ABC OPPOSES EXPANDING DAVIS-BACON TO SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION: ABC, May 13 sent a letter to members of the U.S. House of Representatives opposing H.R. 2187, the “21st Century Green High-Performing Public School Facilities Act,” that would expand Davis-Bacon prevailing wage requirements to school construction projects.
“We believe the foundation for our children’s future is education, and that foundation begins in the walls of our nation’s schools,” ABC stated. However, the letter pointed out that imposing Davis-Bacon provisions on school construction would erode that foundation by expanding a wage determination process that is expensive and inaccurate.
A series of audits by outside agencies as well as the Department of Labor’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) suggest that the wage determinations are vulnerable to fraud, and a 2004 report released by OIG found one or more errors in nearly 100 percent of the wage surveys reviewed, according to the letter.
The letter also noted that in addition to limiting opportunities for minorities and small businesses, Davis-Bacon provisions make projects between 5 and 38 percent more expensive. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the Davis-Bacon Act is costing taxpayers more than $9.5 billion between 2002 and 2011 relative to the 2001 appropriations, and $10.5 billion relative to 2001 appropriations adjusted for inflation. “Expanding a wage determination process that has been proven to be flawed is unfair to the taxpayer and businesses, as well as parents and students who suffer the consequences as scarce resources are used inefficiently,” ABC stated. “Any Davis-Bacon costs from this legislation will be directly passed on to the taxpayers in these school districts, coming at the direct expense of education dollars for children in classrooms.”
ABC LAUNCHES WEBSITE ON CONTROVERSIAL PUBLICLY FUNDED PLAS:ABC May 7 launched a new website, TheTruthAboutPLAs.com, designed to track and disseminate news and information about the detrimental effects of union-only, publicly funded construction project labor agreements (PLAs). Publicly funded PLAs are contracts that effectively restrict open shop contractors and their employees – comprising more than 84 percent of the construction workforce – from bidding and working on construction projects. In addition, publicly funded PLAs unnecessarily increase the costs of construction projects paid for by taxpayers, as well as discriminate against women and minorities. TheTruthAboutPLAs.com will provide the latest news from the mainstream media and construction industry publications on publicly funded PLAs; highlight academic studies and public opinion data; link to state government resources on industry statistics, as well as political and economic information; and support a blog by U.S. construction industry experts.
“Publicly funded project labor agreements have a far-reaching negative impact on the open shop contracting community, taxpayers and the economy. However, that information has not been discussed in an interactive public forum – until now,” said ABC President and CEO Kirk Pickerel. “This new website provides an opportunity to keep construction professionals; federal, state and local legislators; the media; and the general public informed on the direct effect publicly funded PLAs have on their lives and their checkbooks.” TheTruthAboutPLAs.com was developed in response to President Obama’s misguided Executive Order 13502 that promotes the use of publicly funded project labor agreements on federal government contracts exceeding $25 million. TheTruthAboutPLAs.comwill dispel many of the myths surrounding the use of publicly funded PLAs, including arguments that these contracts eliminate work stoppages or strikes; guarantee a local workforce; guarantee projects are completed on time and on budget; and control the cost and the quality of the project and workforce.
NONRESIDENTIAL CONSTRUCTION JOB LOSS SLOWS IN APRIL: The pace of layoffs in the nonresidential building construction sector slowed in April, according to a May 8 employment report by the U.S. Department of Labor. The total number of jobs declined by 9,100 last month in comparison to the 10,600 job loss in March. Nonresidential construction employment has lost 87,700 jobs since the same time last year and now stands at 748,600. “The latest employment report indicates that the nation lost more than half a million jobs in April and revisions to earlier months bring that number to more than 600,000,” said ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu. “Normally, this would be viewed as very bad news, but some observers are interpreting the latest jobs numbers as additional evidence of economic stabilization.”
The nation’s residential building construction sector lost 12,600 jobs in April, a less dramatic decline compared to the 17,500 jobs lost in March. Since April 2008, residential building construction has lost 146,600 jobs. Total private construction employment, which includes specialty trade contractors, lost 110,000 jobs in April – much lower than the 135,000 jobs lost in March. On a year-over-year basis, the construction industry has lost nearly 1 million jobs. “While the pace of the job loss continues to be brisk and unemployment will likely peak around or above 10 percent before reversing course, the employment report is consistent with a sea of other recently released economic data that foreshadow a slow economic recovery,” added Basu.
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