Related Links: Fact Sheet on Drugs in the Workplace by National Council on Alcohol and Drug Dependence A new industry coalition is hoping to create awareness about alcohol and drug use in the workplace and ultimately reduce injuries and fatalities caused by jobsite substance abuse.Member organizations of the Construction Coalition for a Drug- and Alcohol-Free Workplace, formally launched last month, contend that substance abuse is still a problem on construction worksites. They cite statistics from the New York City-based National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence that show the construction industry as having one of the highest rates of workplace
Courtesy of AGC San DieGO San Diegans will vote on June 5 on whether to ban PLAs on public works. Related Links: Even With Numbers Down, ABC Is Energized by Anti-PLA Fight The "Spanish Imposition" Hits San Diego Seeking to follow what its surrounding county did in 2010, the city of San Diego will decide on June 5 the fate of Proposition A—whether to ban the use of project labor agreements, or PLAs, in public works not linked to state or federal funds. The measure is supported by local contractor groups but already has spawned state legislation that seeks to
Facing new challenges in an election year, U.S. union tradeswomen attending a second annual conference in May in Sacramento reviewed anti-union measures on ballots across the U.S. and vowed to unite to slow attrition.The conference, co-sponsored by the AFL-CIO's Building and Construction Trades Dept. and the California State Building and Construction Trades Council (SBCTC), attracted women craft workers from 26 states and from abroad. With 100 fewer attendees than last year, 520 came to the 11th annual meeting for state tradeswomen.SBCTC spokeswoman Debra Chaplan, also a member of Teamsters' union Local 853, said women now make up just 2% of
Related Links: Bureau of Labor Statistics release and data tables AGC Chief Economist Ken Simonson's analysis ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu's analysis Construction’s May unemployment figures show a tale of two indicators: the industry lost 28,000 jobs in the month, but its jobless rate edged down to 14.2% from April's 14.5%, the Bureau of Labor Statistics has reported.The total jobs lost in May represent the largest monthly decline in two years, said Ken Simonson, Associated General Contractors chief economist.BLS's monthly look at the U.S. employment picture, released on June 1, also noted that last month’s construction jobless rate improved over
Related Links: 2010 Study: Wage-Gap Issues Remain Sponsorship, particularly the support of men in positions of influence who are willing to advocate on behalf of female colleagues, is critical to propel high-potential women up the corporate ladder, according to a study presented at the Groundbreaking Women in Construction conference, held in New York City on May 7.Ann Waeger, board member of the Commercial Real Estate Women (CREW) Network, said the group's benchmark study, "Women in Commercial Real Estate 2010," found that women expressed far more dissatisfaction with their careers than men. "To better understand the difference in men's and women's
A concerted industry-government safety push has helped drive down the number of construction-worker and motorist fatalities in highway construction zones, but officials say there are still far too many deaths at these dangerous jobsites.According to an Associated General Contractors of America survey released on April 23, 68% of the 400 firms responding experienced at least one vehicular crash at one of their highway work zones in the past year; 18% reported worker fatalities in those accidents.The survey was just part of a series of events held on April 23-27 during the 13th annual National Work Zone Awareness Week, which aims
Related Links: Bureau of Labor Statistics release, with tables Analysis from Ken Simonson, AGC chief economist Analysis from Anirban Basu, ABC chief economist Construction's unemployment rate dropped sharply in April, to 14.5% from 17.2% in March, although the industry shed 2,000 jobs. Last month's construction jobless rate also was far below the April 2011 level of 17.8%, continuing a long string of year-over-year declines. The Bureau of Labor Statistics' latest monthly report on employment trends, released on May 4, showed that the job losses last month in construction's buildings and nonresidential specialty trades sectors outweighed the gains in the heavy-civil
Related Links: Bureau of Labor Statistics release, with data tables Analysis from ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu Analysis from AGC Chief Economist Ken Simonson ENR story on Feb 2012 construction jobless rate Construction’s unemployment rate rose slightly, to 17.2% in March, from February’s 17.1%, as the industry lost an estimated 7,000 jobs last month. But the rate was better than March 2011's mark of 20%. The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ latest monthly status report on the employment picture, released on April 6, showed that jobs lost in the buildings-construction sector outweighed gains in the heavy-civil and residential specialty trades segments.Architectural and
Courtesy of Nitsch Engineers Engineer Christine Breen boosts industry's prospects to students, ages 10 to 18. Avery Elementary School, an $18-million project in Dedham, Mass., was the site on March 14 for a hands-on classroom in which 150 middle- and high school girls learned how engineering directly affects their world and about the potential for a career in the industry. In the annual program sponsored by Nitsch Engineering, female professionals shared their passion for the work and the challenges of doing technical jobs that involve teamwork.This year's event—co-sponsored by Consigli Construction, WSP Flack + Kurtz, GEI Consultants and the Engineers
Related Links: Bureau of Labor Statistics release, including data tables AGC economist Ken Simonson's analysis of BLS report ABC economist Anirban Basu's analysis of BLS report Construction's unemployment rate fell in February, to 17.1% from January’s 17.8%, and also was much better than February 2011’s 21.8% level, the Bureau of Labor Statistics has reported, but BLS also said the industry lost 13,000 jobs last month.The bureau's latest monthly report, released on March 9, indicated that construction’s jobless rate has showed year-over-year improvement for 17 consecutive months.The BLS unemployment rates for construction and other industries are not adjusted to account for
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