Welcome to the August 2014 Gregory Management & Consulting Services (GMCS) REGIONAL CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY UPDATE. As the dog days of summer kick in and everything seems to slow down, we see that the regional construction industry remains in full swing. GMCS recently participated in industry wide discussions to resolve a long standing project dispute here in our local marketplace. A dispute that involved many industry stakeholders that had escalated to include area legislators and concerned economic development professionals. Through our long standing and trusted relationships in labor and management, the application of collaborative engagement and open discussion, the project stakeholders reached a mutually acceptable resolution to this long standing dispute enabling this project, its contractors and employees to return to work quickly. GMCS is addressing and filling the industry leadership void, not through promising to be the voice for construction, but by providing a conduit for communication amongst the region’s employer associations, trades and industry stakeholders. GMCS nurtures a Culture of Collaboration, Communication and Cooperation amongst Contractors and Building Trades. While others seek to vacate the industry, GMCS remains committed to our contractors and our industry.
GMCS clients are continuously updated on industry jurisdictional trends and events taking place in the field; many associations and contractors continue to utilize our Contracted Labor & Industry Relations Services to successfully avoid disputes by partnering with a recognized, respected and experienced industry service provider like GMCS. We continue to be a conduit for communication amongst the region’s employer associations, trades and industry stakeholders. Many association members, national contractors and local contractors have come to rely on our professional and respected service when they need estimating, bidding and or project advice. Did you know that many national contractors that are interested in working within the Philadelphia marketplace contact GMCS for advice on establishing key relationships within the industry and its AEC community to gain a better understanding of the region’s collective bargaining agreements, language and contractor base? If you or your association isn’t working with GMCS, perhaps it’s time to reconsider?
Collaboration, communication and relationships are the keys to our success. GMCS has successfully been providing Contracted Labor & Industry Relations Services to associations, contractors and construction users throughout these tumultuous and challenging times. Our client’s success comes as a result of GMCS’s unique experience and industry relationships that enables GMCS to collaborate and communicate throughout the industry and to participate in the creation and implementation of project solutions that simply work.
Having successfully resolved hundreds of matters related to area collective bargaining agreements and contractors throughout the Philadelphia metropolitan, Lehigh Valley and the entire Mid-Atlantic region, GMCS has become the only recognized, educated, experienced and reliable source for labor & industry relation’s support. GMCS is the single, unbiased, industry wide provider of labor & industry relation’s support for the Mid-Atlantic region assuring information sharing, professional, educated and experienced support to the entire industry along with centralized labor event tracking, data sharing and a vendor that serves each association & contractor, not just a single association’s board of directors. This is the most effective and equitable model in management side construction labor relations. Association members interested in receiving these valuable and informative support services through their associations should contact their board of directors and request a free consultation. Independent contractor signatories and facility owners are urged to contact Wayne Gregory directly at GMCS, wegregory@gregorymcs.com. All industry associations and contractors will benefit significantly by centralizing their labor Relations through GMCS.
GMCS provides independent contracted Association Management and Labor & Industry Relations support to many of our associations, contractors, facility owners and industry stakeholders. We are focused on facilitating communication and collaboration amongst our construction employer associations, constructors, facility owners, building trades and governmental bodies with an emphasis on creating a centralized, focused community that actively promotes labor harmony, industry advancement, contractor opportunities and workforce development. Please accept this informative newsletter containing relevant industry topics that can impact your associations and organizations. GMCS is always available to provide clarification or additional information on any of the topics contained within.
This month’s newsletter is comprised of the most popular postings over the last 30 days on gregorymcs.blogspot.com. They are listed by the following categories: INDUSTRY, LABOR, OSHA, MULTIEMPLOYER PENSION PLANS, HUMAN RESOURCES. Additional topics and subject matter may be found on the GMCS companion blog @ gregorymcs.blogspot.com. GMCS continues to track relevant industry legislation and provide summary updates on its companion blog.
GMCS continues to provide an
annual legislative affairs subscription service that monitors and reports on
the daily activity of the PA General Assembly to Associations and organizations
in all industries throughout the Commonwealth.
