LECET MARKET LINES

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Volume 1, Issue 2

Market-Related and Other News of Interest to                                           Laborers and Signatory Contractors

A service of the 
Laborers-Employers Cooperation and Education Trust

October 21, 2002

                                                                                                                                                                  

 
Market Surveys, Figures Provide Baseline for Market Expansion

After a year of painstaking research and data collection, the Laborers-Employers Cooperation and Education Trust (LECET) recently released comprehensive figures on union sector market share throughout the United States. Not surprisingly, the numbers reveal that Laborers and contractors have the strongest market share in major metropolitan areas. But the survey also alerted union officials to pockets of unexpected weakness, as well as to areas in which market share was much higher than originally believed.

Intended to serve as the benchmark against which to measure the union’s ongoing market expansion efforts, the 2001 data "gives us an invaluable sense of where we are, and where we need to be," said LIUNA General President Terence M. O’Sullivan. "These figures must rise dramatically in the next five years if we are to fulfill the mandate of our last convention and increase market share 20% by 2006."

To meet the union’s ambitious market share goals, LECET is helping Laborers’ Local Unions and District Councils throughout the United States:

  • Level the playing field between union and non-union contractors on targeted jobs
  • Track, research, and win specific projects
  • Recruit skilled Laborers away from non-union employers
  • Market to new contractors
  • Market directly to owners and others who procure construction services.

Over the past year, LECET surveyed Laborers’ District Councils throughout the United States to determine which of more than 5,000 construction projects valued at $5 million or more were being performed union. Future market share surveys will be conducted quarterly by LIUNA regional offices, and will measure market share down to jobs valued at $100,000 and up.

  

In this Issue

 

LECET Market Lines 
a partnership between the Laborers’ International Union of North America and its signatory contractors to secure projects and 
jobs, increase market
share, and advance shared market-related interests. 
 
 
Copyright (c) 2002       Laborers-Employers Cooperation and Education Trust. All Rights Reserved.
 
 

Contractor Coalition Defends Davis-Bacon Against Numerous Attacks

Fall in Washington, and the air is alive with the sound of deception. Unsuccessful in repeated attempts over the past 70 years to repeal the landmark Davis-Bacon Act, opponents are trying a different approach.

Federal appropriations bills typically include language stipulating that any construction funded by the bill will be performed under the provisions of the Davis-Bacon Act, which requires all contractors on federally-funded projects to pay local prevailing wages. In several recent cases, Davis-Bacon opponents have characterized such language as inappropriate expansions of the act. The Bush Administration is using such an argument in its opposition to Davis-Bacon provisions in the Senate version of the National Homeland Security and Combating Terrorism Act of 2002. House Majority Leader Richard Armey (R-TX) has refused to schedule a vote on three critical appropriations bills that include Davis-Bacon provisions: the Water Quality Financing Act of 2002 (the federal "Clean Water" bill); the Railroad Track Modernization Act of 2001; and the Rail Infrastructure Development and Expansion Act for the 21st Century (RIDE-21). Legislative experts predict such bill-by-bill attacks will continue as Davis-Bacon opponents try to carve out more and more exceptions to the act.

The Contractors’ Coalition for Fair Contracting, an industry alliance based on the 1995 Contractor Coalition for Davis-Bacon, has formed to defend the Davis-Bacon Act from such attacks. Based in Washington, the Coalition is comprised of the National Electrical Contractors’ Association, the Sheet Metal Contractors’ Association, the Mechanical Contractors’ Association, the National Erectors’ Association, the Associated General Contractors of New Jersey, and other Associated General Contractors chapters and individual contractors throughout the United States. Together, these groups represent more than 24,000 contractors who build projects in every state.

The Coalition’s message to Congress, the Administration, and the public is simple: Davis-Bacon ensures fair competition, protects federal agencies, and has the wide support of construction industry leaders. Working with the Laborers-Employers Cooperation and Education Trust (LECET), the Coalition has begun to post on the Internet a growing body of research supporting the Davis-Bacon Act and detailing its benefits.

For more information about the Contractors’ Coalition for Fair Contracting, the status of key appropriations bills, and how you can join, please contact LECET Director of Construction Marketing Terry Bumpers at (202) 783-3545 or terry@lecet.org. Mr. Bumpers serves as the Coalition’s Executive Director.

