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The following article was authored by Alex Nowrasteh and originally published in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Alex Nowrasteh is an immigration policy analyst at the Cato Institute's Center for Global Liberty and Prosperity.State Sen. Eddie Lucio, D-Brownsville, and Reps. Byron Cook, R-Corsicana, and Gilbert Peña, R-Pasadena, have all proposed bills to create a guest worker program for Texas.A Texas-based visa would allow the state to regulate migrant workers according to its own needs and cut out the feds. Regulators in D.C. don’t know what’s best for Texas.
Reshaping the Construction Industry
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ABC Houston Opens New Facility to Meet the Expanding Needs of the Construction Industry: Part 1 of 2
ABC Houston has opened their new facility to meet the expanding needs of the commercial and industrial construction industry in the area. The newly renovated building houses state of the art meeting rooms, training rooms, offices, and reception and break areas. Read interviews from two ABC members who were there.
April 30, 2015
In an explosive investigation that drew the attention of many average Texans over the weekend, WFAA Television in Dallas/Fort Worth put a bright spotlight on the problem of worker misclassification. It’s a problem the Construction Citizen team has exposed for years and we greatly appreciate any time other media outlets take up the cause as well.This most recent outrage came to light after three men working as independent subcontractors underneath Thanksgiving Tower in Dallas died in a horrific accident. But, the companies involved have denied damages to their families. How can that be? From the story:Although they were little more than laborers, the State of Texas allows them to be called "independent contractors." That means they can get no workers compensation, and have no federal income tax or Social Security tax deducted from their paychecks.Three independent contractors' deaths at Thanksgiving Tower are the subject of legal action, but the families of the three men will receive no compensation for their deaths. Byron Harris has more on the "invisible workers."
April 29, 2015
Last week, the New York Times posted an incredible time-lapse video of the industrial growth of New York City from the view of the newly opened Freedom Tower. The panoramic video will play on the five One World Observatory elevators, which is set to open the end of May this year.There was some debate between Legends Hospitality, the operators of the observatory, and Port Authority and Durst Organization, the developers of the tower, on whether or not to show the rise and fall of the Twin Towers, primarily the North Tower.
April 28, 2015
As an Assistant Instructional Professor from Texas A&M University's Department of Construction Science who teaches materials and methods, construction graphics, as well as construction project management, I regularly discuss expectations and pathways for careers in the construction industry with prospective students. I also like to ask prospective students what they believe their job duties will be if they graduate on Saturday and begin work on Monday. This question has a variety of answers that include many misperceptions about the construction industry. Furthermore, when I ask them what they think construction management is, they’ll give it back to me and say that it’s the management of construction, but it's a lot more than that.The Department of Construction Science prepares students for the next workforce generation of construction project delivery and is seeking to become more demographically representative of the state of Texas. The current Texas construction workforce is highly represented by Hispanics, but those in management positions are only a small percentage.
April 28, 2015
I learned several things early in my scouting days. One was that if I focused sunlight through a magnifying lens, I could start a fire, melt plastic or burn my name into a 2x4. Another thing that I learned was how to build a reflecting oven to cook a meal when we were camping out. Never did I think that I would be reading a paper about the ways that building designs could do the same things.We have written about the Vdara Hotel in Las Vegas that was reflecting sunlight and melting plastic cups and the plastic parts of Jaguars parked nearby. We have heard about the reflected sunlight from the Museum Tower in Dallas streaming into the nearby Nasher Museum and endangering priceless art. I have found a great paper written by Vicente Montes-Amores and published by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) that speaks to the issues involved and ways to avoid the potential financial liabilities for making mistakes. For those of you who are developing, designing and building towers these days, it is a good read. For those of you who live in or near those “death ray” towers, you will be interested in why your azaleas are being fried.
April 27, 2015
Construction jobs increase in 41 states in March; Dodge starts, ABI show mixed trendsEditor’s note: Construction Citizen is proud to partner with AGC America to bring you AGC Chief Economist Ken Simonson's Data DIGest. Check back each week to get Ken's expert analysis of what's happening in our industry.Click here to register for a free 4/30 webcast "Will Construction Pick Up the Pace or the Pieces?" presented by AGC/AIA/CMD.Seasonally adjusted construction employment rose in 41 states, declined in nine and remained level in the District of Columbia from March 2014 to March 2015, an AGC analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data released on Tuesday showed. California added more new construction jobs (46,300 jobs, 6.9%), followed by Texas (39,300, 6.2%) and Florida (37,400, 9.7%). Idaho added the highest percentage of new construction jobs (14.8%, 4,800), followed by North Dakota (12.1%, 4,000) and Washington (12.1%, 18,900).
April 26, 2015
A former drywall contractor in Walla Walla, Washington has been found liable for unpaid workers’ comp premiums, interest, and late fees totaling over one million dollars. A Washington State Department of Labor & Industries (L&I) investigation determined that Shawn A. Campbell's company, E & E Acoustics, LLC, underreported the hours that its employees worked by failing to accurately report the size of the company's drywall jobs from April 2007 through June 2009.Campbell owes L&I more than $615,000 in premiums, $102,000 in late penalties, and $296,000 in interest, totaling over $1,013,00.00. The judgment is believed to be one of L&I's largest-ever holding an employer personally liable for his company's workers' comp premiums, interest and penalties.
April 24, 2015
After sailing to approval in the Texas House, a package of bonds worth about $3.1 billion in college campus construction might have a more uncertain future in the Texas Senate. The bill approved earlier this month in the House drew only a few “no” votes, mainly from lawmakers aligned with some groups that claim to be fiscally conservative. They argue it’s not the right time for the state to take on debt for this purpose But, leaders in higher education and business groups have made the case that there is an urgent need in Texas to fund more classroom space at colleges and universities as part of the state’s overall effort to maintain an educated and balanced workforce. As noted in the Austin Business Journal, “The construction requests of the state’s major university systems this legislative session correlate with the growth of high-demand jobs in the science, engineering and technology fields in Texas.”
April 23, 2015
The next tallest tower in the world is under construction outside Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Kingdom Tower, on schedule to be completed by late 2018, combines all of the hyperbole that we design and construction professionals can dig out of our toolboxes and then some.Originally planned to exceed the “one mile high” barrier, it has been reduced to the one kilometer or 1,000 meter height. Recently, according to Construction Week Online, Dr. Hisham Jonah, the Chief Development Officer for Jeddah Economic City outlined some of the realities and many of the incredible facts surrounding this, the newest, tallest tower in the world at a recent Construction Week Infrastructure Summit in late March.The Kingdom Tower will exceed the 163 story Burj Khalifa Tower in Abu Dhabi with a breath- taking 500,000 square meters (5.382 million square feet) of space on 252 floors of offices, hotel and residences. According to Dr. Jonah, there will be 167 floors available for occupancy and the building will include the highest observation platform in the world at 834 meters (2,118 feet) in the air. According to the Construction Week article, the tower incorporates new technologies that will make it the “ state of the art” for construction including elevatoring, construction cranes and mechanical systems as well as height.
April 22, 2015