This is accomplished through our specialized GLASS
Report’s product. Current GLASS
Report recipients include commercial &
residential contractor associations, labor organizations, transportation
management associations and local & regional governmental bodies. Associations and organizations that subscribe
to the GMCS GLASS Reports receive timely updates to each piece of legislation
impacting their organizations as they occur along with a listing of the bill’s
primary and co-sponsors. Please contact GMCS @ wegregory@gregorymcs.com to discuss
your organization’s needs and how you can benefit from this informative and
essential service.
INDUSTRY:
Where is Our Industry Headed?
Earlier this year, AGC of America conducted a survey of its members, who have a ‘glass half full’ outlook for 2014, in spite of growing worker shortages, rising costs and federal budget cuts. Many firms plan to start hiring again and most contractors predict demand will either grow or remain stable in virtually every market segment this year.
Read
more here…
GLASS Report: Legislative Action
Alert: Senate Bill 145: Regular Session 2013-2014 (UPDATED: July 10, 2014
-Approved by the Governor, July 9, 2014 Act No. 117)
An
Act amending the act of August 24, 1963 (P.L.1175, No.497), known as the
Mechanics' Lien Law of 1963, providing for the definition of "costs of
construction"; and further providing for right to lien and amount, for
priority of lien and for discharge or reduction of lien on payment into court
or entry of security.
Read
more here…
GLASS Report: Legislative Action
Alert: Senate Bill 1454: Regular Session 2013-2014
An
Act amending the act of October 13, 2010 (P.L.506, No.72), known as the
Construction Workplace Misclassification Act, further providing for
definitions, for improper classification of employees, for criminal penalties,
for administrative penalties, for stop-work orders, for procedure, for certain
agreement prohibited, for availability of information, for use of penalty
funds, for annual report required and for funding.
Read
more here…
Revenue Rises as Firms Pursue
Diverse Project Mix
As
public sector work continues its downward spiral, regional contractors are
filling revenue gaps with a much more diverse mixture of project types than in
recent years. While several large-scale energy and transportation projects
broke ground in and around New York City in 2013, most of industry's new
construction was sharply focused in the private sector, executives say. The
broader array of offerings, they add, is fueling industry growth and providing
work for more firms that struggled through the downturn.
Read
more here…
AGC's Simonson: Labor shortages
could occur
Associated
General Contractors of America’s Ken Simonson provided his comprehensive economic
outlook. Simonson, AGC’s chief economist, noted a recent construction outlook
survey shows two-thirds of respondents feel the overall construction market
will improve the rest of the year and into 2015.:
Read
more here…
Construction Industry Adds 6,000
Jobs in June as Sector’s Unemployment Rate Declines to 8.2 Percent - July 03,
2014
Despite
Recent Gains, Industry Employment is Still More than 1.7 Million Jobs Below
2006 Peak, Planned Federal Transportation Spending Cuts in August Threaten to
Undermine Sector's "Uneven" Recovery.
Read
more here…
Dale Corporation, JJ White,
Equinox Management & Construction, and Paiz Construction and the
Metropolitan Regional Council of Carpenters partner to build Six Homes in 3
Days For deserving Philadelphia Families
Dozens
of volunteers will spend the next three days hammering away in South
Philadelphia, as they help build six new townhomes for families in need.
“I’ve
been helping put up siding, floors, painting, drywall,” said said one partner
homeowner, who was dressed in jeans and a hard hat.
Read
more here…
Highway construction industry
takes online approach to look for new hires
After
years in the doldrums, Pennsylvania's highway construction industry is
rebounding to the point where at least one trade organization is recruiting
prospective workers with online "virtual apprenticeships."
Read
more here…
City of Philadelphia Regulations
For Construction Signage – Building Permit Applications Submitted After June
30, 2014
Read more here…
BIM Evolved:
'Prefab' construction moves into mainstream
With
advances in computer-aided design, big contractors have embraced the use of
prefabricated building components.
Prefabrication
— a decades-old concept for saving money and time in construction once
dismissed as synonymous with low quality — is making a huge comeback in an era
when advances in computer-aided design have reinvented the idea into an
indispensable tool for some of the biggest commercial building project
Read
more here…
BIM Evolved:
‘Laminated expansion’ improves hospital experience - Heavy use of BIM helped
optimize efficiency.
