A series of sweeps of construction sites in Connecticut this year has resulted in 27 "Stop Work" orders against contractors for misclassification of workers as "independent contractors." The results continue a disturbing trend in the state's construction industry. In the past year, the Connecticut Department of Labor reports that inspection and review of 108 construction projects and 299 contractors has resulted in 199 "Stop Work" work orders, an alarming rate of cheating.

"Some employers will misclassify workers as independent contractors with the intent of avoiding their obligations under federal and state employment law covering such matters as workers' compensation, unemployment taxes and payroll reporting," said state Labor Commissioner Sharon Palmer. "Unfortunately, when an employer fails to pay for the proper coverage for injuries suffered on the job, and a worker gets hurt, the state's taxpayers ultimately foot the bill."

Avoiding tax obligations gives cheating employers a significant advantage in competitive bidding and negotiated pricing within the construction industry and creates a funding gap for state and federal governments, among other problems.

Media coverage here.

The Connecticut Department of Labor was joined by the US Department of Labor, OSHA and local and state police in raids of at least four construction sites in Stamford last week in an unprecedented effort to crack down on payroll fraud. The Stamford Advocate covered the raids and published a column by Angela Carella calling for developers to clean up their businesses.

The raids targeted three sites being built by Building and Land Technology and another by Greenfield Partners. The sites have all previously been the target of numerous public complaints as well as demonstrations by union carpenters and other trades workers. The Harbor Point project being built by BL&T has also been the site of numerious enforcement actions. More than 34 "Stop Work" orders had been issued at the project prior to last week's raids.

Investigators talked to more than 200 workers, according to media reports, and will sort out possible violations in the coming weeks after reviewing those interviews.
 

To all staff and local unions:

Yesterday was a good day for union carpenters across New England. Amazingly, all of the Council’s endorsed candidates won election. Obama swept the six states, including winning swing-state New Hampshire by a larger-than-expected margin. In the critical races -- Warren in Massachusetts, Murphy in Connecticut, Hassan/Kuster/Shea-Porter in New Hampshire, King in Maine, Cicilline in Rhode Island – our picks were all winners!!

There is no doubt in my mind that some of the credit for these outcomes belongs to all of you and our members. We worked as hard as we ever have in an election season. We used all the tools available to us – new and old techniques – to educate and mobilize our members. And they responded. Door knocking, phone banks, rallies, visibilities, robo-dials, tele-Town Halls. We had a good story to tell…and we told it well and often.

But it’s important to keep a clear-eyed perspective on where we stand the morning after Election Day 2012. In many ways, we “held serve”. We helped fend off the right wing Republican assault on the middle class. There should be a clear message to the nation’s anti-union forces that their philosophy is not welcome, that the voters do not buy an agenda that favors the wealthy over working families. Yet we still have a divided Congress; we still have a Republican Party that attacks unions. We have some new articulate champions but we also have some old foes. Paul Ryan is still chair of the House Budget Committee and there are no signs yet that the House leadership is prepared to move forward in terms of solving our country’s problems as opposed to scoring political points.

So, as much as all of us deserve to take a deep breath and feel a justified sense of pride in our efforts, we will need to remain vigilant. The economy will not fix itself; it will require more federal and state action to invest in jobs and people. And it will require our continued involvement. Our members need to work; that’s why we endorsed the candidates who understood that the best social program is a job.

Thank you all for your efforts these past weeks and months. It was worth it. Congratulations.

Mark Erlich
Executive Secretary-Treasurer
New England Regional Council of Carpenters
 

United States Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren visited the Carpenters Center recently to speak with members about issues of specific interest to union carpenters. She took questions from members and spoke individually with members before and after the event. Thank you to Elizabeth Warren for coming by and thank you to every member who cared enough to come out and get involved.

More than 75 carpenter stewards in Connecticut from Locals 24, 43 and 210 gathered last night to talk about upcoming elections in the state that could have a significant impact both locally and nationally. A United States Senate race between Congressman Chris Murphy and second-time candidate Linda McMahon of the WWE wrestling company is one of a handful of races in the country that could tilt the balance of power in the Senate. Members are also active in other races in the state.

After discussing issues of importance to union carpenters, the conversation turned to getting as many members active as possible. Stewards returned to jobsites today armed with information and schedules. The information is to educate fellow carpenters about the issues and the candidates, the schedules were for events at which members will reach out to even more members. Between now and Election Day on November 6, members will be participating in phone banks to contact registered members and talk to them about the importance of the election to their families, our union, the economy and the construction industry.
Members interested in participating in scheduled activity should contact their Local Union hall for dates and times.

