According to the latest Contractor Compensation Quarterly (CCQ) published by PAS, Inc., construction support staff wages are to rise by an average 3.4% by 2018 year end and pay increases have been fairly consistent the past few years. The prediction is based on data gathered from over 165 companies in the 15th edition of PAS鈥檚 Construction Support Staff Salary Survey. Though the projected 2018 increase is 3.4% for administrative and technical support, it is pointed out that historically support staff predictions are low, so year-end 2018 might look similar to 2017 and come in with a 3.5% increase.
On December 27, 2018, in IBEW Local 357 (Desert Sun Enterprises), the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued a decision reaffirming its longstanding rule that, when a union notifies a neutral employer of its intent to picket a primary employer (the employer with which it has a direct dispute) at a site where both employers are operating, the union must include assurances that it that the picketing will conform to the NLRB鈥檚 Moore Dry Dock standards. The decision is consistent with an amicus brief filed by AGC and is important for contractors and owners.
The Union Contractors Committee will host a session during AGC of America鈥檚 2019 Annual Convention called the 鈥淪tate of the (Operating Engineers) Union鈥 featuring guest speaker Jim Callahan, general president of the International Union of Operating Engineers. The session is scheduled for April 3 at 3:00 p.m. and is open to all convention registrants. The convention will take place April 1-4 in Denver, CO.
The National Labor Relations Board鈥檚 current joint employer standard has received a mixed review from a federal circuit court. The decision is disappointing to AGC, which sought reversal of the standard in an amicus brief in the case, but it provides some valuable guidance on how courts may evaluate the Board鈥檚 ongoing rulemaking efforts.
Expands Employer and Employee Insurance Options
AGC recently submitted official comments on a Department of Labor (DOL) proposed rulemaking intended to make it easier for smaller businesses to band together and offer retirement plans to employees. As outlined in the response, AGC appreciates the DOL鈥檚 efforts to increase retirement coverage through expanding access to Multiple Employer Plans (MEPs) for small businesses (which describes the vast majority of firms in the construction industry) and recommends that the Department further reduce barriers and liabilities of participating in a MEP, such as the joint liability for the qualification failures of every other employer in the MEP (known as the 鈥渙ne bad apple rule鈥). Additionally, AGC urges the DOL to be mindful of Chapter provided retirement plans, especially those that currently exist today, and take the necessary steps to ensure that the proposed modifications to current law do not arbitrarily disrupt the quality retirement options that these arrangements consistently provide.
Collective bargaining negotiations settled from January through September of 2018 resulted in an average first-year increase in wages and benefits of 3.0 percent or $1.70, and a median of 2.6 percent or $1.43, according to the Construction Labor Research Council鈥檚 (CLRC鈥檚) latest Settlements Report.
Enrollment in E-Verify is a mandatory subject of bargaining, the National Labor Relations Board (鈥淣LRB鈥 or 鈥淏oard鈥) recently held, and an employer committed unfair labor practice when it unilaterally enrolled without notify its workers鈥 union and offering an opportunity to bargain.
On Nov. 1, 2018, members of AGC of America鈥檚 Union Contractors Steering Committee and other AGC leaders and staff held a lunch meeting with several leaders of the building trades in Washington, DC. Participants discussed a variety of matters currently of concern to union contractors and labor.