The
University of Virginia Medical Center in Charlottesville took a novel approach
when expanding an existing patient tower. Rather than adding a wing, the
Building Team attached an eight-story, 127,000-sf expansion to the front
façade. Curtain wall façade brings new
levels of natural light to patient rooms in an unusual vertical addition.
Read
more here…
BIM Evolved: 5D BIM Model
Implemented - Punishing deadline can’t derail this prison health facility
A
massive scope, tough schedule, and technical complexity fail to daunt the
Building Team for a huge California correctional project.
Tight
schedules and near-impossible deadlines are nothing new in the AEC world. But
the Building Team for the California Health Care Facility in Stockton, Calif.,
faced especially alarming consequences for failure.
Read
more here…
A
mid-year report on the metropolitan area’s multifamily sector shows there are
signs of rising vacancy rates, lower rents as well as some degree of worry
about how many units under construction can get absorbed and whether rents can
keep up.
Read
more here…
ECRI Institute Launches Online
Infection Control Course to Improve Healthcare Construction Safety
Infection
Control Risk Assessment (ICRA) for Healthcare Construction Activities provides
e-learning platform to help busy contractors and builders obtain important
safety certification.
This
workshop teaches practical use of infection control risk assessments (ICRA) and
management techniques. Seminars feature presentations and exercises that allow
you to gain hands-on experience or hone your ICRA and management skills
applying to construction in the hospital setting.
Read
more here….
Economic Impacts of Commercial Real Estate, 2014 Edition - 96 Page, Detailed Report
The
commercial construction sector continued its recovery in 2013, and forecasts
for 2014 project accelerating construction spending in office, retail,
commercial, health care and manufacturing facilities.
Combining
the economic contributions of new development with operation of existing buildings
in 2013, direct expenditures of $258.5 billion, resulted in the following
economic contributions in the U.S. economy:
·
Contributed
$747.25 billion to U.S. GDP (or 4.45 percent of GDP);
·
Generated
$236.8 billion in personal earnings; and
·
Supported
a total of 5.7 million jobs
Read
more here….
Architecture Billings Index (ABI) Showing Increasing Momentum
The
Architecture Billings Index (ABI) is signaling improving conditions for the
overall design and construction industry. As a leading economic indicator of
construction activity, the ABI reflects the approximate nine to twelve month
lead time between architecture billings and construction spending. The American
Institute of Architects (AIA) reported the June ABI score was 53.5, up from a
mark of 52.6 in May. This score reflects an increase in design activity (any
score above 50 indicates an increase in billings). The new projects inquiry
index was 66.4, up noticeably from the reading of 63.2 the previous month and
its highest level in a calendar year
Read
more here…
LABOR:
The Cordish Companies and Penn National Gaming Announce Union Agreements
for Construction and Operation of Live
The Cordish Companies
("Cordish") and Penn National Gaming, Inc. (PENN: Nasdaq) ("Penn
National") announced today that they have signed agreements with the
Hudson Valley Building and Construction Trades Council and the Hotel and Motel
Trades Council, AFL-CIO to work together to foster economic development in
South Blooming Grove, Orange County, and the Catskills/Hudson Valley Region.
Read more here…
Move to boost number of minority construction workers in Jersey City
Legislation Jersey City is
linking up with organized labor and a pair of developers to help boost the
number of minority construction workers in the city and cultivate new career
opportunities for residents.
In cooperation with the New
Jersey Laborers Union, the Jersey City Employment and Training Program is
holding a recruitment drive that will enroll 80 Jersey City residents in the
Laborers’ Union Apprentice Program, a two-year training initiative and
apprenticeship.
Read more here…
State of the Unions
U.S.
labor unions have been reeling for four decades under mostly conservative
leadership that has pushed — and succeeded in several states — to pass
anti-union measures.
In
Pennsylvania, which remains a union stronghold, a flurry of punches under Gov.
Tom Corbett and the Republican majority has kept organized labor on the ropes.
Read
more here…
State of the Unions: Construction apprentices in Pa
There
are nearly 11,000 active apprentices in Pennsylvania, including more than 7,700
in a construction-related trade, according to the state Department of Labor and
Industry.