Governor Deval Patrick yesterday announced a boost to funding for new buildings on state college campuses, a positive steop to boosting infrastructure, education and employment in the construciton trades.

The announced investment of $2.2 billion financed through bond sales will lead to $20 million worth of building at Roxbury Community College and $607 million in construction at University of Massachusetts campuses will including:

--A new Physical Science Building at the University of Massachusetts Amherst currently estimated at $85 million that will accommodate enrollment growth and higher demand in science programs, helping achieve the University’s long term goal to improve all science facilities, increase retention and attract the highest caliber faculty and students;
--A new Management Building for the Manning School of Business (MSB) at the University of Massachusetts Lowell which leverages approximately $10 million in private donations to support the $35 million project; and
--A new academic classroom building at the University of Massachusetts Boston, estimated at $100 million to help address the demands of continued enrollment growth at the University and the drive to provide an academic setting in which cutting edge teaching techniques can be accommodated.

In new report card, Republican Scott Brown fails to support new jobs and Massachusetts’ middle-class

Today, the New England Regional Council of Carpenters issued a report card on Senator Scott Brown’s failing efforts to support job-creating programs and middle-class families across the Commonwealth. Senator Brown received an F on today’s report card for opposing numerous jobs bills that would have supported thousands of good-paying jobs in Massachusetts, opposing the extension of essential unemployment benefits, and failing to fight for fair wages for working men and women.

"Try as he may, Scott Brown cannot run away from his votes along national Republican Party lines,” said Mark Erlich, Executive Secretary-Treasurer of the New England Council of Carpenters. “Whether it's unemployment benefits, jobs bills, or standing up for fair wages, Scott Brown is not on the side of working families right here in Massachusetts. The attempts to re-make his image cannot mask his record. He sides with huge corporations and Wall Street instead of the thousands of Massachusetts families still looking for jobs.”

Today, the New England Carpenters gave Senator Brown an “F” for failing to stand up for working families. The grade was based on the following key votes: 

The New England Regional Council of Carpenters, along with the Massachusetts Building Trades Council and the Massachusetts AFL-CIO, officially announced their support of Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren's "Rebuild Now" infrastructure investment plan.

Mark Erlich, Executive Secretary-Treasurer of the New England Regional Council of Carpenters, and Frank Callahan, president of the Massachusetts Building Trades Council ,told reporters that the industry needs a boost and that a plan like Warren's has the potential to put its members back to work.

Read more online here.

Mark Erlich, Executive Secretary-Treasurer of the New England Regional Council of Carpenters released the following statement regarding today's Supreme Court decision on the Affordable Care Act.

"We are pleased that the Supreme Court did not strike down the ACA. When Carpenters work, we have great health insurance, but the costs continue to skyrocket. Too much of our contract increases have gone to fund health care over the years. The ACA has the potential not only to extend access but to control costs and we support efforts in that direction."

Local 1305 member Dan Rego, who is a NERCC Organizer and Fall River City Councilor, is shaking things up in the Southeastern Massachusetts city. A few weeks ago, he raised concerns over issues with work being done by the Fall River Housing Authority. Since then, the sparks have started flying.

Rego spoke at a Housing Authority meeting and reported on conversations he had with workers on several FRHA projects in the city, some of which were receiving federal funding. Several workers had reported being misclassified as independent contractors, not being paid the legally mandated prevailing wage or not being paid at all. Rego told the Board that he had referred all of the allegations and evidence to proper state authorities.

 The Housing Authority went into immediate executive session, during which they appointed their own independent investigator. The story quickly hit the Fall River Herald News. The paper then followed up with a vicious attack on Rego, questioning not only his motives, but actions by Rego and the union in the past to protect industry standards. This in a city where legal violations on public construction projects are not unheard of.

This week, Rego spoke out in his own defense in the paper, reminding readers that his knowledge of and experience in the construction industry are a benefit to the city and its residents.

Please take a moment to read Rego's "Letter to the Editor" and consider weighing in with a respectful comment on the Herald News site.

The Connecticut Department of Labor issued “Stop Work” orders against 13 construction companies in recent weeks for misclassifying workers as “independent contractors.” The orders were issued in multiple communities where contractors were found to have misclassified workers for the purpose of avoiding their obligations to carry workers’ compensation and paying federal and state unemployment taxes, including unemployment.

One of the "Stop Work" orders was issued against NLP Contractors at the New London Plaza. Union carpenters have been protesting at the site, where renovations are being done and where North Carolina-based SandovalConstruction has already been issued a "Stop Work " order. (earlier post)

The Hartford Courant, New London Day, Republican American,  Danbury Patch and Greenwich Patch reported on the story. Sites where contractors issued "Stop Work" orders were issued were located in Danbury, Greenwich, New London, Preston, Naugatuck and Simsbury.

