwater permit programs generally follow EPA’s lead in adopting…

Construction Officials Caution that Rising Materials Prices Threaten to Undermine the Economic Recovery as Many Construction Firms are Unable to Capitalize on the Economic Re-Opening and Add New Staff Unprecedented price increases for a wide range of goods and services used in construction pushed up contractors’ costs by a devastating 26.3 percent from June 2020 to June 2021, according to an analysis by the Associated General Contractors of America of government data released today. Association officials cautioned that rising materials prices are making it difficult for many construction firms to benefit from the re-opening of the economy, undermining the sector’s ability to…

Association Officials Note that Labor and Supply Chain Issues are Leading to Project Delays that May be Undermining Recovering Demand for Nonresidential Construction Projects, Call for Relief Measures Construction employment declined by 7,000 between May and June as the industry still employs 238,000 fewer people than before the pandemic, according to an analysis by the Associated General Contractors of America of government data released today. Association officials said that job losses in the nonresidential construction sector offset modest monthly gains in residential construction as many firms struggle with worker shortages, supply chain disruptions and rising materials prices. “It is hard…

The deadline to submit and certify 2019 and 2020 EEO-1 Component 1 data HAS BEEN CHANGED. The new filing deadline is NOW Monday, August 23, 2021. 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) announced the opening of the 2019 and 2020 EEO-1 Component 1 data collection on April 26, 2021. The EEO-1 is an annual survey that requires all private employers with 100 or more employees and federal government contractors or first-tier subcontractors with 50 or more employees and a contract/subcontract…

Despite the ongoing recovery from the pandemic, the construction industry is expected to experience low unemployment with little expectation that the current domestic workforce can alone meet future employment demand. Compounding the workforce challenges in the industry, currently the nation’s system provides the high-tech sector, agricultural businesses, and seasonal employers with options for legal, work authorized immigrants however it does not for the construction Industry. On June 30, the AGC-backed Workforce for an Expanding Economy Act was recently introduced in the House and would allow contractors to hire year-round construction guest workers, who otherwise have no legal immigration avenue; provide industries, like…