Reshaping the Construction Industry

I have recently come across a couple of interesting viewpoints on the world of work.First, there is a new book authored by Susan Cain entitled Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking.  In it she talks about being an introvert and how she has learned to cope with the extroverted world we live in.  She states that somewhere between 30% and 50% of the workforce are introverts who make enormous contributions to the world as we know it.  But, she explains how the current emphasis on extroverts has created education and working environments that do not provide for privacy or time to think for the introverts of the world.This phenomenon, illustrated by Cain in her presentation to a TED 2012 group, can be found even in

A recent press release from the Building and Construction Trades Department (BCTD) of the AFL-CIO announced “Labor Leaders Release Major Study About the Associated Building and Contractors, Exposing a Disinformation Campaign Designed to Undermine America's Labor Laws”.  The study, entitled  An Analysis of Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) is an attack on the ABC for its anti-labor, anti-union lobbying and advocacy activities, and is another move by the unions to discredit the “open shop” approach of ABC.The release cites the study authored by Dr. Thomas J. Kriger, professor of Labor Studies at the National Labor College, published by the BCTD, and underwritten by the AFL-CIO and Laborers’ International Union of North America (LIUNA).  In the press release, Kriger states:“At a time when the construction industry is hurting and unemployment continues to be high, the ABC is spending millions a year to promote anti-union, anti-government policies that are putting America's workforce at risk.”

The current job numbers are beginning to scare me a little.  The overall unemployment rate rose to 8.2 in the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) numbers released June 1.New jobs being created reached 69,000, but fell far short of the 150,000 that the economists had predicted.  Private industries added 82,000 jobs, but the public sector lost 13,000 jobs.The construction industry numbers are somewhat confusing in that, according to the latest Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) economic analysis, the construction industry lost 28,000 jobs in May while the unemployment dropped to 14.2% down from 14.3% in April and down from 16.3% in May of 2011.  This might be attributable to the fact that a number of unemployed construction workers

This is the second in the series about the Construction Bandits and how they do business in a way that cheats many workers and ultimately you, the taxpayer.An article by Karl Kiefer appeared in September of 2009 in NumbersUSA under Charles Breiterman’s blog which was entitled, Mixing the Mud: A Working Man’s Views on Illegal Immigration, Tricks of The Trade.  Immigration is not part of our discussion here, rather we wanted to illustrate how the Bandits in our industry get around the existing laws.  We want you to be aware of those illegal practices and we want you to join our efforts to create a more sustainable workforce for the industry.Kiefer points out one way that the Bandits get around the insurance costs is to lie about the number of workers they have on their crews or to buy coverage for only one or two of their crew.  Conveniently, the “covered” workers are the only ones ever injured on the jobsite even though that is far from the truth.Another way that they cheat is to misclassify the workers as independent contractors and to pay the workers’ wages with cash without paying taxes and unemployment (FUTA and SUTA).  When they don’t pay Federal or State income taxes, they are cheating us out of tax funds that the country desperately needs today.