Congratulations on a job well done to eight union carpenters who pitched in a lot of time and effort to help the Rebuilding Together Boston Program on their National Rebuilding Day. The women members, who participated through the Sisters in the Brotherhood program, worked on three sites in the city, adding experienced, skilled hands to the effort.

Rebuilding Together Boston works on an annual basis to repair and renovate the homes of economically disadvantaged homeowners (including the elderly, veterans, families with children, single parent households, the physically challenged and others in need) as well as non-profit-owned facilities (community centers, schools, worship centers, etc.) in the City of Boston. RTB provides its services at no cost to recipients due to the generous support of foundations, corporations, individuals and vendors.

This year's projects on National Rebuilding Day included: six homes in Mattapan, Dorchester and Roxbury; Pine Street Inn Veterans’ housing, a residence for formerly homeless women, and the Nazareth Residence for Mothers and Children.

Members involved in the effort included: Joan Bennett, Local 33; Theresa Haymon, Local 33; Maureen Owen-Ewings, Local 67; Marcia Williams-White, Local 33; Karen Blandino, Local 67; Judy Sullivan, Local 67; Mikey Myles, Local 67 and Liz Skidmore, Local 118.

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!

Local 1305 member and Business Manager Ron Rheaume was interviewed as part of Boston National Public Radio affiliate WBUR's coverage of a casino proposal in Taunton. The Mashpee Wampanoags unveiled their proposal for a $500 million 150,000 square-foot resort-style casino last week. It is expected to create 1,000 union construction jobs.

Legislation legalizing casino gaming in Massachusetts passed last year allows for up to three casino licenses and one slot parlor licencse to be granted. The state was divided into three geographic regions, within which one of the licenses can be granted. The license designated for southeastern Massachusetts is being reserved for a period to allow Native Americans to propose and negotiate with the state for that region's license.

The Boston Globe also covered the presenation of the Mashpee Wampanoag proposal.

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.

Information sessions are being held for members who would like to learn more about degree programs available through the union at Wentworth Institute of Technology. Two sessions are scheduled in the coming weeks.

Saturday, April 21 at 10AM: 750 Dorchester Ave., Boston, MA

Saturday, May 5 at 9 AM: 13 Holman Rd., Millbury, MA

Learn more general information about the program by clicking here.

A prominent article in the Boston Globe today revealed that state investigators are looking into the use and treatment of out-of-state shelter workers in the renovation of rooms at the Boston Copley Marriott. Union carpenters, painters and other union members have been demonstrating twice a week for months at the site against Baystate Interiors, Inc. of Woburn for undermining area standard for carpenters' wages and benefits.

Baystate is renovating several floors of rooms at the pricey downtown hotel owned by Host Hotels and using a California-based company named Installations Plus. Installations is using workers from a missionary shelter in Philadelphia to do work at the Marriott and allegedly violating wage and hour laws to do it.

The workers come from a drug and alcohol rehabilitation shelter in Philadelphia run by Victory Outreach International, an evangelical group based in the San Diego area.

“Our concern is that Host Hotels is trying to take advantage of the recession by bringing in out-of-state laborers to do work that has traditionally been done by local union tradespeople,’’ said Mark Erlich, president of the New England Regional Council of Carpenters.

The investigation is not the first trouble enforcement authorities have found on the site. The subcontractors working on the project--including Installations Plus--have been issued "Stop Work Orders" and paid fines for not having proper workers' compensation insurance.

Click here to view a NERCC-produced video about the demonstrations at the Boston Copley Marriott.

Multiple enforcement agencies in Massachusetts today announced that five subcontractors employed by Pulte on sites in Eastern Massachusetts have been ordered to pay workers more than $400,000 in owed wages and make payments totaling $141,000 to cover unpaid taxes.

The order is the result of investigations that began after workers complained to Representatives of the New England Regional Council of Carpenters that they had been unpaid for extended periods of time. Workers went on strike at several Pulte locations and filed complaints with the state.

"The investigation fined five separate subcontractors, but the real culprit is Pulte Homes, a multi-billion dollar national homebuilder," said Mark Erlich, Executive Secretary-Treasurer of the New England Regional Council of Carpenters. "Those subs are interchangeable and were just doing Pulte's bidding. Cheating is Pulte's business model and, unfortunately, that approach is far too common in the residential construction industry."

