The Labor Department Wage and Hour Division (WHD) will open a public comment period for its formal Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, “Updating the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts Regulations” (DBRA). Regulatory changes outlined will improve WHD’s ability to administer and enforce DBRA labor standards on federally funded construction projects more effectively and efficiently, officials contend, and include: Creating efficiencies in the…
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Construction coalition counters project labor agreement scheme
The Associated Builders and Contractors, National Ready Mixed Concrete Association, and 13 other industry organizations—collectively representing tens of thousands of companies and millions of employees—oppose a recent White House move to require government-mandated project labor agreements (PLA) on federal or federally assisted construction contracts. “We applaud the administration’s leadership to improve and build new roads, bridges, schools, affordable housing and…
Read MoreInspector resistance proves futile for “Show Me State” aggregate operator
A federal district court judge issued an injunction to prevent Missouri’s Partridge Sand & Gravel Inc. from stopping Mine Safety and Health Administration representatives from completing workplace inspections. The action addresses an August 2021 incident where owner Westley Partridge used loading equipment filled with rock and dirt to force MSHA inspectors’ vehicle off the road, then verbally harassed them before…
Read MoreFoundation boosts US Brick employees’ quest to decertify Teamsters local
The National Right to Work Legal Defense and Education Foundation Inc. is assisting employees at US Brick Holdings’ Mooresville, Ind. clay brick and mine operation in their pursuit of a National Labor Relations Board-administered vote to decertify Teamsters Local 135, Indianapolis, as collective bargaining representative for the site’s 33-member unit. Based in Springfield, Va., the Foundation has filed a Request…
Read MorePCA informs federal government of industry decarbonization realities
Federal policy is vital to accelerate deployment of technologies that can curtail industrial sector carbon dioxide emissions, Portland Cement Association asserts in response to the U.S. Department of Energy Advanced Manufacturing Office’s (AMO) “Request for Information on Industrial Decarbonization Priorities.” Absent strong support from Washington, D.C., an AMO timeline to reach carbon neutrality across industry is unrealistic due to technical,…
Read MoreEPA campaign targets commercial building energy efficiency
New U.S. Environmental Protection Agency initiatives will provide policymakers and commercial building owners resources to reduce emissions from more than 6 million commercial and multifamily buildings. Through decades of partnership with EPA’s Energy Star program, private and public building owners have significantly reduced their emissions and energy costs by improving their properties’ energy efficiency and performance. Many cities and states…
Read MoreEPA campaign targets commercial building energy efficiency
New U.S. Environmental Protection Agency initiatives will provide policymakers and commercial building owners resources to reduce emissions from more than 6 million commercial and multifamily buildings. Through decades of partnership with EPA’s Energy Star program, private and public building owners have significantly reduced their emissions and energy costs by improving their properties’ energy efficiency and performance. Many cities and states…
Read MoreABC counters administration’s PLA, union organizing push
In light of White House “Build Back Better” ambitions, Associated Builders and Contractors Vice President of Regulatory, Labor and State Affairs Ben Brubeck questions a new executive order encouraging project labor agreement (PLA) mandates on federal construction contracts exceeding $35 million. “The policy will not help America; instead, it will exacerbate the industry’s skilled workforce shortage, needlessly increase construction costs…
Read MoreWhat Buy Clean means for the concrete industry
And how concrete producers can capitalize on the federal government’s changing policy landscape In December 2021, the White House issued an executive order focused on reducing emissions across federal government properties. The order introduces a “Buy Clean” meant to reduce carbon emissions arising from the production or manufacturing and use of building materials. For the first time, suppliers of concrete…
Read MoreCensus population figures confirm Southern states’ momentum
According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Vintage 2021 national and state population estimates and components of change, the population of the United States grew in the past year by 392,665, or 0.1 percent, the lowest rate since the nation’s founding. The slow rate of growth can be attributed to decreased net international migration, decreased fertility, and increased mortality due in…
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