ABC frowns on proposal to open OSHA inspections to third-party reps

Sources: Associated Builders and Contractors, Washington, D.C.; CP staff The Associated Builders and Contractors has outlined opposition to a Department of Labor-proposed rule, Worker Walkaround Representative Designation Process, that would allow an employee to choose a third-party individual, such as an outside union representative, to accompany an Occupational Safety and Health Administration inspector in nonunion facility visits.

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Survey confirms Davis-Bacon prevailing wage scheme’s inflationary impact

Sources: Associated Builders and Contractors, Washington, D.C.; CP staff The Department of Labor’s flawed method of calculating “prevailing wages” under the 91-year-old Davis-Bacon Act adds at least 7.2 percent to the cost of federal and federally assisted construction projects and inflates wages by 20.2 percent compared to local market averages, according to a new report from the Beacon Hill Institute,…

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Concrete contractor backpay order approaches $1 million

A judgment in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York orders Macedo Construction Inc., Macedo Contracting Services Inc., Odecam Concrete Supply Corp. and Manuel Macedo. to pay 99 workers a total of $987,591 in back wages and liquidated damages, plus $53,249 in civil penalties to the Department of Labor (DOL).  The action settles charges of willful…

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Iron Workers case shapes New York precast erector’s bargaining unit

National Labor Relations Board Regional Director (RD) Kathy Drew-King has determined a craft unit within the site crew of Kingston, N.Y.-based NYC Crane Hoist Operations LLC, and directed an election for its 27 members to vote on representation by the United Derrickmen & Riggers Association, International Association of Bridge, Structural, Ornamental and Reinforcing Iron Workers Local 197. The Long Island…

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Overtime-pay accounting fails materials testing firm

Sources: U.S. Department of Labor; CP staff

Louisiana Testing and Inspection Inc. has entered an agreement with the Department of Labor Wage & Hour Division to resolve violations of Fair Labor Standards Act overtime and recordkeeping provisions. The Scott, La., concrete and soils specialist will pay $100,400 in back wages; an equal, additional amount in liquidated damages; plus $10,800 in civil penalties.

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Contractors welcome judge’s blocking of Obama overtime rule

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

A Department of Labor (DOL) Wage and Hour Division rule doubling the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) salary threshold for employees exempt from overtime pay—and automatically raising the bar on three-year intervals—will not take hold on a December 1 target, owing to a U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas preliminary injunction order.

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Constitutional protections thwart White House’s ‘blacklisting rule’

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

Free speech and due process protections in the First and Fifth Amendments of the Constitution frame a judge’s preliminary injunction order that prevents the Federal Acquisition Regulatory (FAR) Council from implementing key provisions of its final rule—plus companion Department of Labor (DOL) guidance—supporting President Barack Obama’s Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces Executive Order.

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Feds prevail in ERISA-rooted charges against Cement Masons local officials

Sources: U.S. Department of Labor; CP staff

The Labor Department characterizes a U.S. District Court for the Central District of California decision against a Cement Masons Southern California Trust Funds trustee and attorney as a “victory for whistleblowers.” The court found that trustee and Cement Masons Local 600 business manager Scott Brain and trust counsel Melissa Cook violated two Employee Retirement Income Security Act sections when they caused the firing of Cheryle Robbins and Cory Rice.

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Bending to OSHA, steel giant relaxes policy on timely reporting of plant incidents, injuries

Sources: Occupational Safety & Health Administration; CP staff

To settle a Department of Labor complaint alleging Occupational Safety and Health Act violations, Pittsburgh-based United States Steel Corp. has agreed to rescind its Immediate Reporting Policy regarding workplace injuries as well as disciplinary measures against three Pennsylvania and Ohio plant workers to whom it had been applied.

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