Subcontractors that were part of the order include:
--AM Construction Services and its President, Adimar Demoura, age 32 of Framingham, allegedly failed to pay four workers a total of $15,331.50 for framing work done on private residential projects in Braintree and Plymouth. They were also fined $22,500 in penalties.
--Five Stars Construction and its President, Alexandre Miranda, age 40 of Trumbull, Connecticut, allegedly failed to pay two workers a total of $30,700 for framing work done on a private condominium project in Natick. They were also fined $30,000 in penalties.
--Nunes Brothers Construction and its President, Tiago Aguiar M. Nunes, age 28 of Brooklyn, New York, allegedly failed to pay 23 workers a total of $99,086.75 for framing work done on private condominium and single-family homes projects in Braintree, Plymouth, Natick, and Northbridge. They were also fined $112,500 in penalties.
--Seven Seas Group and its President, Jackson Croscup, age 55 of Fall River, allegedly failed to pay five workers a total of $10,333 for framing work done on a private condominium project in Natick. They were also fined $20,075 in penalties.
--Two Brothers Construction and its President, Wellington DeLima Borges, age 41 of East Natick, allegedly failed to pay six workers a total of $34,751.50 for framing work done on a private home development project in Plymouth. They were also fined $34,500 in penalties.

Investigating the complaints were Attorney General Martha Coakley’s Office (AGO), the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development (EOLWD), and the Joint Enforcement Task Force on the Underground Economy and Employee Misclassification (JTF). The JTF was established by Governor Deval Patrick through Executive Order #499 in March 2008 to coordinate multiple state agencies’ efforts to stamp out fraudulent employment activities by enforcing the state’s labor, licensing, and tax laws.

“All workers in the Commonwealth deserve to be paid for the wages they have earned, including their overtime,” said Attorney General Coakley. “We will continue to work together and take appropriate action to stop these unlawful business practices, level the playing field for companies and protect workers.”

“The Commonwealth is committed to insuring that all businesses carry both workers’ compensation and unemployment insurance coverage,” said Secretary of Labor and Workforce Development Joanne F. Goldstein. “We will not tolerate employers or developers who proceed without this coverage, which puts employees at risk and employers who play by the rules at a competitive disadvantage. The Joint Task Force will continue to take all necessary action to protect legitimate employers, employees and the taxpayers of the Commonwealth.”

December 16, 2011
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Mark Erlich

Carpenters continue mass demonstrations at Marriott Copley
Members of the New England Regional Council of Carpenters, Painters District Council #35 and other Boston Building Trades unions will be demonstrating at the Marriott Copley Place this Saturday, December 17 from 11am-1pm to call attention to substandard conditions for construction workers renovating 1100 hotel rooms. Demonstrations featuring as many as 200 members have been held two to three times a week for the last month and will continue indefinitely.
 

Host Hotels, the owner of the downtown hotel, hired Baystate Services, Inc as a general contractor. Baystate and its subcontractors pay substandard wages, and minimal or no benefits. In addition, many of the subcontractors illegally misclassify their employees as "independent contractors", a violation of state and federal tax and insurance laws. Three subcontractors on the site, RB Wallcovering, of Jacksonville Beach, Florida, Jayson Connor, a Marshfield, MA flooring contractor and Installation Plus, a Corona, CA contractor were issued Stop Work Orders (attached) by the Massachusetts Department of Industrial Accidents within the last five weeks for failure to properly cover employees with workers’ compensation insurance.
 

“Host Hotels is part of an unfortunate trend to drive standards down and jeopardize middle-class careers in construction," says Mark Erlich, Executive Secretary-Treasurer of the New England Regional Council of Carpenters. "Host is taking advantage of the recession to bring in low-waged out-of-state workers and hiring contractors that participate in the growing underground economy.”
 

“If guests used the same logic as Host Hotels—that price was the only issue for making a decision—would any of them stay at the Copley Marriott?" asks Jeffrey Sullivan, Business Manager of Painters District Council 35. "Guests pay up to $400 a night while these trades workers make as little as $12 an hour. With room occupancy in Boston back to pre-recession levels, Host has no excuse for these kinds of choices."
 

Video of past demonstrations can be viewed in the nercc.org video gallery under the “Workers Rights” heading. 

Construction will begin next week on "The Victor" an 11-story residential building near the Boston Garden that is being developed by the Simpson Housing, a Denver-based company. Suffolk Construction is the Construction Manager on the project.

Scheduled for occupancy in early 2013, the $140 million project will be home to 286 luxury apartments, 138 parking spaces and 17,000 square feet of retail space on the first floor. The project has been "on the books" for four years, according to a story by Brendan Lynch in the Boston Herald. Casey Ross, of the Boston Globe, also has details on The Victor and other potential developments in the neighborhood.