The
Finishing Trades Institute of the Mid-Atlantic Region cites a unionization rate
of about 82 percent in the construction and building trades.
“Apprenticeship
numbers, in general, are low now, mostly because construction programs make up
the majority of apprenticeship in the state, and the construction industry has
been deeply affected by the down economy for the last five years,” said Mike
Schurr, FTI's education director.
Read
more here…
National Labor Relations Board and OSHA partner to extend Whistleblower
reporting deadlines on site safety complaints.
OSHA
has issued a Decision on Referring Untimely 11(c) Complainants to the National
Labor Relations Board (Decision), OM-14-60 (May 21, 2014).
Whistleblowers
that fail to file safety complaints with OSHA within the mandatory 30 day
timeline will be notified by the National Labor Relations Board of their right
to file a similar charge with the NLRB.
Read
more here…
Teamsters Ratify New Pipeline Construction Agreement: New Three-Year
Contract Increases Wages, Benefits
An overwhelming
majority of Teamster local unions that represent pipeline construction workers
in the United States voted in favor of a new three-year contract, the Teamsters
Union announced today. The contract covers about 4,000 Teamsters.
Read more here…
Regional Collective Bargaining Settlement
Sheets available:
GMCS has compiled a detailed settlement report defining the regional trade
settlements from last year’s collective bargaining as well as detailing the
previously negotiated settlements for trades and associations. Copies are
available to associations engaged in regional negotiations. Please
contact GMCS at wegregory@gregorymcs.com
today for instructions on how to receive your copy.
GMCS is the Philadelphia Region’s Leading Labor Relations Solutions Provider:
A recent study by the Center for Construction Research and
Training indicates that work site conflict costs, on average,
$11,000.00 per incident. GMCS provides contracted labor relations
services to many of the region’s employer associations, contractors, facility
owners and industry stakeholders helping you to avoid those costly
conflicts. With two
levels of affordable annual agreements costing less than 50% of the cost of an
average conflict, contracted
labor relations services can help your organization stay on schedule and
budget.
Contact wegregory@gregorymcs.com for your
consultation today.
Unions take PA Convention Center fight to the state
The Carpenters
union has filed an unfair labor practices charge with the Pennsylvania Labor
Relations Board after the National Labor Relations Board dismissed the charge,
citing a lack of jurisdiction over the case.
Read more here…
Workload threatens to paralyze labor board
The National
Labor Relations Board (NLB) has identified scores of decisions that must be
revisited in the wake of last month’s Supreme Court finding that President
Obama appointed members to the board in violation of the Constitution.
The task
threatens to serve as a major roadblock in the labor board’s drive to shape
national labor policy in the waning years of the Obama administration, experts
say.
Read more here…
WTI Predicts Better Wage Growth for Most U.S. Workers
Stronger wage
gains are on the horizon for most U.S. workers, according to the final
second-quarter Wage Trend Indicator™ (WTI) released today by Bloomberg BNA, a
leading publisher of specialized news and information.
The index rose
to 99.12 (second quarter 1976 = 100) from 98.92 in the first quarter, marking
the third straight increase.
Read more here…
OSHA & SAFETY:
Boom Truck Operator
Electrical Safety PSA:
The following is A MUST-WATCH for every GMCS client that owns
and or operates a boom truck. This
simple reminder to your employees during a
weekly toolbox talk could be all that it takes to avoid a major
catastrophe in your own organization.
See this short PSA video by going here…
Semiannual regulatory
agenda published
The Office of Management and Budget has
published the Spring 2014 unified agenda. The agenda lists regulatory actions
now in development and under consideration by each federal agency, providing
information about each rule and its stage of development. OSHA's updated agenda
includes projected timelines for several safety and health standards.
For a concise list of those items that
impact the construction industry, read more here…
Summer initiative stresses safety in construction throughout the Mid Atlantic
On
June 18, 2014, OSHA launched a summer-long "Construction Incident
Prevention Initiative" campaign to lower fatality rates in the industry.
Compliance officers and other OSHA staff across Delaware, Pennsylvania,
Maryland, the District of Columbia, Virginia and West Virginia will conduct
on-site outreach to educate and encourage employers to continue safe practices.
