Welcome
to the August, 2015 Gregory Management & Consulting Services (GMCS)
REGIONAL CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY UPDATE.
GMCS continues to expand our products and services to meet
the needs of our industry and expanding client base. We have expanded our operational foot print
over the last six (7) months and are now supporting a large and growing
international client base with operations in Canada and throughout the United
States for both unionized and non-unionized contractors and associations. We are currently administering over 150
collective bargaining agreements across North America and providing First Chair
Negotiating Support for 35 first collective bargaining agreements. In addition,
we have expanded our supervisory training programs for those contractors
interested in providing support to their organizations and staff that are experiencing
union organizing efforts.
GMCS is 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.
Is
your firm looking to fill key positions within your organization? With over 25 years of industry contacts &
experience within the Philadelphia metropolitan region and developed industry
relationships to work from, GMCS
has become a powerful recruiting organization in this region’s
construction industry marketplace. Our goal is to provide our clients and
candidates with superior quality recruitment services while maintaining the
highest degree of integrity, confidentiality and professionalism. Go here to find out more about our Employer and Candidate Services. GMCS
maintains an active network of experienced industry professional candidates
that are currently exploring their next career opportunity. GMCS actively
markets these candidates to both regional and national firms as well as
partnering recruitment agencies throughout the country. Interested candidates and employers should
contact Wayne Gregory today at
wegregory@gregorymcs.com to discuss the
best GMCS employment and
recruitment solution for you.
We
currently have several excellent candidates that are interested in making a
move within the regional marketplace. GMCS is making those candidates available
to interested employers at no cost. Interested
firms should contact Wayne Gregory @ wegregory@gregorymcs.com for more
information.
Sponsorship
and marketing opportunities are available to industry stakeholders and
contractors; interested firms should contact Wayne
Gregory @ wegregory@gregorymcs.com for more
information.
Regional
Industry Employment Candidates Looking for new and rewarding challenges:
GMCS
is looking to place an experienced Commercial Construction Project Manager that
is highly interested in transitioning into the Real Estate Property Management
side of the industry. (EMPLOYER FEES WAIVED):
GMCS
is looking to place an experienced Facility Manager that has an extensive
facility maintenance background with leading Philadelphia
institutions. Experience level ranges from HVAC service to senior
management roles. Candidate is highly interested in transitioning into a new
position within the Tri-State area. (EMPLOYER FEES WAIVED):
GMCS
is looking to place an experienced commercial construction industry
professional with a broad
background in human resources, with particular emphasis on labor relations and
employee benefits. BA, MBA, and JD
degrees; Certified Employee Benefit Specialist and Compensation Management
Specialist designations. (EMPLOYER FEES WAIVED):
Another trophy office building comes on the market:
Roughly
three years after buying Five Tower Bridge for $73 million, the owner of the
premier office tower in West Conshohocken, Pa., has decided to put the property
up for sale.
Some
in the commercial real estate industry believe the property could set a new
sales record for suburban office buildings and trade somewhere in the
neighborhood of $375 a square foot, according to estimates. If it does come in
at or near that price, it will exceed a $360 a square foot record set late last
year when Radnor Court sold.
Read
more here…
Walnut Street
corridor seeing property sales
The
sales activity and prices for the buildings underscore what a hot retail
corridor Walnut Street has become and these new owners are likely anticipating
that it will continue to gain even more traction.
Pearl
Properties reportedly paid $10.5 million for 1527 Walnut St., a
3,415-square-foot property, according to sources. The property was in the news
earlier this year when it was struck by falling debris from a nearby building
and caused a partial collapse of its roof. The structure, which had housed a
Lululemon store, has been vacant since the incident happened in February.
Read
more here….
CEO: Brandywine
plans loft-style offices, residences on 2100 block of Market:
Brandywine
Realty Trust plans to develop loft-style offices and residential units on the
land it bought this month along the 2100 block of Market Street in Center City,
president and chief executive Jerry Sweeney told analysts Thursday in a
conference call.
The
offices would be similar to those at the 1900 Market St. building that
Brandywine is now renovating, Sweeney said. That structure, known as the Stock
Exchange Building, is being upgraded with open floor plans and collaborative
work and meeting areas.
Read
more here….
STRIKE UPDATE:
AGC Washington DC and the Metropolitan Regional Council of Carpenters,
Philadelphia settle over a year long Labor/Contract dispute:
The
new contract reflects the continued commitment of the Washington DC Contractors
and the Metropolitan Regional Council to grow the union market share in the
Washington, DC area.
The
Four-Year Agreement (5/1/14 through 4/30/18) provides for a total Wage-Fringe
Benefit Package increase of $4.30.
Read
more here…
STRIKE UPDATE: Construction
stops at about 30 sites as union concrete workers strike:
Workers
strike at Hudson Yards and other sites around the city due to a labor dispute.
Construction
partially ground to a halt at an estimated 30 major sites across the city
Wednesday morning after a group of concrete workers went on strike. Among the
stalled sites are the Related Companies' massive Hudson Yards project and Time
Equities' 50 West St. condo tower. The workers belong to a union umbrella group
called the New York City District Council of Carpenters.
