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Tag: Associated Builders & Contractors

Contractors welcome Trump’s take on apprenticeship, vocational training programs

Concrete News

Sources: U.S. Department of Labor; Associated Builders & Contractors, Washington, D.C.

With an eye to reducing regulatory burdens on workforce development, one of President Donald Trump’s latest Executive Orders calls on the Secretary of Labor, in consultation with Department of Education and Commerce counterparts, to propose regulations promoting development of apprenticeship programs by industry, trade or nonprofit groups, unions and joint labor-management organizations. It also directs the Commerce and Labor departments to promote apprenticeships to business leaders in manufacturing and infrastructure sectors.

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Obama’s contractor ‘blacklisting rule’ bites dust with stroke of Trump pen

Concrete News

Sources: White House Briefing Room; Associated Builders & Contractors, Washington, D.C.; CP staff

President Donald Trump has signed House Joint Resolution 37, which rolls back his predecessor’s Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces Executive Order 13673 and relieves federal contractors and subcontractors of onerous paperwork and compliance terms attending what critics called the “blacklisting rule.”

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Hearing calls for infrastructure outlays, GOP budget hawks target Davis-Bacon

Concrete News

Sources: Associated Builders & Contractors, Washington, D.C.; CP staff

Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) and Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) have introduced companion bills in the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate to repeal Davis-Bacon Act prevailing wage requirements in federally funded highway construction.

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Construction economist assesses slowing private work stability

Concrete News

An Associated Builders & Contractors analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data shows seasonally adjusted, annualized spending of $687 billion in August, 1.1 percent and 1.3 percent lower than prior month and August 2015 levels, respectively. Four of the five largest nonresidential subsectors—power, highway and street, commercial and manufacturing—combined to fall 2.2 percent on a monthly basis in August 2016.

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CONTRACTORS: RULE HARMS COMPETITION, SMALL BUSINESS

Concrete News

The Associated Builders & Contractors and Associated General Contractors of America have been among the most vocal “Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces” critics since President Obama added it to his expansive executive order roster in June 2014. Response to the Labor Department and Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council announcement of a final rule implementing the order show neither group changing its tune.

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Leading construction economist assesses slowing private, nonresidential work

Concrete News

Sources: Associated Builders & Contractors, Washington, D.C.; CP staff

Nonresidential construction fell for a second consecutive month. An ABC analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data shows seasonally adjusted, annualized spending of $687 billion in August, 1.1 percent and 1.3 percent lower than prior month and August 2015 levels, respectively. Four of the five largest nonresidential subsectors—power, highway and street, commercial and manufacturing—combined to fall 2.2 percent on a monthly basis in August 2016.

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Lead construction economists confirm private sectors’ near-term growth prospects

Concrete News

Source: Associated Builders and Contractors, Washington, D.C.

The Associated Builders & Contractors, American Institute of Architects and National Association of Home Builders chief economists assembled in Washington, D.C., for a mid-year market forecast, outlining stable to strong residential and commercial project activity through 2017.

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Appellate Court rejects challenge to union-tailored ‘ambush’ election rule

Concrete News
AEM

The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals issued a decision rejecting an Associated Builders & Contractors challenge to the National Labor Relations Board’s controversial “ambush” election final rule. ABC General Counsel Maury Baskin of Littler Mendelson P.C. in Washington, D.C., argued the case on behalf of ABC of Texas, the Central Texas Chapter of ABC, and National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) Texas earlier this year in New Orleans.

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Incident reduction secondary in rewrite of OSHA reporting, anti-retaliation rules

Don Marsh

By Don Marsh

An Associated Builders & Contractors-led lawsuit filed last month adds perspective to the curious Occupational Safety and Health Administration case noted here in April, where United States Steel Corp. found itself on the defensive for a zero tolerance policy on delayed workplace injury reporting. The ABC action spotlights anti-retaliation measures the agency applied to the Pittsburgh-based steelmaker.

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