Read
more here…
OSHA emphasizes
importance of acclimatization in protecting outdoor workers from heat
The
Department of Labor and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
have teamed up again to prevent heat-related deaths and illnesses. Heat-related
injuries and fatalities in outdoor workers continue with record-breaking heat
waves over the last three summers. In 2012 alone, at least 31 workers died of
heat related illness and 4,120 more were made sick.
Read more here…
New York construction firms accused of safety scam
Two
construction safety companies dispatched cooks, hairdressers, bellhops and
musicians to sign off as licensed safety experts — one of them dead — on
inspections at dozens of high-rise sites, authorities said Wednesday.
Flouting
a city law that requires a private-sector site safety manager to spend at least
two hours a day checking everything from ladders to firefighting pipes, the
companies hired unqualified relatives and others, gave them the names of 10
safety managers and had them sign more than 400 daily safety logs at about 40
building sites, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. and city
Department of Investigation Commissioner Mark Peters said.
Read
more here…
OSHA helps workers, employers beat the heat with smart phone app and other resources
Every year, dozens of workers are killed by heat, and
thousands more experience heat-related illnesses. With summer heat on the rise
across the nation, workers and employers are turning to OSHA's Heat Safety Tool
for help staying safe in the heat. In all, more than 148,000 users have
downloaded this life-saving app since its launch in August 2011.
Read more here…
OSHA launches annual summer campaign to prevent
heat-related illnesses
OSHA announced May 22 the launch of its
annual Campaign to Prevent Heat Illness in Outdoor Workers. For the fourth
consecutive year, OSHA's campaign aims to raise awareness and educate workers
and employers about the serious hazards of working in hot weather and provide
resources and guidance to address these hazards.
Read more here…
Recent fatalities serve as a reminder to protect workers from demolition hazards: New resources available
On
June 20, a construction worker taking down a Blockbuster Video building in New
Jersey was trapped and killed when the last standing wall collapsed on top of
him. Six months earlier, a 25-year-old construction worker in Chicago was
struck and killed by pieces of falling concrete while conducting renovations on
a shopping mall. A year ago, six people were killed and 14 injured in
Philadelphia when a four-story building undergoing demolition collapsed. All
these deaths could have been prevented
Read
more here…
New educational resources available to protect workers from heat illness and falls
New
and updated materials for OSHA's Fall Prevention and Heat Illness campaigns are
now available. OSHA's Fall Prevention Training Guide includes lesson plans, or
"toolbox talks."
Read
more here…
Alliance with Scaffold and Access Industry Association renewed to protect workers from scaffold hazards:
OSHA
has renewed its alliance with the Scaffold and Access Industry Association to
provide information and training to protect the safety and health of workers
who use scaffolds and lift equipment. Through the alliance, OSHA and SAIA will
work to reduce and prevent fall and caught-in-between hazards and issues
related to frame, mast climbing and suspended scaffolds and aerial lift
equipment.
Read
more here…
OSHA urges Employers to prevent texting while driving:
OSHA reminds employers
that they have a responsibility to protect their workers by prohibiting texting
while driving. It is a violation of the OSH Act if employers require workers to
text while driving, create incentives that encourage or condone it, or
structure work so that texting is a practical necessity for workers to carry
out their job.
Read more here…
OSHA National fall
Prevention Program:
Falls
are the leading cause of death in construction, and OSHA is working with NIOSH
and the National Occupational Research Agenda to get the word out about how to
"Plan, Provide, Train" to prevent fatal falls. To learn more, please
check out OSHA’s Fall Prevention Campaign resource page here…
MULTI-EMPLOYER PLAN UPDATE:
Milliman 100 Pension Funding Index (PFI),
July 2014 - Plans Increased by $14 Billion in June, 2014
The
funded status of the 100 largest corporate defined benefit pension plans
increased by $14 billion during June as measured by the Milliman 100 Pension
Funding Index (PFI). The deficit fell to $252 billion from $266 billion at the
end of May, due to investment gains. As of June 30, the funded ratio rose to
85.3%, up from 84.5% at the end of May.
Read
more here…
After
consecutive months of stagnant or dipping corporate pension asset levels,
slight rises in interest rates proved to bring up the funding status of the
typical U.S. corporate pension plan in June.