“Stop Work” orders result in the halting of all activity at a cited company’s worksite, as well as a $300 civil penalty for each day the company does not carry workers’ compensation coverage as required by law.

According to a release on the "Stop Work" orders by the Department of Labor: “in the past 12 months the agency has inspected 167 construction projects and reviewed the records of 688 contractors. A total of 281 “Stop Work” orders have been issued during this time, with 116 identified as being issued to out‐of‐state contractors. Since October 2007, a total of 735 “Stop Work” orders have been issued with $285,000 collected in civil penalties for the misclassification of workers. Additionally, referrals have been made to the Department of Revenue Services and the Labor Department’s Tax Division audit unit for further investigation.”
 

This blog post was updated form a previous post on 5/16 to include links to additional media coverage and information about the New London Plaza site.

Dan Rego, a union carpenter and organizer who successfully ran for City Council in Fall River, is starting to shake things up in the Southeastern Massachusetts City. At a Monday night hearing for the Fall River Housing Authority, Rego raised questions about the agency's awarding of construction contracts and the payment and treatment of workers.

The Fall River Herald News reported on Rego's questions in today's paper. The Housing Authority cut off Rego's statement and went into Executive Session, ultimately voting to begin an independet investigation of the allegations, according to the paper. Rego has already discussed improprieties he has found on FRHA sites with Fall River Mayor William Flanagan as well as the offices of Attorney General Martha Coakley,  Inspector General Gregory Sullivan and State Auditor Suzanne Bump.

Rego told the Housing Authority that he has found issues with projects that are valued at less than $10,000, which are done with very little oversight.

Braintree, Massachusetts-based Northeast Interiors has been ordered by the state to pay $20,000 in fines and make restitution of almost $16,000 to twelve employees. The company cheated workers on three projects in Arlington, Swampscott and Salem.

Civil citations were issued against Northeast Interiors and owner Kevin Fish for failure to pay prevailing wages for work performed ($5,000), failure to submit true and accurate certified payroll records ($7,500) and failure to keep true and accurate payroll records ($7,500). Violations occured when the company was doing work at Arlington Menotomy Manner, Swampscott Thomson Building and Salem Rainbow Terrace.

The case was handled by the Fair Labor Division of the Office of Attorney General Martha Coakley. Workers who feel their employer has paid them less than what they are owed, in violation of previaling wage laws or other wage and hour laws (ie, overtime) may contact the New England Regional Council of Carpenters for assitance or may file a complaint directly with the Attorney General's Office using this page.

Massachusetts Democratic Senate Candidate Elizabeth Warren was in Washington this week where she visited UBC headquarters and met with General President Doug McCarron, Secretary-Treasurer Andy Silins, UBC Political Director Tom Flynn, NERCC Executive Secretary-Treasurer Mark Erlich and NERCC Political Director Steve Joyce.

Warren will be meeting rank-and-file union members at a Town Hall meeting next week. The event will be held Wednesday, May 9 at 5:30 PM at 1199SEUI's Union hall on Mount Vernon Street in Dorchester. All carpenters are encouraged to attend and bring their families to this important event. Warren will talk to members about herself and where she stands on issues important to us.

Our future is in our hands!

The New England Regional Council of Carpenters and other industry groups are calling on the Massachusetts legislature to make it a felony for employers to fail to purchase workers compensation insurance for their employees. Senate Bill 915, sponsored by Senator Katherine Clark (D-Melrose) and Majority Whip Ronald Mariano (D-Quincy) also has the backing of Attorney General Martha Coakley.

Operating without workers' compesnation insurance is currently a misdemeanor, punishable by upt oa year in prison or a find of up to $1,500. The new law would make the felongy punishapble by up to five years in state prison, two-and-a-half years in jail or a fine of up to $10,000.

NERCC Political Director Steve Joyce said that although union carpenters are always covered by workers' compensation insurance, they are still hurt by those who cheat.

"In an industry where work most often goes to whoever submits the lowest price, any contractor who does not purchase workers' compensation coverage has a competitive advantage right from the start over contractors who follow the law and have coverage," he said. "That negatively impacts any carpenter that works for a legitmate contractor. We're not looking to hurt all employers, we value the role they play in creating jobs. We just want everyone to comply with the law when they do it."

Even the Associated Industries of Massachusetts (AIM), a group that lobbies for businesses, support the bill. In a story by the State House News Service, John Regan, AIM's Executive Vice President described the current situation as unfair to too many.

"Their faliure to have that insurance in place means that if workers working for them get injured, the rest of the employer commnity pays the bill" and that making failure to have coverage a felony "reflects the seriousness of the issue, and conveys how important it is that coverage be in place."