The Globe also features an array of projects in and around Boston that could be starting soon, though some are in the very early stages of planning or seeking funding.

The Boston Globe reports that construction could be experiencing a slight bounce.

Developers across the Boston area are moving forward with a number of large construction projects that were stalled by the recession, creating thousands of jobs and ending one of the state’s most prolonged building slumps.
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But the impact on jobs will not be immediate, as many developers still must clear other obstacles before starting construction. And while some projects are moving forward, many others remain stalled or are barely inching forward, leaving union leaders skeptical that the recovery will proceed fast enough to help the long-term unemployed.

“I’ve been at a number of groundbreakings where pictures are taken and the right things get said, but then nothing happens,’’ said Mark Erlich, executive secretary of the New England Regional Council of Carpenters. “The iceberg is melting, but icebergs melt slowly.’’

The Massachusetts Attorney General has ordered Hampton Building to pay $100,000 in fines and restitution for wage violations related to nonunion carpenters at multiple sites. Carpenters will finally be paid more than $19,000 in wages owed to them from work dating back to December 2009 at Westford Town Hall, Molly's Lane in Chilmark and the Whitman Police Station.

The company will pay an additional $81,000 in penalties for:
--failing to pay prevailing wages
--failing to maintain true and accurate payroll records
--failing to submit true and accurate certified payroll records
--failing to pay employees in a timely manner
--intentionally failing to submit certified payroll records and general payroll records to the Attorney General's Office for inspection.

The Carpenters Center today hosted a training session put on by the Boston Police Department for their Sergeants. The Sergeants Advanced Leadership Training (S.A.L.T.) is an initiative of Commissioner Edward Davis and Superintendent Paul F. Joyce, Jr., who is Chief of the Bureau of Professional Development.

Four dozen Sergeants took part in classroom sessions in the morning before being joined by Commissioner Davis, Command Staff and Lieutenants for a larger session. Commissioner Davis spoke the the group about the vital role BPD leaders play in not only routine policing, but stepped up vigilance since the 9/11 attacks and the death of Osama bin Laden. New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft also addressed the group, talking about his business history before and after his purchase of the team.

Due to a deep and long recession, many members may be dealing with prolonged unemployment that has caused them financial hardship.

Massachusetts residents interested in learning more about fuel and energy assistance available should check out the online brochure "Keeping the Heat and Lights On" from Mass.gov.

In addition to the link above, 211.org is also a good resource developed by the United Way for people to find help. It is a resource for help with food, housing, employment, health care, counseling and more.

The Quincy Patriot Ledger yesterday published a story about prospects for the construction industry in 2011, featuring optimistic views by contractors.

Among those quoted were Lee Kennedy, CEO of Lee Kennedy Co:

“The public (projects) have been carrying the ball for the last two years, but people seem to be more confident on the private side,” CEO Lee Kennedy said. “We’re expecting there is going to be job improvement, and we think that’ll translate into some additional office space.”

Despite many municipalities across the state of Massachusetts cancelling school due to today's snowstorm, officials are still gathering today (1/21) and tomorrow (1/22) at the 32nd Annual Massachusetts Municipal Association Annual Meeting and Trade Show. NERCC staff are on hand exhibiting at the trade show at booth #1125.

The MMA Annual Meeting and Trade Show is the largest regular gathering of Massachusetts local government officials. The two-day event features educational workshops, nationally recognized speakers, awards programs, a large trade show, and an opportunity to network with municipal officials from across the state.

The MMA’s annual Trade Show, at the Hynes Convention Center, features more than 200 exhibitors offering the latest products and services of interest to the cities and towns of Massachusetts.

Staff from NERCC will be on hand to discuss topics such as the Department of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance (DCAM) contractor prequalification process with various municipal representatives from cities and towns across the state.

The Town of Fairhaven recently passed a Responsible Employer Ordinance to govern public construction work. The Ordinance was passed by the Board of Selectmen in the Southeastern Massachusetts Town December.

The Ordinance requires bidders and subcontractors to agree as a condition of bidding to:
--Pay prevailing wages and, at their own expense, to provide hospitalization and medical benefits to employees.
--Maintain an active, bona fide and recognized apprenticeship program.
--Maintain industrial accident insurance (workers' comp) for all employees.
--Properly classify workers as employees rather than independent subcontractors.
--Employ United States citizens or people legally permitted to work in the United States and use e-verify systems to confirm their status.