According
to reports from asset manager BNY Mellon Investment Strategy & Solutions
Group (ISSG) and Wilshire Consulting, the institutional investment advisory
business unit of Wilshire Associates, corporate pension assets are now seeing
better days thanks to the quick turnaround in interest rate
Read
more here…
Upbeat economy prompts corporations to re-examine benefit spending
While
conventional wisdom might suggest that defined benefit plans are on their way
out of the American workplace, the ongoing uptick in the economy and the
financial markets has many financial executives taking a more positive look at
the future of their pension holdings.
Getting
on top of pension funding deficits – many of which have begun to slowly
evaporate as investments once again have begun to return profits – as well as
the continued struggle of dealing with health care costs, both remain key
issues for top-level benefits decision makers.
Read
more here…
Improving markets expected to produce $20 billion drop in PBGC deficit
Pension
Benefit Guaranty Corporation’s single-employer program is improving, but the
funding crisis for multiemployer pension plans is not, according to the
agency’s fiscal 2013 projection report.
Recent
figures indicate the fiscal 2013 deficit of $27.4 billion is projected to
narrow to $7.6 billion by fiscal 2023. Last year, PBGC estimated a deficit of
$32.5 billion for fiscal 2022.
Read
more here…
HUMAN RESOURCES:
6
Steps for Avoiding Dumb Retaliation
Retaliation
suits are the dumbest of the dumb because they are so easily avoided, but they
happen with startling frequency. What should HR do? Have a written policy.
Read
more here…
Retaliation in the Workplace
Retaliation
includes any adverse action taken against an employee for filing a complaint or
supporting another employee’s complaint under a variety of laws. The most
common type of retaliation claim involves an employee who alleges that she was
first harassed or discriminated against and later punished for making a
complaint to her employer or a relevant federal agency.
Read
more here…
Retaliation
charges on the rise: how to protect your company
In
2013, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) investigated 93,727
charges of discrimination, which resulted in penalties totaling $372.1 million.
Retaliation claims accounted for 41 percent of all the charges. The most
frequent bases of claims across all statutes are related to discharge and
discipline. Therefore, employers have opportunities to reduce the risk by
thoroughly documenting and reviewing all practices before, during, and after
any adverse action toward an employee.
Read
more here…
10 Sins of Termination (#1 Time to Prevent Lawsuits)
Terminations
are no picnic for anyone, but since they are the genesis of many lawsuits, it’s
worth learning how to do them right. Handling them carefully can save cash,
calm frayed nerves, and maintain morale and productivity. (As long as you don’t
commit one of these 10 sins.)
Read
more here…
EEOC Issues Enforcement Guidance on
Pregnancy
The
Enforcement Guidance updates prior guidance on this subject in light of legal
developments over the past thirty years.
Employer Policy manual updates are required to ensure compliance with
these recent changes.
Read
more here…
Pros and Cons of a Progressive Discipline
Program
How
should an employer react when an employee violates one of the company policies?
What measures should be taken? How can the employer remain consistent in these
actions? One way employers choose to answer these questions is with a
progressive discipline policy.
Read
more here…
This e-mail newsletter has been provided complimentary to Associations and
industry stakeholders by Wayne Gregory of Gregory Management & Consulting
Services (GMCS). Wayne
Gregory has been the recognized regional leader in the areas of Labor &
Industry Relations since 2005 and is continuing to serve the industry and its
multi-employer Associations under the GMCS
brand, Knowledge, Trust, Integrity
and a unwavering commitment to Serve
the industry. From Association Management & Executive Leadership
services, Owner Representation, Government & Legislative Affairs
& Subscription Services and Labor & Industry Relations, let GMCS help
your Associations and organizations to forge a new and clear path forward.
We hope that you enjoy the new newsletter format and welcome all comments
and suggestions regarding these changes. You may forward those to Wayne
Gregory @ wegregory@gregorymcs.com.
Best wishes to all for a safe, prosperous, healthy & harmonious 2014.
Sincerely,
Wayne E. Gregory
Gregory
Management & Consulting Services
Audubon, PA 19403
E-Mail: wegregory@gregorymcs.com
On the web: www.gregorymcs.com
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