According to the SHNS story, the Massachusetts Department of Industrial Accidents has reported more than 1,000 cses costing the worekrs compensation fund $26 million in the last five years becuase their employer didn't have worers' compensation coverage. In recent years the department has routinely issued Stop Work Orders against more than 3,000 employer found to be operating without workers' compensation coverage.

As he campaigns to move from the United States House of Representatives to the Senate this year, Connecticut's Chris Murphy has been renewing and strengthening his relationship with union carpenters. Murphy was recently endorsed by the Working Families Party and hit the streets to push for more infrastructure fudning.

Murphy recently attended an event in New Milford with union carpenters other trades workers and construction employers highlight the need to fund repairs to the structurally deficient Veteran's Bridge and other neglected structures. The project would provide an economic boost through job creation. It would also start to tackle major infrastructure deficiencies that are dangerous, stifle growth and lead to more costly repairs later.

Funding to repair the Veteran's Bridge in New Milford is in place, but proposed cuts could lead to eliminating commitments to many projects, including the Veteran's Bridge, according to an article by the Danbury News-Times.

Local 24 Carpenter and Representative Chris Bachant is quoted in the article supporting Murphy's efforts to fudn more infrastruture construction, especially if local workers can made the beneficiaries.

Chris Bachant, a Waterford resident and union carpenter who was one of several dozen people to attend the event, said "things are very tough right now" in the construction industry.

"It's fantastic what Murphy is promoting," Bachant said. "But I think we need to go one step further and make sure that local people are hired for these jobs."

A recent bridge construction project near his home, Bachant said, was awarded to a company from Minnesota.

The entire story can be read here.

The Nashua Telegraph yesterday published a piece by Mark Mackenzie, President of the New Hampshire AFL-CIO calling for a New Year's resolution to help workers in 2012. The piece was a good summary of what workers want and deserve, but aren't gettingin today's America. Click through to read the piece and consider sharing it with others.

The Boston Globe this weekend ran a piece that scratched just a bit beyond the surface of unemployment in the construction industry. Local 56 Pile Driver Barry Beaudoin and Local 40 Carpenter Vionet Montano were interviewed for the article, as was NERCC Executive Secretary-Treasurer Mark Erlich.

Mike Rowe, host of the popular TV show "Dirty Jobs," testified before Congress last week. He spoke about the declining respect for hard work and skilled trades in the United States and why that's a bad thing for all of us.



For the last few years, Rowe has been championing the cause of craft training and encouraging young people to pursue a career of hard work in a skilled trade. Visit mikeroweworkers.com for more information on his efforts.

The United States Department of Labor’s district office in Hartford has announced an initiative to aggressively pursue wage and hour violations on construction sites in Rhode Island and Connecticut.

“Due to the competitive nature of the construction industry, some contractor and subcontractors cut corners with respect to wages, hours and employment conditions,” said Neil Patrick, the Wage and Hour Division’s district director in Hartford. “The Wage and Hour Division is developing new strategies to better identify and remedy widespread labor violations so workers are protected against exploitation and law-abiding employers are not placed at a competitive disadvantage when they play by the rules and pay fair wages.”

NERCC staff in the two states have been pushing for increased enforcement as harsh economic conditions in the construction industry have made it more tempting for project owners and general contractors to look the other way at violations. Several meetings have been held with state and federal enforcement agencies in the last year where multi-state investigations have been a main point of discussion.

Because so many general contractors and subcontractors move across city and state borders, coordinated efforts are essential to make a significant impact on contractors and the industry as a whole.

The DOL plans to look at general contractor and subcontractors on projects in Connecticut and Rhode Island to uncover patterns of cheating. The Wage and Hour Division conducted nearly 300 investigations in the construction industry in the last ten years, recouping $5.6 million for almost 3,300 workers.

“These numbers how that we need to change industry behavior across the board, not simply on an employer-by-employer basis,” Patrick said. “Paying workers the proper wages is the employer’s responsibility. We particularly want to encourage general contractors to require and ensure Fair Labor Standards Act compliance by all of their subcontractors.”

The mural celebrating the history and advances of Maine workers was removed from the state's Department of Labor office over the weekend, sparking memories of the Baltimore Colts middle-of-the-night move out of town to Indianapolis.

Though conservative efforts to limit or eliminate the activity of unions is underway in several states this year, Republicans in Congress are running into opposition to some of their labor-related efforts from within their own party.