 

New England Laborers' Charter School Builds Construction Workforce
 

On September 4, 2002, a unique charter high school in Cranston, Rhode Island opened its doors to its first class of students. The New England Laborers’-Cranston Public School’s Construction Career Academy (CCA) will provide a comprehensive four-year high-school education to students from the Cranston, Rhode Island Public School District. Like other public high schools, CCA will teach standard topics such as math, English, and social sciences. Unlike most other high schools, however, CCA’s curriculum will fully integrate construction themes and topics. A math word problem might ask students to calculate the cubic yardage of concrete needed on a particular project. English classes may include reading and writing assignments related to the construction industry. Social science classes will cover the history of the construction industry and the Labor Movement. Additionally, the school will teach all aspects of construction and environmental remediation. CCA graduates will be fully prepared to enter the workforce as Construction Craft Laborer Apprentices, providing new talent for the industry. They also will be fully prepared to attend college, building a growing number of professionals with a close connection to, and appreciation of, both the Labor Movement and the construction industry.

The New England Region of the Laborers’ International Union of North America (LIUNA), the New England Laborers’ Labor-Management Cooperation and Education Trust (NELLMCT), and the New England Laborers’ Training Academy (NELTA) worked with city government, public school officials, and the local teachers’ union to line up approval and funding in record time. Housed in a 22,000-square-foot building, the school will employ five certified union teachers and three NELTA instructors. Meanwhile, in Medford, Massachusetts, a NELTA instructor soon will begin teaching construction skills in that city’s public vocational high-school.

"The city of Cranston needed additional education options for a growing high-school population," said LIUNA General Secretary-Treasurer and New England Regional Manager Armand E. Sabitoni, "and we needed a growing workforce of young Laborers. Our Construction Career Academy will meet both needs, while educating young people and giving them a strong start in life. It’s an innovative, cooperative solution that benefits everyone involved." General Secretary-Treasurer Sabitoni also serves as LECET Labor Co-Chairman.

 

Pipeline Operator Qualifications Required by October 28

In the 1990s, a series of pipeline explosions and mishaps prompted the federal government to draft regulations intended to ensure the competency of the pipeline workforce. Under the new rules, all workers maintaining existing pipelines must be qualified by October 28, 2002. Moreover, after this date, a worker’s prior work performance history can no longer be used as the sole evaluation method; all pipeline workers will have to go through a formal Operator Qualification (OQ) program.

Laborers and their signatory contractors are ready. Working with key industry associations, the Laborers-Employers Cooperation and Education Trust (LECET) and the Laborers-AGC Education and Training Fund have developed an OQ program that includes:

  • OQ assessment and training that meet the standards of the Interstate Natural Gas Association (INGA)
  • A list of covered tasks developed and validated by the Midwest Energy Association
  • A clear procedure for qualifying the workforce
  • More than 100 Laborers-AGC Education and Training Fund OQ-qualified evaluators nationwide.

    • Accepted by INGA and a growing number of pipeline owners, LIUNA’s OQ program is available free of charge to any pipeline contractor signed to a Laborers’ agreement. For more information about the new OQ program, contact Terry Bumpers, LECET Director of Construction Marketing, at (202) 508-4403 or terry@lecet.org.

     
    LECET Resources Report

    LECET’s online clearinghouse at www.LECET.org continues to display the latest ideas, programs, and materials developed by LECET and its 29 affiliates throughout the United States and Canada. Recent arrivals include:

  • Best Value Contracting and Responsible Employer Ordinances: A presentation promoting Best Value Contracting to key public decision makers. (Construction Marketing: /Clearinghouse_Public/LECET/bestvalue/bestvalue.htm)
  • Pipeline Operator Qualification Regulations: A National LECET presentation on the Pipeline Operator Qualifications due to take effect on October 28, 2002. (Construction Marketing: http://www.lecet.org/Clearinghouse_Public/LECET/Pipeline/Operator_Regulations/operator_regulations.htm)
  • Religious "Build Union" Flyer: a basic flyer that promotes union labor to religious groups and institutions considering building, renovating, or maintaining their facilities. Developed by National LECET for the Mid-Atlantic market, the flyer can be modified to fit any local or regional construction market. (Advertising and Communications: http://www.lecet.org/Clearinghouse_Public/MALECET/buildunion.pdf )
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    Laborers-Employers Cooperation and Education Trust

     
    Labor Trustees Management Trustees
     
    Armand E. Sabitoni, Co-Chairman
    Mike Quevedo, Jr.
    Raymond M. Pocino
    Edward M. Smith
    Joseph S. Mancinelli
    Rocco Davis
     
    John C. Bartnett, Co-Chairman
    Richard E. Gardner
    Lee Smallman
    Thomas T. Holsman
    John D. O'Reilly
    Michael D'Antuono