Architectural millwork is a key element of any building project. When done right, it can really open eyes. At Walter A. Furman Company, craftsmanship and commitment are key, as union carpenters and company management carry on a long-standing company tradition of exceeding client expectations. Take a look behind the scenes to see how they bring it all together.

It's been another busy week of political campaigning for union carpenters. More than just getting ready to cast their own votes, members are taking to the streets and the phones to champion their favorite candidates and encouraging others--including their union Brothers and Sisters, to do the same.

Tuesday night in Worcester, members from Carpenters Local 107 and other Carpenter Locals joined together to hold signs in support of Congressman Jim McGovern before a debate at the Northboro Senior Center. The debate was sponsored by the Northboro Tea Party. At previous events, Tea Party supporters have been overly enthusiastic, to the point of attempting to physically intimidate McGovern and his supporters at events.

That was not the case Tuesday. As noted by the Worcester Telegram and Gazette, those union carpenters more than outnumbered the Tea Partiers, they made them virtually invisible. This video, though a little dark, makes that point very clear.



McGovern, a former Aide to the late Congressman Joe Moakley, has been serving the 3rd Congressional District for fourteen years and has become a solid favorite of union carpenters.

The next night, carpenters in at least three areas of Massachusetts were getting ready for election night.

Close to 100 members of Carpenters Local 108 braved the rain to show their support for 2nd District Congressman Richie Neal. Representing a District that covers the lower third of the state from Milford to Springfield, Neal has been hitting the campaign trail and the television airwaves hard to earn another term with union carpenters lending their full support.


At the same time, members in Southeastern Massachusetts were dialing their Brother and Sister union carpenters encouraging them to cast their votes on Tuesday for Deval Patrick. From 3-7pm, a small group of members made more than 1,400 calls using the union's user-friendly calling system.



In Boston, Mayor Tom Menino visited with Members of Carpenters Local 33 urging them to gear up for a final push to re-elect Governor Deval Patrick. Responding to a recent article that highlighted some policy differences between the Mayor and the Governor over the last four years, Menino said it's true that he doesn't always agree with the Governor. "I don't always agree with my wife, either, but we've had a very long and happy relationship."

Menino said Charlie Baker and Republicans continually calling to cut taxes was "cheap rhetoric." "Don't buy it," he said. "Every city, town and state has to have revenue. Without taxes, you can't have schools. You can't have police officers. You can't have a fire department."

"This election is about jobs. This election is about you and your kids and family and how you're going to take care of them in the future. Last year a lot of union members voted for Scott Brown. The truth is a lot of these candidates sound wonderful, but they taste terrible. They don't care about you and your families and a lot of the people that support them would like nothing better than to see unions disappear."

Menino wrapped up by asking members to vote, encourage their family and friends to vote and to try to give two hours of their time between now and the time the polls close on Tuesday to make a difference in the campaign.

Enforcement agencies in Connecticut and Massachusetts this week moved against contractors who have been violating laws in ways that undermine the ability of honest union carpenters and contractors to compete.

The Department of Labor in Connecticut performed a random on-site inspection of an AvalonBay job in Wilton, Connecticut, finding an out of state subcontractor who didn't have workers' compensation coverage. The employees of the company were sent home and will not be allowed to work on the site until they can prove proper coverage.

A representative of AvalonBay told the Norwalk Hour he expected the problem to be remedied soon, but did not indicate how they were able to work on the job without coverage in the first place.

Workers comp coverage should be of significant concern for AvalonBay, given their history in New England. Not long after OSHA had issued a series of citations for serious violations of fall protection regulations on jobs being built for AvalonBay, a 27-year old carpenter named Oscar Pintado fell to his death on an AvalonBay job in Woburn, Mass. He was working for a framing contractor which managed 150 wood framers. All of them, including Pintado, were listed as "independent contractors," meaning they were not covered by workers' compensation. His family was not eligible for any benefits or compensation.

In Massachusetts, the Attorney General's office reached a settlement agreement with Vincent Locke and his company V. Locke Contracting, Inc. over a string of violations for which they will pay a total of $100,000 in fines and restitution to workers.

After receiving a complaint that workers were not being paid the proper prevailing wage, Attorney General Martha Coakley's office began an investigation. Locke and V. Locke agreed to a settlement which cites them for intentionally violating the Prevailing Wage Law by failing to pay the prevailing wage to 35 employees. They are also being cited for violating Prevailing Wage Records Keeping Laws, violating the Independent contractor law by misclassifying employees as independent contractors and violating Overtime Law. Each of the citations cover violations that occurred from January 2008 through the investigation.