Twice in the last week a significant block of Republicans broke party ranks to support union positions on two significant votes. The first was an amendment to a spending bill that would have prohibited Davis Bacon prevailing wage requirements for any federal projects this year. Forty-eight Republicans in the House of Representatives joined every voting Democrat in opposing the measure, which was soundly defeated 189-233.

Republicans Charlie Bass and Frank Guinta of New Hampshire were the only New England Representatives to support the amendment. Roll Call vote results.

In a clear message to House Speaker John Boehner that he had over-reached, 60 Republican members of the House of Representatives also broke ranks last week to vote with Democrats on a bill amendment regarding funding for the National Labor Relations Board. The amendment would have de-funded the agency, which governs elections for union representation and rules on complaints of unfair labor practices by workers or management. Conservatives have complained that appointments to the Board by President Barack Obama have pushed the body to make more worker-friendly decisions.

Republican Frank Guinta of New Hampshire was the only New England Representative to support the amendment, which was defeated 176-250.

The first two years of the Obama administration have been presented as a failure for the labor movement by some. The biggest legislative initiative sought in Congress--the Employee Free Choice Act--never had any momentum and virtually disappeared from policy discussions. The stimulus package morphed from an aggressive jobs-creating effort to a defensive stop-gap to save state and local budgets and provide tax cuts to assist struggling companies or investors. The grand finale was said to be the 2010 elections, where Republicans swept to a majority in the House of Representatives, weakened the Democratic majority in the Senate and started calling for President Obama to compromise more and move his agenda to the right.

On some issues, the administration has and may continue to do that. But on labor issues, they haven't retreated as much as changed tactics and strategies. Obama himself has continued to support unions publicly and has a Secretary of Labor who's mission has been to do more for workers without new laws.

In the Washington Post today, Seth Borden takes another look at how the administration is working with existing laws--and the power of the Executive Branch--to help workers in a way Republicans can't block them.

To union carpenters and honest contractors, it’s an all too familiar story, even if it’s not reported in the press often enough. A job goes out to bid and several union and nonunion contractors put in bids. Costs will be the same for materials, equipment, insurance and other items. But when the bids are opened most of the bid prices are clustered together, while one or two are dramatically lower. The owner looks only at the bottom line on the bid and grabs the rock bottom price.

More often than not the result of the lowball bid is one of two things: the contractor missing something in the bid, which will result in back-charging the owner or labor costs being illegally lowered on the job because subcontractors will be misclassifying workers or not paying workers at all.

The second scenario was likely in Norwalk, Connecticut and led to a state-ordered shutdown American Cancer Society's C. Anthony and Jean Whittingham Family Building, which was reported in the Norwalk Hour.

The 13,000 square foot building was less than a month from its groundbreaking when the Department of Labor visited the site and found workers being paid in cash and having no contributions made to workers’ compensation on their behalf and no state or federal taxes being paid. There were also discrepancies in the way the workers and the company identified workers on the job.

Local 210 Business Agent Glenn Marshall told the Hour he had conversations with other bidders on the job and suspected there would be problems on the job based on the winning bid.

"I talked to the other contractors and they said they didn't know how you could (construct the building) at that price," he said.

NERCC ES-T Mark Erlich is quoted in a piece by the Boston Herald's Wayne Woodlief, who cautions Senator Scott Brown not to insist on the perfect if it's the enemy of the good.

An interesting perspective from Paul Krugman's Op-Ed piece published in the New York Times over the weekend.

Punishing the Jobless
New York Times
Paul Krugman
July 4, 2010

There was a time when everyone took it for granted that unemployment insurance, which normally terminates after 26 weeks, would be extended in times of persistent joblessness. It was, most people agreed, the decent thing to do.

But that was then. Today, American workers face the worst job market since the Great Depression, with five job seekers for every job opening, with the average spell of unemployment now at 35 weeks. Yet the Senate went home for the holiday weekend without extending benefits. How was that possible?

The answer is that we’re facing a coalition of the heartless, the clueless and the confused. Nothing can be done about the first group, and probably not much about the second. But maybe it’s possible to clear up some of the confusion.

By the heartless, I mean Republicans who have made the cynical calculation that blocking anything President Obama tries to do — including, or perhaps especially, anything that might alleviate the nation’s economic pain — improves their chances in the midterm elections. Don’t pretend to be shocked: you know they’re out there, and make up a large share of the G.O.P. caucus.

By the clueless I mean people like Sharron Angle, the Republican candidate for senator from Nevada, who has repeatedly insisted that the unemployed are deliberately choosing to stay jobless, so that they can keep collecting benefits. A sample remark: “You can make more money on unemployment than you can going down and getting one of those jobs that is an honest job but it doesn’t pay as much. We’ve put in so much entitlement into our government that we really have spoiled our citizenry.”

