The Supreme Court’s Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo decision should relieve concrete, construction and trucking interests of some uncertainties arising from federal agency rules or shield them when challenging such measures in federal courts. Loper plaintiffs questioned a Department of Commerce rule that hinged on authority indicated in Chevron U.S.A Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Counsel. That 1984 high court…
Read MoreAn Associated General Contractors of America and Louisiana AGC chapter suit filed in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana challenges the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council’s late-2023 final rule, per February 2022 White House executive order, mandating project labor agreements (PLA) on major federal construction work. The White House lacks the authority to impose sweeping labor policies that…
Read MoreThe Associated General Contractors of America followed up challenges noted here last month to a Federal Acquisition Regulatory (FAR) Council rule requiring Project Labor Agreements (PLA) on federal construction contracts exceeding $35 million. By offering perspectives on competition, federal labor and procurement statutes, and taxpayer dollar stewardship, the group exposes the dubious nature of what its counsel calls the PLA…
Read MoreIf major construction project permitting, workforce and procurement challenges were not enough, the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council has injected additional complications by making good on a White House directive requiring Project Labor Agreements on 100-plus contracts annually where federal funds exceed $35 million. Administration officials argue that PLAs promote economy and efficiency by eliminating the risk of delay associated with…
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A willingness to take a deep dive into ready mixed concrete production and revisit a tired National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) interpretation guided the highest court in the land to appropriate action in Glacier Northwest, Inc., dba CalPortland v. International Brotherhood Of Teamsters Local Union No. 174—a case we first examined here in December 2022. In last month’s 8-1 ruling,…
Read MoreThe U.S. Supreme Court is set to hear arguments this term involving one of the West Coast’s top cement, aggregate and ready mixed concrete players (note Government Affairs, page 11). CalPortland Co. counsel will demonstrate why justices should reverse a Washington State Supreme Court decision shielding International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 174 from liability in a 2017 Seattle plant stunt…
Read MoreSources: CP Staff; U.S. Supreme Court; Coalition for a Democratic Workplace CalPortland Co. has petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse the Washington State Supreme Court’s dismissal of a suit in which the cement, aggregate and concrete producer seeks restitution for property damage that International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 174 officers and members caused during commencement of a strike. Court…
Read MoreThe 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 MoreSources: National Labor Relations Board; CP staff
The NLRB has affirmed a May 2017 decision and order determining that the International Association of Bridge, Structural, Ornamental, and Reinforcing Iron Workers, Local 229, San Diego, violated the National Labor Relations Act in activities tied to picketing a Temecula, Calif., construction site.
Read MoreNational Labor Relations Board Administrative Law Judge Melissa Olivero has ordered Champaign Builders Supply Co. principals to bargain with Teamsters Local 26, Champaign, Ill., regarding the effects of the company’s September 2013 closing of a ready mixed plant staffed by a driver, yard staff and loader operator unit.
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