Locke and his company have agreed to make payments totaling $90,000 to workers and to pay the state $2,500 for each of the four citations. They will also be debarred from bidding on or performing any public work for a period of six months.

Also yesterday, Coakley's office reported that two subcontractors working on the Hanover High School project for Callahan, Inc. have been cited for violations of wage and wage reporting laws. Action Floors has been issued a $2,000 penalty for intentionally failing to submit true and accurate certified payroll while Superior Foundations was found to have intentionally failing to pay proper prevailing wages on the Hanover High School project. Superior was also cited for prevailing wage violations while working on the Swansea Police Station. Superior has been issued a $2,000 penalty for the violations and order to pay $3,802.94 in restitution to workers who were cheated.

The Hanover High School project has been a source of controversy for years. After fighting to win local approval to fund construction of a new building, local authorities came under fire for ignoring or excusing misleading statements Callahan, Inc made to justify it's qualifications for the project. The Town successfully fought to have put aside opinions by the Attorney General's office and a suit brought by union carpenters in Hanover that the project should be rebid. Treasurer Tim Cahill, who's office was in control of funding for the project, refused repeated requests to intervene.

The Massachusetts Joint Task Force on the Underground Economy and the Employee Misclassification (JTF) has released its annual report for 2010, showing a dramatic increase in collected taxes owed and penalties issued. The report, summarizing the second year of work by the JTF, lists $6.5 million was collected through cooperative enforcement, up from $1.4 million last year. The total includes $2 million in new unemployment insurance taxes $1.5 million in overdue taxes collected through 196 audit investigations and $1.87 million in fines as a result of 3,676 stop work orders issued for lack of workers' compensation insurance. The JTF was formed by an Executive Order of Governor Deval Patrick early March of 2008. There are now more than a dozen state agencies sharing information relevant to the underground economy and cooperating in enforcement efforts. The full annual report is available online here.

Workers who feel they are being misclassified can request assistance here.

Joanne Goldstein, Massachusetts Secretary of Labor and Workforce Development paid a visit to the Carpenters Center this week to learn more about apprenticeship and upgrade training.

Last month, the Boston Carpenters Apprenticeship and Training Fund was awarded a $166,000 grant to train and certify long-term unemployed carpenters in metal framing and drywall installation. The money originated from the American Recovery and Reinvestment
Act, often referred to as the "Stimulus Bill. It was part of $1.2 million that was dispersed by the state to support “efforts to equip Massachusetts workers with 21st century economy skills.”

NERCC Executive Secretary-Treasurer Mark Erlich was quoted in a Boston Herald piece on Labor Day about the discontent among union members with the current economy and how that might impact upcoming elections.

The Boston Carpenters Apprenticeship and Training Program will receive a $166,000 award from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, one of eight programs to receive money for workforce training, Governor Deval Patrick’s office announced today.

Governor Patrick, Lieutenant Governor Tim Murray, Secretary of Labor and Workforce Joanne Goldstein and other state officials awarded a total of $1.2 million in Federal stimulus money to support “efforts to equip Massachusetts workers with 21st century economy skills.”

The money awarded to the Boston program, based at the Carpenters Center in Dorchester, will fund drywall training and certification for long-term unemployed carpenters.

Massachusetts made it easier for construction subcontractors to collect payments for work completed this week when it passed into law a “prompt payment” bill. Under the law, schedules will be set for the timely billing and payment of money to subcontractors. If the schedule is not met, bills submitted by subcontractors will be considered conditionally approved.

The law will cover all private construction projects valued at more than $3 million. Public projects are already subject to such requirements.

The New England Regional Council of Carpenters was joined by the Building and Construction Trades and subcontractor associations in lobbying for the bill’s passage to protect smaller companies who struggle to keep cash flow going when payments for work are withheld.

Massachusetts is the 33rd state to enact such a law.

Organizers from the New England Regional Council of Carpenters help non-union carpenters in Holliston MA, collect their unpaid wages on another JJ Welch jobsite (read more here). The carpenters were working for subcontractor Hampton Building.

Thanks to the help of union organizers, carpenters working at the Cutler Heights affordable housing project in Holliston, MA, have finally received pay for 2-3 weeks of work. The group was employed by framing subcontractor Hampton Building Inc. The General Contractor at the site, located just behind Town Hall, was James J. Welch & Co.

The problems started on July 23rd when Hampton Building owner Anthony Iannacone issued checks to his employees. The checks all bounced. Iannacone passed the blame on to J.J. Welch saying the General Contractor was late in making payments, therefore leaving Iannacone’s company unable to cover the carpenters’ wages. The ten carpenters were owed an estimated $38,000 in unpaid wages.