Now, I don’t have the impression that unemployed Americans are spoiled; desperate seems more like it. One doubts, however, that any amount of evidence could change Ms. Angle’s view of the world — and there are, unfortunately, a lot of people in our political class just like her.

But there are also, one hopes, at least a few political players who are honestly misinformed about what unemployment benefits do — who believe, for example, that Senator Jon Kyl, Republican of Arizona, was making sense when he declared that extending benefits would make unemployment worse, because “continuing to pay people unemployment compensation is a disincentive for them to seek new work.” So let’s talk about why that belief is dead wrong.

Do unemployment benefits reduce the incentive to seek work? Yes: workers receiving unemployment benefits aren’t quite as desperate as workers without benefits, and are likely to be slightly more choosy about accepting new jobs. The operative word here is “slightly”: recent economic research suggests that the effect of unemployment benefits on worker behavior is much weaker than was previously believed. Still, it’s a real effect when the economy is doing well.

But it’s an effect that is completely irrelevant to our current situation. When the economy is booming, and lack of sufficient willing workers is limiting growth, generous unemployment benefits may keep employment lower than it would have been otherwise. But as you may have noticed, right now the economy isn’t booming — again, there are five unemployed workers for every job opening. Cutting off benefits to the unemployed will make them even more desperate for work — but they can’t take jobs that aren’t there.

Wait: there’s more. One main reason there aren’t enough jobs right now is weak consumer demand. Helping the unemployed, by putting money in the pockets of people who badly need it, helps support consumer spending. That’s why the Congressional Budget Office rates aid to the unemployed as a highly cost-effective form of economic stimulus. And unlike, say, large infrastructure projects, aid to the unemployed creates jobs quickly — while allowing that aid to lapse, which is what is happening right now, is a recipe for even weaker job growth, not in the distant future but over the next few months.

But won’t extending unemployment benefits worsen the budget deficit? Yes, slightly — but as I and others have been arguing at length, penny-pinching in the midst of a severely depressed economy is no way to deal with our long-run budget problems. And penny-pinching at the expense of the unemployed is cruel as well as misguided.

So, is there any chance that these arguments will get through? Not, I fear, to Republicans: “It is difficult to get a man to understand something,” said Upton Sinclair, “when his salary” — or, in this case, his hope of retaking Congress — “depends upon his not understanding it.” But there are also centrist Democrats who have bought into the arguments against helping the unemployed. It’s up to them to step back, realize that they have been misled — and do the right thing by passing extended benefits.

If you think the Obama administration isn’t doing enough for unions and workers in the United States, you might want to take a look at The Nation. Esther Kaplan has an informative piece on Department of Labor Secretary Hilda Solis and the work she and her team are doing to reinvigorate the department.

“During the Bush years, the Department of Labor became a cautionary tale about what happens when foxes are asked to guard the henhouse. But since California Congresswoman Hilda Solis became labor secretary last winter, she has brought on board a team of lifelong advocates for working people--some of whom come from the ranks of organized labor--and has hired hundreds of new investigators and enforcers.

President Obama calls Solis part of his economic team, but the truth is she's not part of the daily huddle at the White House with Summers and Geithner and Orszag. She's tapped instead as a lead voice in the "jobs, jobs, jobs" choir, advocating for Obama's latest stimulus package. She has tiptoed into the realm of financial regulation, organizing a joint hearing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on the abysmal performance of target date retirement funds during the market crash, and she doles out hundreds of millions of dollars in job training funds, a decent chunk of which she has used to shape policy by channeling it to green industries. But Solis understands that her real influence lies in her power to enforce the nation's labor laws--the primary mission of the DoL. It's a role she embraced with relish at her swearing-in, where she announced with a grin, "To those who have for too long abused workers, put them in harm's way, denied them fair pay, let me be clear: there is a new sheriff in town."

Solis and her team are using techniques and personell that have been tested and succeeded on state levels, such as the crackdown on employee misclassification that was wildly successful in New York. The piece is an interesting look at the difference with a change of attitude.

The NYTimes' Steve Greenhouse sums up the problem, what's being done by some states and what the Obama administration is preparing to do about it. Nice piece to share.

Companies that pass off employees as independent contractors avoid paying Social Security, Medicare and unemployment insurance taxes for those workers. Companies do not withhold income taxes from contractors’ paychecks, and several studies have indicated that, on average, misclassified independent workers do not report 30 percent of their income.

One federal study concluded that employers illegally passed off 3.4 million regular workers as contractors, while the Labor Department estimates that up to 30 percent of companies misclassify employees. Ohio’s attorney general estimates that his state has 92,500 misclassified workers, which has cost the state up to $35 million a year in unemployment insurance taxes, up to $103 million in workers’ compensation premiums and up to $223 million in income tax revenue.

