ARRA.  The Department of Labor had to determine the prevailing wages for weatherization work in every county in the United States, and at the end of 2009, only 9,100 of the planned 593,000 homes were weatherized.  

Following the release of the GAO report, ABC March 3 sent a letter to all member of the U.S. Senate to support the Thune Amendment (S.A. 3338) to the Tax Extenders Act (H.R. 4213) that would have suspended the Davis-Bacon prevailing wage rate on federal construction projects in addition to expanding tax reductions to encourage small businesses to grow.  “By suspending Davis-Bacon for the remaining ARRA funds, the Thune Amendment will allow these dollars to get into the local economies expeditiously, and be competed for on a level playing field by all small business owners,” the letter stated.

HIGH ROAD CONTRACTING POLICY COULD RESHAPE FEDERAL CONTRACTING MARKET: According to the White House Middle-Class Task Force’s Feb. 26 annual report, the Obama administration is crafting a Responsible Federal Contracting Policy, also referred to as the High Road Contracting Policy, which will reshape the $500 billion federal contracting market.

 Under the proposed policy, federal contractors would face the possibility of being scored based on compliance with existing labor, wage, benefit, tax, regulatory and environmental laws as well cost, past performance and their ability to meet stated contract requirements.  “The provisions outlined in media reports – as well as in documents from the Center for American Progress, big labor and other special interest groups promoting this policy – fly in the face of free and open competition,” said Geoff Burr, ABC vice president of federal affairs.

“Large and small nonunion construction contractors and their skilled employees – which make up more than 85 percent of the U.S. construction workforce – are the backbone of America’s construction industry,” Burr said. “These hardworking men and women have a decades-long track record of meeting and exceeding existing government-determined wage and benefit laws, such as the Davis-Bacon Act, and contracting standards in the best-value evaluation process unique to the federal government’s procurement of construction services.”

“The lack of transparency and accountability in the creation of this so-called High Road Contracting Policy signals the administration's intention to reward big labor while needlessly discouraging competition from quality nonunion contractors and their employees who have delivered to the government and taxpayers the best possible product at the best possible price,” Burr noted.

The policy will affect all federal contractors, including the construction industry, and some reports indicate that the Department of Labor will create a new division to handle the additional work, although nothing has been confirmed by the White House or procurement officials familiar with this proposal

E-VERIFY FAILS TO CATCH MORE THAN HALF OF ILLEGAL WORKERS: The Department of Homeland Security’s U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Jan. 28 released a report stating that E-Verify wrongly authorizes about 54 percent of illegal immigrants to work in the United States.

 The study, conducted by Westat, a social science research firm contracted by USCIS to evaluate the usefulness of the E-Verify program, used data collected between September 2007 and June 2008.  Westat also found that employer participation in E-Verify has risen – approximately 184,000 of the 7 million to 8 million employers in the U.S. use E-Verify – and that the number of workers processed through E-Verify increased eight fold over the past three years.

Despite failing to catch more than half of all illegal immigrants, E-Verify is getting a boost from the Department of Homeland Security’s $56.3 billion fiscal year 2011 budget request.  The E-Verify program is scheduled to receive $103.4 million for increased monitoring and compliance efforts.  To read a summary of the report, click here.

WORKER COMPENSATION UPDATE: On January 13, a court in New Jersey issued a shocking decision involving worker compensation.  The case might be explained away because it was based in New Jersey, but probably not.  Unfortunately, this decision may be followed in Nebraska and around the country and it is a shocking result.  Briefly, a foreman for a plumbing company drove to a union hall where he was to meet with the union official concerning an upcoming job.  The union official was busy teaching a class and the plumbing foreman discovered that there was no coffee available at the union facility.  Since he had “time to kill,” the foreman headed off in search of a cup of coffee which he could carry back to the union hall.  After traveling approximately four miles and bypassing several restaurants on his way to the delicatessen he knew, the foreman was involved in an auto accident that left him with a broken arm and two broken legs.  The foreman filed a claim for worker compensation benefits and the plumbing company contested the claim arguing that it did not authorize the trip which resulted in the injuries.  The court rejected the company’s argument and concluded that the foreman could not be expected to remain at the union hall “with nothing to do” while waiting for the union official to finish the class “particularly when there was no coffee available at the site.”  In order to avoid getting caught up in a very expansive definition of the term “course of employment,” construction companies may wish to consider writing rules on travel which is allowed for the occasional coffee break.  Such rules may not, of course, completely overcome strange decision making in the field of worker compensation benefits, but in light of this decision, it might be a smart thing to do.                                                  By Bill Harding, Chapter Attorney

Training Classes

Management & Safety Class Schedule

FEBRUARY & MARCH 2010

OSHA 10 Hour Class

OSHA requires a competent person on all job sites.  This course ensures that your people have the necessary training to comply with OSHA standards CFR

1926.32(f) for a competent person. Training includes OSHA Construction Standards CFR 29 1926, Scaffolds, Ladders and Stairways, Housekeeping, Personal Tools, Electrical Hazards, Fall Protection, Materials Handling, Hazardous Communications and much more!

**CFR 192 OSHA Regulations Book for the Construction Industry with new steel erection standards will be available for $25.00** each for class participants.

$135.00 each attendee – Member Price/$240.00 each attendee – Non-Member Price

¨      March 11, 2010 -– 7:00 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. – NORFOLK

¨      March 18, 2010 - – 7:00 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. – OMAHA

¨      March 24, 2010 - – 7:00 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. – LINCOLN

¨      March 31, 2010 - – 7:00 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. – OMAHA

First Aid/CPR Classes

$50.00 each attendee – Member Price/$60.00 each attendee – Non-Member

Recertification only - $40.00 each attendee – Member Price/$50.00 each attendee – Non-Member Price

¨  March 10, 2010 – 7:00 – 11:00 a.m. – NORFOLK

¨  March 18, 2010 – 1:00 – 5:00 p.m. – LINCOLN

¨  March 30, 2010 – 7:00 – 11:00 a.m. – OMAHA

Mobile Crane Safety Training

A workshop for all managers, supervisors, operators and riggers – presented by the Crane Institute of America.  Participants will learn what the crane standards  consist of.  This five day class will involve classroom time and actual hands on operation.  At the completion of the five day class applicants will have the opportunity to be certified for all three cranes.

$895.00 for first person from ABC Member Company, $825.00 for each additional person from ABC Member Company

$1,300.00 for each person from Non-Member Company

$450 for each recertification

¨  March 22 – 26,  2010 – 8:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. - LINCOLN

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Omaha Classes are held at the Education Center, 2602 Harney Street, Omaha

Lincoln Classes are held at the Training Center, 830 Westgate Blvd., Lincoln

PLEASE DUPLICATE THIS FORM FOR MULTIPLE CLASSES

Company:                                                                                         Address:                               Phone:                                                                                              Fax:               

Names (please print):                                                                                               Class/Date:                                                                                                                                                               Cost:                                     

                                                                                                                                  Class/Date:                                                                                                                                                               Cost:                                     

Names (please print):                                                                                              Class/Date:                                                                                                                                                             Cost:                                    

Return Registration Form and Check Payable to Associated Builders & Contractors

830 Westgate Blvd., Lincoln, NE  68528    FAX 402-477-4522

Email-debh@abcnebraska.org