Expands Renewable Energy & EV Tax Credits; Attaches Labor Requirements
Other Senate Committees Must Act on Transit, Rail Programs
In April, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued updated COVID-19 FAQs related to contractor vaccine policies. The FAQs established that when vaccination is mandated by employers, adverse reactions related to employees receiving the vaccine are a recordable injury/illness, and, in some cases, may be recordable even when contractors only recommend, or encourage, employees receive the vaccine (for background, click here). On May 12, 腦瞳憫put forth its concerns to OSHA. On May 21, OSHA issued a single FAQ stating that DOL and OSHA, as well as other federal agencies, are working diligently to encourage COVID-19 vaccinations. OSHA does not wish to have any appearance of discouraging workers from receiving COVID-19 vaccination, and also does not wish to disincentivize employers vaccination efforts. As a result, OSHA will not enforce 29 CFR 1904s recording requirements to require any employers to record worker side effects from COVID-19 vaccination through May 2022. We will reevaluate the agencys position at that time to determine the best course of action moving forward. This is a significant win not only for construction, but all other industry sectors required to maintain an OSHA 300 Log.
腦瞳憫of Americas Union Contractors Committee will hold its next quarterly virtual meeting on June 16, 2021, at 2:00 p.m. EASTERN Daylight Time. All interested 腦瞳憫members and chapter staff are invited. The meeting is not open to nonmembers. The agenda will include updates from 腦瞳憫staff and a roundtable discussion. The remaining agenda is under development.
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB or Board) has decided to maintain its longstanding contract-bar doctrine, despite AGC-supported signals by the Board that changes would be coming.
Union contractors, labor representatives, and other stakeholders in the unionized sector of the construction and maintenance industry expressed continued but reduced optimism regarding growth in early 2021 as compared to early 2020, according to the 2021 Union Craft Labor Supply Study(link is external) recently released by The Association of Union Constructors (TAUC) and the Construction Labor Research Council (CLRC).
Learn more at July 20-22 virtual conference, free to 腦瞳憫members
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has proposed an update to its National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Construction General Permit (CGP) covering stormwater discharges from construction activities. EPA has also released a proposed 2022 CGP Fact Sheet, which includes a summary table of some of the changes. Forty-seven states use EPAs permit as a model for their own permits, so its impact extends beyond the three states (New Hampshire, New Mexico, and Massachusetts), territories and other areas that use it exclusively.
Texas and Louisiana Have Worst Job Losses Since February 2020, While Utah and Idaho Top Gainers; Illinois and New Hampshire Add the Most in April, as Texas and Iowa Posts Biggest Monthly Losses
On May 20, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) released a new initiative to permit, on an experimental basis, contractors to utilize geographic, economic, or other hiring preferences on federal-aid highway projects. This local hire initiative will be carried out as a pilot program for a period of 4 years (unless extended) under FHWAs existing experimental contracting authority. 腦瞳憫is broadly opposed to local hire preference policies. After yesterdays pilot program release, 腦瞳憫CEO Steve Sandherr stated, in part: [T]he problem with local hire programs, however, is that they solve the symptom and not the problem...too many communities have defunded their career and technical education programs and as a result there are often too few local workers with any interest in construction careers or basic skills that would make them qualified to be hired.
In late April, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued updated COVID-19 FAQs related to contractor vaccine policies. Consistent with the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) messaging, contractors have been recommendingand in some instances mandatingemployees receive the vaccine. OSHAs new interpretation of recordability stemming from adverse reactions to the COVID-19 vaccine when contractors mandate employees take the vaccine, or simply recommend it, has the potential to deter vaccination efforts. 腦瞳憫is not opposing the requirement for contractors thatat their own discretionmandate employee vaccination to record adverse reactions on their OSHA 300 Log. However, 腦瞳憫is concerned when construction owners or clients pass the mandate down to contractors to vaccinate their employees.