“It’s a very significant problem,” said the attorney general, Richard Cordray. “Misclassification is bad for business, government and labor. Law-abiding businesses are in many ways the biggest fans of increased enforcement. Misclassifying can mean a 20 or 30 percent cost difference per worker.”

The Obama administration plans to expand investigations by hiring 100 more enforcement personnel. The I.R.S. has begun auditing 6,000 companies to see whether they are in compliance with the law.

The administration also plans to rewrite a three-decade-old I.R.S. rule that lets companies indefinitely classify employees as independent contractors — even when the government knows they are misclassified — so long as the company once had a reasonable belief that the workers were contractors.

While 7,000 people a day run out of unemployment benefits, the Congress continues to bicker over how they'll extend them. From cnn.com...

One month after the House passed a bill extending unemployment benefits, the issue is still being debated in the Senate.

Democratic leaders in the Senate introduced a bill two weeks ago to lengthen benefits in all states by 14 weeks. Those that live in states with unemployment greater than 8.5% would receive an additional six weeks.

Senate Republicans, who twice objected to swift passage of the bill by unanimous consent, want to add several amendments. Their requests include paying for the increased benefits with stimulus funds rather than by extending a longstanding federal unemployment tax through June 2011.

While leaders in both parties are trying to negotiate a compromise, Senate Democrats Wednesday evening took a step to limit the debate on the bill and bring it to the floor as early as the end of next week. If it passes, the Senate legislation must then be reconciled with the House version, which extends benefits by 13 weeks for those living in high-unemployment states.

Which candidate has more union endorsements? How many members are represented by those endorsements? What's the union endorsement breakdown by industry? And what does it all mean?

Boston Globe political columnist Brian Mooney takes on all of these questions. Mooney's been around Boston, politics and unions a while. He's even been one of the more active union members over at the Globe lately.

Coakley’s union strength is based in the building trades and in the transportation and hospitality industries, because of her aggressive enforcement of the state’s wage laws, a lesser priority for her predecessors. Her office issues news releases at a rate of almost one a week, announcing charges or settlements with companies engaged in fraudulent employment practices, such as misclassifying employees as independent contractors or failing to contribute to insurance for unemployment and workers’ compensation.

Capuano’s voting record in Congress has earned him a 97 percent career rating from the AFL-CIO, and his labor support cuts across several industries, in part because he has voted against most of the United States’ trade agreements with other nations. Manufacturing and industrial-sector unions say those agreements place American workers at a competitive disadvantage because of cheap labor in countries such as Mexico and China.

“Coakley gets great credit with the building trades for being much better on [wage and hour law enforcement], but she doesn’t have all the building trades, and Capuano has experience in broader issues that come before Congress,’’ Haynes said.

Following last week's meeting with staff of NERCC and affiliated Local Unions seeking their endorsement of her candidacy for US Senate, Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley sat down to record a message to union carpenters. Earlier this week, NERCC announced its endorsement of Coakley.



For more infomration on Coakley, visit her campaign site, MarthaCoakley.com.
View videos by the campaign at their YouTube channel.
Follow Martha on Twitter.

Union Carpenters had a good night in Boston last night.

Boston Mayor Thomas Menino topped the ticket in a four-way primary, earning more than 50% of the vote. Union Carpenters have long been a fan of the Mayor because of his tremendous support of development in the city and standards for construction. He will face City Councilor Micheal Flaherty--who finished a distant second with just under 24% of the vote--in a final election November 3. Flaherty squeeked by fellow Councilor Sam Yoon, who earned 21% of the vote. Developer/contractor Kevin McCrea took 4% of the vote.

Endorsed candidates for City Councilor At Large also dominated in the polls. Fifteen candidates were on the primary ballot, vying for eight spots in the final election. The top four finishers were all NERCC-endorsed candidates, including John Connolly, Stephen Murphy, Felix Arroyo and Ayanna Pressley.

Boston, MA –The New England Regional Council of Carpenters and affiliated Local Unions in Massachusetts are proud to announce the endorsement of Attorney General Martha Coakley in the Democratic primary for United States Senate. Representatives of NERCC and Local Unions voted to endorse Coakley following meetings with other Democratic candidates

"Martha Coakley’s dedication to Massachusetts’ workers has been exemplary and we are honored to offer her our endorsement," stated Mark Erlich, Executive Secretary-Treasurer of the New England Regional Council of Carpenters. "In her work enforcing the wage and hour and employee misclassification laws, Martha Coakley has been a leader in making sure that Massachusetts is and continues to be a safe and rewarding place to work, start a business, and raise a family."