The story was first reported in the MetroWest Daily News on August 6th. In the article, Hampton Building Foreman Dean Morin was quoted as saying “since it was not a union job…the carpenters have been having trouble finding any sort of recourse.”

After reading the story, Union Organizers Mario Mejia contacted Daily News reporter Kendall Hatch and asked if would have one of the carpenters contact him. Mejia received a phone call late Sunday night and coordinated with the carpenter to meet the group at the jobsite with other Union Organizers.

On August 10th, Union Organizers met the carpenters at the site and spoke with the project superintendant Jim Estrella. After getting nowhere with the project superintendent, the Union representatives stood with the employees to strike at the site (Read more here).

After weeks of getting nowhere, thanks to the help of the Carpenters Union, the group was finally issued checks; however this did not happen without a hitch. Initially, the carpenters were given joint checks by the General Contractor James J. Welch & Co. The joint checks were filled out using the word “and” between the two entities (i.e. Joe Carpenter and Hampton Building Co.), instead of “or”, so the bank was unable to cash the checks.

A second set of checks were finally issued yesterday at 5:30 pm, however the banks were closed for the day. The carpenters reached the end of yet another day with empty pockets.

To read more about this story in the MetroWest Daily News click here.

Update: Organizer Mario Mejia has reported the carpenters were able to cash their checks first thing this morning when the banks opened.

Dex by Terra and Daniel Terra, individually are paying workers more than $16,000 and $3500 in fines to the state for violation of state wage and payroll records laws.

The company failed to pay the proper prevailing wages to numerous employees on projects for the Lexington DPW and Concord Willard School from June of 2008 through October of 2009, the state found. Investigators had been alerted to violations by New England Regional Council of Carpenters Organizers after they had visited job sites and talked to workers.

The civil penalties resulted from their failure to pay workers the proper wage and failure to keep and submit payroll records as mandated by law.

Lockheed Window Corporation and its President, Michael Kosiver, both of Rhode Island will be paying workers more than $56,000 in back wages after the Massachusetts Attorney General's Office found them to have violate state prevailing wage laws. They will also pay a $10,000 penalty to the Commonwealth.

"investigators discovered that during work performed at 26 public works projects from September 2006 through February 2009, the company failed to pay the proper prevailing wage rate to 22 employees who were installing windows."

"Workers who believe they have been misclassified or that their rights have been violated are strongly urged to call the Attorney General’s Fair Labor Hotline at (617) 727-3465. More information about the wage and hour laws is also available in multiple languages at the Attorney General’s Workplace Rights website: www.massworkrights.com."

Brother Bill Frost, a member of Carpenters Local 218 spoke this week at a Massachusetts State Senate hearing on the issue of expanding casino gaming in the Commonwealth. Earlier this year, Frost spoke at a rally before a lobby day by union members at the State House when the House of Representatives were considering their own bill. (more from that event here.

At a time when Frost was working steadily, his wife was struck with cancer. Feeling lucky to have health coverage, Frost was able to focus entirely on helping his wife fight for her life. Now, after a long stretch of unemployment, Frost can't help but wonder what would happen if his wife's cancer had come now. How would he pay for her treatment? And much would his support of her have suffered from the distraction of worrying about the bills rather than his wife?

This week, he spoke about the response to his earlier statements and gave insight into the real impact of long-term unemployment.

First, let me apologize for my appearance, I wouldn’t show up to speak dressed like this, except I’ve been lucky enough to have been called back to work and I came directly from the job. After the year that I had, blowing off a full days pay was out of the question.

When Speaker DeLeo first kicked off this push for destination casinos, I was invited up here to The Hill for the first time to speak about job creation and what those jobs would mean to unemployed construction workers.

I told of my wife’s battle with breast cancer, and how I could focus on her needs because I had steady work and excellent health coverage. I explained that if I were today, faced with the same challenge, instead of “what can I do to facilitate Deb’s recovery?”, my first thought would have been “How am I going to pay for this?”

The response that I received tells me that while all the guys in the orange T-shirts get it, only a few of the suits really understand the effect of long term unemployment.

First, you don’t know that it’s long term until its way too late. Lay offs have always been a part of the construction industry, and they always will be. The joke is, “Don’t kill the job, let it die by itself,” and the truth behind that joke is, that the better you are at what you do, the sooner you finish, and the sooner you finish, the sooner you find yourself unemployed. So you always know that a lay off is coming.

