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State Construction Unemployment Drops Drastically From a Year Ago, NYS Still Lags Behind 48 States
ALBANY, N.Y., Feb. 7 – The not seasonally adjusted construction unemployment rate for New York state plunged 6.4% in December 2021 from a year ago, down from 15.9 percent to 9.5 percent. In comparison, the national rate dropped to 5 percent, down 4.6 percent from where it was a year ago according to a state-by-state…
ABC Statement: 2022 State of the State
GOV.’S PLAN FOR INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT LONG OVERDUE, STATE MUST REFRAIN FROM PLAs A Statement from ABC Empire State Chapter President Brian Sampson “It’s great news to hear that Gov. Hochul has plans to invest and rebuild New York’s crumbling infrastructure. It’s long overdue and something we have been calling for, for years. Let’s be clear,…
OSHA Emergency Temporary Standard Update
1/11/2022 8:00 AM As of this posting , the Supreme Court has not yet issued a decision on the appeal to reinstitute a stay of the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) COVID-19 Vaccination and Testing Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS), which applies to employers with 100 or more employees. Effective Jan.…
ABC Unveils Safety Technology Guide
WASHINGTON, Dec. 6-Associated Builders and Contractors today issued its online Safety Technology Guide, a resource for contractors looking to implement construction technology for the best possible safety performance. “Executing on ABC’s commitment to world-class safety on jobsites requires ABC member contractors to continuously innovate,” said Matt Abeles, ABC vice president of construction technology and innovation. “To…
Study Examines Cost of PLAs to Nonunion Workers and Employers:
ABC issued a press release calling attention to a new report that highlights the negative economic impact of controversial government-mandated project labor agreements on nonunion construction workers, who comprise 87.3% of the construction industry workforce. The study found that the limited number of nonunion craft professionals permitted to work on construction projects subject to a government-mandated…
ABC Underscores the Negative Impact of Encouraging Government-Mandated PLAs in Treasury Rulemaking
On July 15, ABC called for changes to the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s interim final rule encouraging project labor agreements and other anti-competitive and costly labor policies on certain state and local projects funded by the American Recovery Plan Act of 2021. Treasury issued the May 17 rulemaking, titled Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds, along with its Compliance and…
America desperately needs 1 million more construction workers
The construction industry shut down for a few months last year during the pandemic — but was quickly deemed essential, allowing paused projects to continue. But in that short time, the sector lost more than 1 million workers. The industry has recouped nearly 80% of its workforce since then, but is still down 238,000 workers from pre-pandemic levels as of June, according to the Labor Department.
ABC to Senate: The PRO Act Is a Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing
“Make no mistake: the PRO Act is a wolf in sheep’s clothing, and the American public deserves to know that it is nothing more than an attempt to strip workers of their privacy, freedom and choice.
Pro Act Update
The Biden administration released an executive order last Friday on promoting competition in the American economy that continues the president’s efforts to push for passage of the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act.
NYS DOL Releases Construction Airborne Infectious Disease Prevention Standard
Due to the recently enacted Hero Act, the New York State Department of Labor issued compliance standards that all employers must adhere to, relative to preventing airborne infectious diseases. Employers have 30 days to review and adopt these new standards. You can read the construction industry standards by clicking this link: https://dol.ny.gov/system/files/documents/2021/07/construction-exposure-prevention-plan-p765b.pdf Key Takeaways: Employers…