"I am honored to have the support of the New England Regional Council of Carpenters," said Attorney General Coakley. "Our economy cannot thrive without the critical work done by the carpenters across Massachusetts. They construct the houses our families turn into homes and the buildings our companies turn into prospering places of business. In Washington, I will continue to stand up for Massachusetts’ working families by fighting for the Employee Free Choice Act and working towards health care reform that provides a viable public option."

The union gave careful consideration to all candidates in the primary before making a final endorsement.

“Michael Capuano is a tremendous Representative for the 8th District and the residents of the Commonwealth,” said Erlich. “He was well received at our meeting and we look forward to continuing our very strong relationship and productive relationship with him.”

Coakley, 56, was born in Pittsfield, MA, and raised in North Adams. She became Massachusetts’ first female Attorney General in January 2007. Since then she has protected workers and achieved record recoveries for employees and the Commonwealth in enforcing the Massachusetts wage and hour laws. In addition, she has established herself as a leader on a variety of issues affecting Massachusetts residents, including addressing the foreclosure crisis that has plagued families in Massachusetts.

The New England Regional Council of Carpenters (NERCC) includes over 24,000 carpenters, pile drivers, shop, millmen, and floor coverers across New England, including almost 11,000 in Massachusetts. It is the regional governing body for the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, serving 26 Local Unions in the six New England states. Through its partnership with more than 1,200 signatory construction managers, general contractors and carpentry subcontractors, the NERCC fights for fairer wages and better working conditions for both union and nonunion carpenters.

The Massachusetts Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development (EOLWD) has launched an online tool that will enable anyone to check whether an employer has workers compensation coverage for its employees in real time. The “Proof of Coverage” (POC) tool could prove invaluable to nonunion carpenters and union organizers in the field who are concerned that contractors are shirking the law in order to undercut competitors who operate by the rules. It will also allow general contractors to quickly and easily check for compliance by subcontractors working on their site.

The searchable application is part of the Department of Labor’s website.

Suzanne M. Bump, Secretary of the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development said the tool is a direct result of cooperation among state departments and outside groups. “From day one, Governor Patrick has made modernizing functions in Labor and Workforce Development a priority. The POC application is the result of a public-private partnership between the Department of Industrial Accidents and the Workers’ Compensation Rating & Inspection Bureau of Massachusetts that will empower Massachusetts workers to take their own safety and security on the job seriously,” said Secretary Bump. The Workers’ Compensation Rating & Inspection Bureau of Massachusetts is the licensed rating organization responsible for the collection of all workers’ compensation policy data written by commercial carriers in the Commonwealth.

EOLWD’s Director of Labor, George Noel added “In order for Massachusetts to sustain a healthy and vibrant business climate, there must be an economic atmosphere where similar industries can compete on a level playing field. This application increases our ability at the state level of maintain those conditions.”

The EOLWD is promoting the site as providing a variety of benefits to the general public:
• Assist homeowners in ensuring that hired contractors have workers’ compensation insurance
• Assist general contractors with ensuring that all subcontractors are properly insured.
• Assist medical providers with coverage questions when treating an injured worker.
• Assist state and municipal officials with ensuring workers’ compensation compliance with licensing, permitting, and awarding public contracts.
• Help protect employers from agent and broker fraud allowing them to verify their own coverage.

The Secretary of Labor has continued a commitment to working people and unions. The New York Times ran a piece on her yesterday with some illuminating comments on her past, present and future plans.

She has promised a vigorous campaign to combat workplace violations, after government auditors found that the Bush Labor Department sometimes did not follow up on complaints of minimum wage, overtime and child labor violations. She said she planned to hire 250 more investigators and conduct a nationwide outreach program so that workers knew their rights and employers knew their obligations.

"There are so many people I knew when I was growing up who were not even paid the minimum wage," Ms. Solis said. "People wouldn’t know where to go to lodge a complaint. And if you didn’t speak good English, forget it."

Her goal of restoring morale and efficiency to the 17,000-employee department would not be easy, she said, partly because so many dedicated people had quit in recent years.

The AFL-CIO Now Blog had a post yesterday about the possibly troubled nomination of Hilda Solis for Secretary of Labor.

This is another example of just how desperate the business lobby is to stop the Employee Free Choice Act from giving workers a better chance at joining a union.

Solis is a solid supporter of workers rights and has some impressive credentials, some of which are included in the article.

Members should be aware that an extension in unemployment benefits has recently taken effect after Congress passed and the President signed emergency legislation.

The length of the extension and eligibility varies from state to state. For more information on the extension, how they work in each state and links to state specific details, visit this page on the US Department of Labor's website.