If the weather is good, you paint your house. You cut, split, and stack next winter’s cord of wood. You clean out the attic, the garage, and then the basement, then, all the closets. You take down the drapes, and then in heated discussion, decide with your wife, who is going to pay to clean them.

After 3 months, the house is spotless. You’re cutting the grass before it needs it, and a weed wouldn’t dare grow in the flower beds even though you didn’t buy mulch this year.

At 5 months, you hear your wife telling someone on the phone that “he runs out to the mailbox the minute after the post man comes by, and he makes stacks out of everybody’s mail.” And you realize that, yeah, you do. You have stopped answering the phone without first checking caller ID, it might seem like a little thing, but first you need to find your reading glasses.

And that 18 months of living expense monies that the experts tell you to keep liquid for emergencies was actually more like 4 months, because technically, the emergency started when Deb first got sick and missed 2 years of work. So, you are tapped and when the truck starts making a weird noise, you ignore it because you can’t afford to fix it.

The health and welfare sends you a letter with C.O.B.R.A. buy-in prices. It looks more like your mortgage. You can’t possibly come up with that much money, but your wife has already had cancer, so you have to. The question then becomes, what are you not going to pay?

Opponents of Destination Casinos will tell you that gaming will lead to a rise in foreclosure rates. Where I live, foreclosure rates would decline. Opponents will speak of the despair felt by a potential compulsive gambler, but the members of the building trades who have lived for the past two years as I have just described are not the potential unemployed, they are real men and women who need work, and need it now. The jobs that this plan would create mean much more than simply the ability to pay our bills on time. These jobs will allow us to plan our futures and to confidently make life altering decisions.

Thank you.

Earlier today, Governor Deval Patrick held a cabinet meeting at the Carpenters Center. Following the meeting, the Governor, along with various cabinet members, toured the facility.

The group made a stop at the Boston Training Center on the first floor to get a first hand look at training happening at the facility, specifically the Best Practices in Health Care Construction training course. He spoke with instructors and carpenters currently taking the class.

Below are pictures from the Governor’s visit.

The state's highest court ruled that the University of Massachusetts at Lowell violated public construction bidding laws when it awarded a contract for new student housing.

The ruling issued in early May reversed a Superior Court decision, but supported the opinion of the state Attorney General Martha Coakley’s office.

The university had argued that because the developer selected for the project, Brasi Development Corp., would own the new dormitory while leasing it to the university, public bidding laws did not apply.

Brasi had never built student housing and had not been certified by the Division of Capital Asset Management (DCAM) as a “responsible” public bidder.

Academic Village Foundation, Inc., an unsuccessful bidder on the project, filed a bid protest notice with the Attorney General, asserting that there had been unfair collusion between the university and Brasi, and that, since Brasi had previously obtained zoning changes permitting it to build a dormitory for the university, Brasi had an unfair advantage in bidding on the current project.

The Foundation for Fair Contracting of Massachusetts filed a separate bid protest on the ground that the proposed dormitory was not a lease, but rather a project to construct a public building, and that the bidding process had failed to comply with the competitive bidding statute.

The Attorney General issued a combined decision concluding that the university’s Request for Proposals (RFP) was a proposal to construct a public building and therefore subject to the competitive bidding statue and the agreement between Brasi and the university was in violation of those laws.

The university tried to terminate its contract with Brasi, however Brasi filed an action against the university and the Attorney General in Superior Court, seeking a decision to show the bid protest decision was incorrect and that the bidding laws did not apply because the dorms would be owned by Brasi and not the university.

The Supreme Judicial Court sided with the Attorney General and held that the long term construction/lease agreement was subject to public bid laws, even if the building is owned by a private developer because it was "dependent on the continued use of university land.”.

In a unanimous ruling, the Supreme Judicial Court said the 2008 deal — which has since been abandoned by the school — would have granted Brasi Development LLC easements on state property that required a competitive bidding process.

• Hear the stories of immigrant neighbors who gather at dawn, seeking day labor construction jobs to earn their livelihood.
• Experience "They Don't Tell You Anything!" -- an original play by Meryl Becker, performed by the SCALE Theater Group, exploring the dilemmas of day laborers in Somerville in2010.
• Be part of the conversation as audience and actors explore what we can do to ensure no one must sacrifice their health and safety to earn a living.

