Related Links: Federal Register Notice Court Strikes Down New NLRB Rule (2012) The National Labor Relations Board has reissued a proposal to streamline the union-representation election process that is virtually identical to a controversial rule first proposed in June 2011.Employer-oriented construction and business groups opposed the original changes, saying the proposed revisions would not give employers enough time to prepare for union elections.In May 2012, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia invalidated the rule, saying the board lacked a quorum when the changes were issued. The court did not make a judgement on the merits of the

Courtesy Howard I. Shapiro and Associates OSHA will receive public comments on the cranes and derricks proposal until March 12, 2014. Related Links: Federal Register Notice Crane Industry Representatives Weigh in on Rule at OSHA Meeting OSHA has proposed extending the compliance date for crane-operator certification requirements. Published in the Federal Register on Feb. 10, the proposed rule would extend the compliance date for the crane-operator certification requirements by three years, to Nov. 10, 2017.A number of construction industry, union and crane certification groups have argued for a change to the construction crane and derrick requirements, finalized in August 2010.

The U.S. government still owes contractors good faith and fair dealing, a federal appeals court ruling indicates.Some attorneys believed that good faith and fair dealing had been pared back in previous court cases, but the appellate court’s Feb. 11 ruling in favor of Metcalf Construction Co. v. U.S. is apparently good news for contractors.Construction industry associations had filed briefs supporting Metcalf, a Hawaii-based general contractor that had been hired by the U.S. Navy in 2002 to build housing units under a design-build contract. The ground conditions involving expansive soils and the presence of chlorate, a pollutant, vastly exceeded what the

Related Links: BLS Information on January Employment Situation Associated General Contractors of America news release Associated Builders and Contractors News Release The construction industry added 48,000 jobs in January, bringing its employment to its highest level since July 2009.According to the U.S. Labor Dept.’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, which released its monthly unemployment report Feb. 7, despite the particularly severe weather in much of the nation, construction employment totaled 5.92 million in January, an increase of 48,000 from the previous month.
 The gains in the construction in January more than offset a decline of 22,000 in December.Jobs gains occurred in

Related Links: Fact sheet on proposed rules. Court Strikes Down New NLRB Rule (May 2012 ENR story) The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) plans to reissue a proposal to streamline the union representation election process. The proposal, to be published in the Feb. 6 Federal Register, is virtually identical to a controversial rule first proposed in June 2011. Employer-oriented construction and business groups opposed the original changes, saying that they would not give employers enough time to prepare for union representation elections. The groups successfully challenged the 2011 rule in court. In May 2012, the U.S. District Court for the

Photo by AP Wideworld Joe Oliver, Canada's natural-resource minister, said he was "encouraged" by State Dept.'s EIS. Related Links: State Dept. Information on Keystone XL EIS EPA Says Ketystone Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement Insufficient The State Dept. has issued a final environmental impact statement on the controversial Keystone XL pipeline that determines the project probably would not have a major effect on carbon emissions during its construction period.The EIS, which the State Dept. released on Jan. 31, is not the final up-or-down ruling on whether the project can be constructed. Still to come is an Obama administration decision on

Related Links: House GOP Taking Immigration Bill 'Step by Step' (enr.com 7/16/2013) [subscription] Immigration Bill Focus Shifts to House After Senate Vote (ENR 7/8/2013 issue) [subscription] Construction contractor groups welcomed House Republicans' newly unveiled principles for developing immigration legislation—an important issue for construction companies and workers—but organized labor sharply criticized the GOP outline.The set of six principles, released on Jan. 30 at a House Republican retreat in Cambridge, Md., would allow children of illegal immigrants “an opportunity for legal residence and citizenship,” but make clear that the party would not include a “path to citizenship” for those who entered the

White House photo by Amanda Lucidon In his speech before a joint session of Congress, Obama also said he would issue a directive hiking minimum wage for federal construction contractors' workers. Related Links: Video of Obama State of the Union address (via White House) Federal Construction Minimum Wage Hike Impact May Be Small (enr.com blog 1/28/2014) House Chairman Shuster's statement/reaction In his State of the Union address, President Obama called on Congress to move rapidly this year on major infrastructure legislation and pledged to issue a directive to raise the minimum wage for employees of federal contractors in construction and

Related Links: Link to Cities' energy survey Information on President's State, Tribal and Local Leaders Task Force on Climate Change and Resilience City leaders who gathered in Washington, D.C., for the U.S. Conference of Mayors' annual winter meeting were decidedly upbeat about the economy and their ability to have a voice in shaping federal policies, including those dealing with energy, water infrastructure and climate change.Speaking to reporters on Jan. 22 at the opening of the three-day meeting, Mesa, Ariz., Mayor Scott Smith (R) said, “The tone of this conference is much different than the funeral wake we've experienced in the

Related Links: Dept. of Justice press release The Dept. of Justice has filed a lawsuit against Kellogg, Brown & Root Services and two Kuwait-based companies, charging that they filed false claims and engaged in kickbacks related to a U.S. Army contract in Iraq a decade ago.DOJ announced on Jan. 23 that it filed the complaint in U.S. District Court in Rock Island, Ill. The government alleged that in 2003 and 2004, Kellogg, Brown & Root (KBR) workers took kickbacks related to subcontracts that company had awarded to the two Kuwaiti firms—La Nouvelle General Trading & Contracting Co. and First Kuwaiti