Graduation ceremonies are interesting.  They are celebrations, “crossing of the bar,” successful completions.  Not only are they completions, but they are new beginnings.  Graduation ceremonies mark significant milestones in our lives and in our industry.

Recently we attended, along with leaders from the industry, family members, company coaches and leaders, the graduation of 16 “helpers” at The Marek Company’s Houston office.  These individuals had completed the 2,000 hours of jobsite work as well as a year long series of safety, equipment and on-the-job training courses designed to teach them the industry and the craft that they have chosen as a career.

We have written about the Marek Company several times for their outstanding commitment to a sustainable workforce for the future and for their commitment to a structured workforce development program.  They truly understand the importance of having highly skilled Read more » about Graduation Day

An eye-opening article in Britain’s Construction Enquirer this week reported on the looming predicament the construction industry is facing: the aging workforce and the resulting imminent shortage of skilled craftsmen.  Editor Aaron Morby interviewed Mark Farrar, Chief Executive of CITB-ConstructionSkills about the latest statistics reported by that company.

The numbers paint an ominous picture of an impending skilled workforce shortage.  The article reports:

“The number of workers aged 55 years and over in the industry has increased by 65% since 1990, while those aged 24 and under has fallen Read more » about Skilled Workforce Decrease Threatens Construction Future

According to Chris Ward, executive director of the Port Authority of New York/New Jersey, construction of the memorial at the site of the 9/11 attacks to the World Trade Center towers will be completed in time for the 10th anniversary of the tragedy this September.  The New Jersey newspaper Asbury Park Press interviewed Ward about the obstacles this important project has faced which threatened the achievement of the 10-year deadline.  In 2008, the port authority appointed Ward to take over the lead of the project, and Ward is happy to report that the team has “turned the project around”.   Read more » about September 11th Memorial Makes Progress

Protests were held last week near several Hyatt Regency hotels to call attention to the use of labor brokers for construction work on the renovation of the Hyatt Regency in New Orleans, Louisiana.  One small group braved the 100 degree outside temperature to protest outside of the Hyatt in Austin, Texas.

Labor brokers are often used to hire workers for subcontractors who frequently misclassify the workers as independent contractors.  In the Nashville story we recently told you about, the subcontractor used a labor broker, Jaime Juache, to “recruit cheaper labor and help [the contractor] win with lower bids”.   Read more » about Hyatt Draws Demonstrators Against Payroll Fraud in New Orleans

If you are being forced to use a Project Labor Agreement to construct a public building as the result of President Obama’s executive order, you might want to take a close look at this study.

A newly released report by the National University System Institute for Policy Research in San Diego found that

“PLAs are associated with higher construction costs.  We found that costs are 13 to 15 percent higher when school districts construct a school under a PLA.  In inflation-adjusted dollars, we found that the presence of a PLA is associated with costs that are $28.90 to $32.49 per square foot higher.”   Read more » about The Impact of PLAs on School Construction Costs

Channel 4’s investigative news team from WSMV has been digging around on several issues surrounding the construction industry, specifically around the $585 million Music City Center in Nashville, Tennessee.  Recently they uncovered that one of the drywall subcontractors, Stallings Drywall from North Carolina, a sub for Bell, Clark and Roswell is cheating on this publically funded project by misclassifying the workers as independent contractors and not paying taxes, unemployment, workers’ comp or social security.

In the report, Dr. William Canak, a Middle Tennessee State University sociologist, talks about the statewide problem:   Read more » about Nashville’s Underground Economy Exposed

Editor’s note:  The following article written by Construction Citizen’s newest blogger was originally published in Dallas / Ft Worth Construction News, one of a group of monthly publications which report on the construction industry in Texas.

The Construction Industry may want to improve its “Image” in order to recruit students.  CareerCast, a job search and placement website, rated construction jobs in the bottom 10 for the last 3 years.  Few, if any, high school counselors recommend students going into the construction workforce.  Why should they?  What does the industry have to offer these young men and women?   Read more » about Image Concerns for Recruitment

The use of low-wage underground carpenters and drywall workers in Portland has landed a specialty subcontractor in hot water and, pending the outcome of his trial, a possible term in jail.  An article in Oregon Business explains:

“The subcontractor is Stephen Nagy, formerly president of S&S Drywall Assemblies, arrested January 2011 and charged with racketeering, theft and other crimes related to shady business practices.  S&S has shut down its Hillsboro office and disconnected its phone line while Nagy awaits trial.”

The regional carpenter’s union, itself the target of questionable practices from some of its critics, is protesting the shady practices of S&S by picketing Read more » about Shady Practices Picketed in Portland

Following the June passing of Alabama’s new illegal immigration law, HB56, many Hispanics have left the state to seek work elsewhere, causing a potential shortage of construction workers needed for rebuilding areas destroyed by the April tornados, according to an article by staff writer Patrick Rupinski in The Tuscaloosa News last week.  The article tells how a worker in the Hispanic ministry at a local Catholic church called to check up on a man she had not seen lately and that he told her that he had moved to Texas, like many other Hispanics who are now leaving Alabama.  Rupinski writes:

“Some Hispanics left after the April 27 tornado rendered them homeless. But a potentially larger exodus of Hispanics began after the Alabama Legislature passed a law in June that bans hiring people who are in the country illegally.”   Read more » about Construction Crisis in Alabama Heightened by Immigration Law

The first investigative report by David Schecter at WFAA in Dallas/Fort Worth drew quick reaction from other subcontractors and from legislators in Austin.  In a follow up report which aired Friday evening, Schecter talks with several specialty subcontractors, with the chairman of the Senate Business and Commerce Committee and with a key member of the House about the issue of non payment of taxes by some subcontractors who misclassify their workers as independent contractors as a way to avoid payment of payroll taxes, unemployment taxes and worker’s comp insurance.   Read more » about WFAA Follow Up Report on Misclassification in Texas Construction