Jim Kollaer's blog

“Passing legislation that aims to crack down on ‘worker misclassification’ is an issue of fairness,”

said Senator Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) about his Employee Misclassification Prevention Act at a Senate Hearing entitled, Leveling the Playing Field: Protecting Workers and Businesses Affected by Misclassification. 

Brown originally introduced his bill, The Employee Misclassification Prevention Act, in the Senate last April.  It is the latest in a number of legislative actions directed at the problem that is especially rampant in the construction industry across the US.  Many contractors and subs are using hourly workers and day laborers, some of them undocumented aliens, and classifying their workers as independent contractors in order to cut costs, avoid paying medical benefits, social security and overtime as part of the cash society in the industry. [node:read-more:link]

We found a chart that you might be interested in on a site called Calculated Risk that charts the percentage of job losses for previous and current recessions.  It is set up to align at the point of maximum job losses during each recession and it shows that we are on the upswing if you consider the census bureau hires, but are looking at a dip if you discount them.  This chart is interesting in that it shows that we are in a very slow recovery. [node:read-more:link]

In an earlier posting, we noted that the President had signed Executive Order No. 13502 requiring that Federal projects over $25 million have a Project Labor Agreement (PLA) with the unions.  As noted in the original posting, this move supports the unions and effectively blocks 85% of the country’s construction workers from working or bidding on government projects.  It seems that other organizations are adopting that rule as well.  At the University of Iowa, the Board of Regents voted 5-4 to adopt a PLA for a new outpatient clinic it is building in Coralville, Iowa.  According to the Coralville Courier, the Associated Builders and Contractors of Iowa (ABC) is protesting, but so far, has not made any progress.  The article quotes ABC’s President and CEO, Greg Spenner as saying 

The blue van pulled up to the curb in front of the trauma center in one of the largest medical centers in the county.  The side doors slid open and a man in workers’ clothes was shoved unceremoniously onto the sidewalk where he fell into a crumpled heap.  The van then sped away and the body lay there motionless – bleeding out until the guard spotted him and called for a gurney and a team to get him into the trauma unit where he could be triaged and then treated for his unknown injuries.  The blood pool on the sidewalk was a signal that the injuries were serious and that the person needed immediate attention.

With the unemployment rate in the construction industry still lingering at about 24% according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), and with many former construction workers scrambling to make ends meet, it is interesting to see where some of them are going.  Here is the story of one of them as reported in enctoday.com (Eastern North Carolina Today):

“For Billy Bell, though, the recession is long from over. 

You might not know it but there is a shortage of skilled craftspeople in the industry.  Today, with the 24% unemployment across the industry, probably not; however, look at these figures.  In its updated projections, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) indicates that there will be 1,300,000 new construction jobs created in the construction industry between today and 2018.  That represents a 19% growth rate and is the largest increase in the Goods producing sector in this country.  That represents almost 163,000 new construction jobs a year for the next 8 years.

With the economy in recession and with what is beginning to look like a “long tail” on this recession, that demand will probably not be evident until late 2011 or early 2012 and then the rate will increase at a greater rate.  In order to meet that demand, we need to be doing something about it today.   [node:read-more:link]

Building Information Modeling or BIM is being used by architects, engineers and contractors around the US and even around the world to create new and exciting buildings.  BIM is a way to virtually construct a proposed building in order to avoid conflicts among the various spatial, structural, mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems. The avoidance of systems conflicts and the delays that would follow on site during construction are key to the successful completion of a project for the owners and users. [node:read-more:link]

“The Job is complete and you did a great job, but because of the economy and no new projects, we don’t have another assignment for you right now so you are on your own. We’re sorry and really want to thank you for making the project a success. We will give you a great referral letter.”

“Day is over and here is your cash as we agreed. No taxes taken out of a check so the $10 per hour is actually higher since we didn’t deduct taxes (or 401k or provide any protection for you and your family.)”

No question, the economy and the construction industry are in “reboot” mode after someone hit the “reset” button. Unemployment in the industry, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) has reached 27.5%. It is becoming clear that both the economy and the industry will recover slowly but probably not at 2005-2008 levels. Recovered, reset – and really different.

Certification has long been a subject of discussion in the construction industry. Discussions usually revolve around questions of “Who does the certifications? Whose courses do we use? What can we use as a standard for hiring new employees that will help ensure us that the prospective employee has the basic skills we need to get the job done safely? [node:read-more:link]