Jim Kollaer's blog

The US Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration (ETA) and the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) have announced the release of a new Commercial and Industrial Construction Competency Model that provides a set of guidelines that the construction industry can use to help create a better workforce for the future.  The AGC and industry leaders have agreed to keep these guidelines updated as a key source for construction companies and individuals alike to use to create career paths for the industry.

In an AGC press release last Friday, Stephen Sandherr, chief executive officer of the Associated General Contractors of America stated “The next generation of construction workers needs the best training programs possible.  Improving these programs will ensure that workers stay at the cutting edge of the construction industry.” [node:read-more:link]

The economy did add 151,000 new jobs last month, but with 15 million folks out of work in the country, it will take another 99 months to recover to the level where it was at the peak in 2007.  The recovery is already slower that the last 4 other recessions.  The blog Economix shows the recovery in graphic form, one that illustrates just how deep the recession has been.

If the next peak takes place 99 months from today, or in the Spring of 2019, we will have to get underway soon.  For our industry to recover, that means that lending has to improve, developers have to be able to see markets emerging from the fog [node:read-more:link]

So what does that mean for the industry?  I really don’t care whether you are a Democrat, Republican, Tea Party, Independent or Libertarian, “It is still about the jobs, stupid!”  We need to put more feet back in construction jobs and unfortunately that is becoming a more difficult assignment.

The unemployment rate across the US is still about 9.6% but it is over 17% in the construction industry.  With the moratorium on deep water drilling and the rigs heading for friendlier waters, it looks as though the jobs in our industry will be a while coming back. [node:read-more:link]

The wage theft class action suit filed by the Workers Defense Project on behalf of three construction workers who claimed that the specialty contractor Greater Metroplex Interiors (GMI) had shorted them on wages due and had not paid them overtime on the construction of the Gables Park Plaza has an interesting basis on a little known part of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) according to the Department of Labor.

The interesting point about the suit is that the suit is filed claiming joint employer status.  The plaintiff’s attorney, Craig Deats of Deats, Durst, Owen & Levy, PLLC in Austin told Construction Citizen that this is a common law under the labor laws and that the courts will decide whether GMI acted as a joint employer as is claimed in the suit.  He offers his opinion in the following video:   [node:read-more:link]

Robert Wood, the Tax Lawyer, in a blog on www.Forbes.com pointed out the movement across the country to criminalize the misuse of independent contractors, and includes several links to see more about the issue.  As we have pointed out in previous blogs, the Wage Theft and Misclassification laws passed or pending in several states are fast becoming the norm in the country.  In talking about Pennsylvania’s new Construction Workplace Misclassification Act, Wood states:

“Pennsylvania’s rifle shot law is aimed like a laser at the construction industry, which isn’t exactly in a rosy financial position anywhere.  Yet it’s also clear that the construction industry has long been a kind of breeding ground for worker classification abuses that often swarm like mosquitoes.”   [node:read-more:link]

The New York Times reported Friday on an Election Day issue that is coming up in San Diego, California.  At issue is whether or not local city councils, school boards and other public sector bodies should be able to use PLAs (Project Labor Agreements) on their projects, essentially mandating that all workers on the jobs sites either be members of a union or join a union group during the construction of the project.  The article states:

“About 24 percent of California’s 543,000 construction workers belong to unions, but on projects using [PLAs], 75 percent do.” [node:read-more:link]

Absentee voting in Texas starts on Monday, October 18th, and the general election date around the country is November 2, less than three weeks away.  This is a critically important date for the construction industry especially in light of the current state of the economy and the industry.

The economy is still bumping along the bottom with an unexpected loss of 95,000 jobs in September.  The good news is that there were 64,000 new jobs created in the private sector last month or the job loss would have been worse. [node:read-more:link]

The Associated General Contractors (AGC) of New York State has a page that talks about why you might consider a job in the construction industry.  They list several key points that might be of interest to you if construction is on your list of possible careers.

• Construction projects in the United States which build schools, hospitals, bridges and roads all stay here and cannot be sent overseas.
• In recent years, the United States has added more than $600 billion worth of new construction projects per year such as new hospitals, schools, highways, bridges, homes, office buildings, stores, etc.

   [node:read-more:link]

Central Houston, the key management and economic development organization for the Central Business District of Houston, at its annual luncheon, presented the Allen Brothers Award to One Park Place, a high rise multifamily development built in the Houston Center/ Convention Center area.

The award recognizes those developments and individuals who have made a major contribution to the future of Houston and commemorates the two brothers who were the promoters of the original township of Houston.   John Kirby Allen and Augustus Chapman Allen traveled to New York and Europe to sell land to potential residents and investors in the early days of Houston.

One Park Place, the first-high rise residential building to be constructed in downtown Houston in 40 years (that is not a typo) is a 37 floor, 346 unit 497,677 square foot building located facing Discovery Green, the new 15 acre downtown park.

Claiming that the bills were “unnecessary under existing state law,” The “Governator” of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger, terminated two bills this week.  The bills dealt with wage theft and were set to criminalize employers who were proven guilty of not paying wages due, paying under minimum level wages, not paying overtime wages, or who have incorrectly claimed that the workers are independent contractors.  Under state law, the Governor had a deadline of September 30 to sign or veto the bills, and he chose to veto them.

The California Chamber of Commerce opposed the bills by claiming that they are “job killers.”  Some supporters of the bills would say that the $3.05/ hour that workers received for working in an LA carwash might be considered a killer all right, “a people killer” as the workers, according to cases filed in the courts, have done the work but have not received the wages owed them.  Supporters claimed that not passing the bills will impose an enormous burden on the workers who have been cheated out of wages, and support those employers in California who are guilty of wage theft. [node:read-more:link]