Newsline

On April 21, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit issued a decision denying ABC’s appeal regarding a preliminary injunction against Executive Order 14063, Use of Project Labor Agreements for Federal Construction Projects, which requires all contractors on federal construction projects of $35 million or more to sign a project labor agreement.

On April 14, Buddy Henley, president of Henley Construction, Gaithersburg, Maryland, and 2024 chair of the ABC National Board of Directors, joined a roundtable with Republican Conference Chair Lisa McClain, R-Mich., to discuss how the Working Families Tax Cuts Act has delivered meaningful benefits for his family-owned company and the construction industry.

On April 15, Danny Shaw, CEO of Kato Roofing in Mankato, Minnesota, joined Rep. Brad Finstad, R-Minn., for a press conference introducing the White House Conference on Small Business Act. The bill would reestablish the conference for the first time since 1995.

On April 10, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced a revised National Emphasis Program to protect employees from heat-related hazards and resulting injuries and illnesses in outdoor and indoor workplaces in general industry, construction, maritime and agriculture.

On April 8, ABC joined coalition comment letters on the U.S. Department of Education’s proposed implementation of the Workforce Pell Grant program.

On April 1, ABC, as a steering committee member of the Coalition for Workplace Safety, as well as dozens of other employer organizations, urged California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health to withdraw its worker walkaround proposed rule in its entirety. California’s proposal is nearly identical to the final rule issued by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration during the Biden administration, which ABC and the CWS both opposed.

Great news for ABC’s smaller contractor members! The Occupational Safety and Health Administration recently launched the Safety Champions Program, which is the small employer version of OSHA’s Voluntary Protection Program.

On March 9, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration announced four new guidance documents on the implementation of registered apprenticeship programs. The stated goal of the guidance is to improve flexibility and reduce burdens for program sponsors, promote clarity and consistency in the registration process across states, elevate quality standards and increase transparency.

On Feb. 26, the U.S. Department of Labor announced a proposed rule that will rescind and replace the ABC-opposed 2024 Employee or Independent Contractor Classification Under the Fair Labor Standards Act final rule.

On Feb 18, ABC’s Patrick Scarpati spoke at a Capitol Hill briefing examining the future of wearable artificial intelligence and its implications for innovation, workforce development and U.S. competitiveness.