Read
more here…
STRIKE UPDATE:
Bricklayer strike halting construction projects:
A
strike by Bricklayers Union Local No. 1 is bringing multiple projects in the
St. Louis area to a halt — including City Walk and the construction of a Whole
Foods in the Central West End.
The
strike began June 1 when the existing collective bargaining agreement with the
Mason Contractors Association expired.
An
MCA official said an ongoing pension dispute that is tied up in the court
system is central to the disagreement..
Read
more here…
Verizon Gives
Employees App to Record Bad Union Behavior:
Verizon
is distributing an in-house app to the company's non-union employees in the
hopes of catching union employees engaging in bad behavior. Verizon and the
Communications Workers of America (CWA) are currently negotiating a new labor
contract, but the talks haven't been going well and the union has authorized a
strike if a new deal can't be reached.
Verizon's
currently training around 15,000 potential non-union replacements should the
company not be able to reach a deal with the CWA, which includes around 38,000
Verizon workers. Presumably these 15,000 workers are all being asked to track
and document any union shenanigans.
Read
more here…
Lawyers delve
into history in Convention Center labor case:
In
its legal fight to keep union carpenters out of the building, the Convention
Center's lawyers took a walk through the dark side of local labor history this
week.
Legal
briefs filed in the center's civil racketeering federal lawsuit against the
Carpenters' union compared its actions to recent headline-grabbing convictions
of members of Local 401 of the Ironworkers' union and of Local 30 of the
Roofers' union - another racketeering case, dating back 30 years.
Read
more here…
U.S. seeks
22-plus years for ex-Ironworkers leader Joseph Dougherty:
Once
one of the city's most powerful labor leaders, Joseph Dougherty, the
73-year-old former chief of Ironworkers Local 401, will likely die in prison.
Read more here…
Joseph
Dougherty rally a tough call for labor leaders:
A
Patrick Eiding, head of Philadelphia's largest federation of labor unions, found
himself facing a terrible dilemma.
Should
he attend a Monday morning rally to support fellow labor leader Joseph
Dougherty? Dougherty, 73, has been convicted of racketeering, and on Monday
will be sentenced by a federal judge. He could get 15 to 25 years in prison.
Read
more here…
Demand for Pa. construction workers on the rise: Increase
driven by new projects, including healthcare facilities and senior living:
The
number of people working in construction in Pennsylvania is up 4.5 percent from
a year ago, the largest increase of any sector of the economy, according to new
data from the state Department of Labor & Industry.
Pennsylvania
added 10,400 construction jobs in the 12 months ended in June, bringing the
total to 242,600 jobs. On a percentage basis, that outpaced gains in leisure
and hospitality (up 1.5 percent), education and health services (up 1.4
percent) and professional and business services (up 1 percent), the labor
department said Friday.
Value Temporary Enforcement Policy for Construction Work
in Confined Spaces:
This
memorandum provides guidance on the enforcement of the Confined Spaces in
Construction standard published on May 4, 2015. The new standard goes into
effect on August 3, 2015. Requests for an extension of the effective date have
indicated a need for additional time for training and the acquisition of
equipment necessary to comply with the new standard. OSHA will not delay the
effective date, but instead will postpone full enforcement of the new standard
for 60 days from the effective date of August 3, 2015 to October 2, 2015.
IRS curtails lump-sum payouts in DB plans:
The
Internal Revenue Service and the Treasury Department have thrown a wrench into the
pension de-risking plans of many corporations with new regulations aiming to
eliminate the lump-sum payout option for retirees who already are receiving
retirement benefits from their defined benefit plans.
Read
more here…
MILLIMAN US: Pension Funding Index July 2015:
In
June, the funded status of the 100 largest corporate defined pension plans
increased by $36 billion as measured by the Milliman 100 Pension Funding Index
(PFI). The deficit fell to $244 billion at the end of June primarily due to an
increase in the benchmark corporate bond interest rates used to value pension
liabilities. As of June 30, the funded ratio rose to 85.6%, up from 84.1% at
the end of May. June marked the third consecutive month where interest rates
rose and funded status improved.
Read
more here…
Dodge Momentum
Index Declines in June:
The
Dodge Momentum Index fell to 118.3 (2000=100) in June, down 1.3% from 119.9 in
May, according to Dodge Data & Analytics. The Momentum Index is a monthly
measure of the first (or initial) report for nonresidential building projects
in planning, which have been shown to lead construction spending for
nonresidential buildings by a full year. With the June decline, the Index
continued its lackluster performance thus far in 2015, and is now up just 2.2%
when compared to June 2014.
Read
more here…
ABI: Institutional Project Demand Drives Architecture
Billings Index to Highest Mark Since 2007:
Paced
by continued demand for projects such as new education and healthcare
facilities, public safety and government buildings, the Architecture Billings
Index (ABI) increased in June following fluctuations earlier this year. 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 55.7, up substantially from a mark of 51.9 in May. This score
reflects an increase in design services (any score above 50 indicates an
increase in billings). The new projects inquiry index was 63.4, up from a
reading of 61.5 the previous month.
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 2015.
Sincerely,
Gregory Management & Consulting Services
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