Friday, May 21, 2010 at 7:30 pmThe Black Box Theater, Elizabeth Peabody House277 Broadway, Somerville, MA 02145

**Free**

Interpretation provided in Spanish, Haitian Creole, Hindi, Nepali, Mandarin Chinese and PortugueseCo-Sponsors: Brazilian Women's Group * Community Action Agency of Somerville (CAAS) * Somerville Community Corporation * City of Somerville * Massachusetts Alliance of Portuguese SpeakersSupported by: Massachusetts Cultural Council * Somerville Council for the Arts * Tufts University * Massachusetts Alliance of Portuguese SpeakersThis program was funded in part by Mass Humanities.

From today's Boston Globe.

Governor Deval Patrick will spend up to $200 million in state funds this year to get 50 building projects around Massachusetts off the ground, hoping the money will lead to thousands of jobs for the moribund construction sector and significant additional economic activity.

The money, a mix of already budgeted and new funding, will support construction of hundreds of new homes, stores, and offices.

Among the projects are a 17-acre shopping complex in New Bedford, a new medical office building in Hingham for South Shore Hospital, and an expansion of offices at MathWorks, a Natick software maker.

Patrick’s chief economic development aide, Gregory Bialecki, predicted the government aid will result in an additional $1 billion in spending by private developers.

The Massachusetts House of Representatives yesterday passed a gaming bill sponsored by Speaker Robert DeLeo that would establish two full casinos and license 750 slot machines for existing racetracks in the state. The vote to pass the legislation was a veto-proof 120-37, significant because some suspect Deval Patrick would consider a veto of any bill that included slot machines.

Union carpenters in Massachusetts have been lobbying hard to pass gaming legislation because of the estimated 10,000 construction jobs that would be created. A few weeks ago, hundreds of carpenters were part of a group numbering over a thousand that participated in a lobby day, flooding the State House to visit their individual elected officials.

The attention now shifts to the Senate, where brand new legislation may be created and passed. The Senate is expected to hold public hears, which members would be encouraged to attend. Any bill passed by the Senate would then go with the House bill to a House-Senate conference committee where a compromise bill would be negotiated before being sent to the Governor.

Click here for photos taken at the event.

And here are some video highlights.

During the lobby day events today, Union Carpenter Bill Frost of Carpenters Local 218 spoke to members, legislators and the press about his experience while working with health care coverage for he and his family and what it's meant to be without work for a long period of time.

Good morning, my name is Bill Frost, and I am a carpenter. For the last 35 years I have driven into Boston each morning to work on construction projects. I guess I should say only 34 years, because this year… not so much.

Now, no one here needs me to tell them what has happened to the economy or that Resort Casinos will create job opportunities for the building trades. You all know as well as I do how desperately those jobs are needed by those of us on the fringes of the economy. What I can explain though, is how those jobs will impact working families.

Four years ago, my wife of 26 years was diagnosed with breast cancer. As I sat in her doctor’s office and heard the diagnosis, my fist thought was, “We will go into Boston. We will find the best doctors, and we will fight.”

Because I am a participant in an excellent Health Insurance Plan through the New England Carpenters Health Benefits Fund, this is exactly what we were able to do.

After chemotherapy, after surgery, then radiation, and still more chemo, my wife is now cancer free. In this time frame, however, the economy has tanked and health benefits are almost non existent. And I’ve got to tell you, if I were to find myself today back in that doctor’s office, hearing that malignant diagnosis for the first time, I’m afraid that now my first thought would be, “How am I going to pay for this?”

The construction and service industry jobs though would be created by this bill mean much more than just the ability to pay our bills on time. These jobs allow the underemployed the opportunity to plan their futures and to confidently make life-altering decisions.

The working families of Massachusetts deserve the passage of this bill.

Thank you.

The Fair Labor Division of the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office is hiring an Outreach Coordinator. The posting on the State’s website can be found here. Some details for the position are listed below. For full information, visit the link above.

Full-Time or Part-Time: Full-Time
Salary Range: $1,526.42 to $2,205.46 Biweekly

Duties:
The Outreach Coordinator will be responsible for serving as a liaison between the Division and community organizations, other public stakeholders and referring parties. Responds to inquiries from agency staff and others in order to provide information concerning Division procedures, including the filing of complaints. Maintains liaison with various private, local, state and federal agencies and others in order to exchange information and /or resolve problems. Other responsibilities include preparing Division outreach materials and providing outreach presentations to the public regarding the Commonwealth’s Wage and Hour laws. The Outreach Coordinator will be responsible for overseeing and responding to oral and written inquiries from the public about the Wage and Hour laws; making necessary referrals to other state and federal agencies; coordinating dissemination of public outreach materials; performing data entry using computerized case management system and word processing; maintaining records and analyzing data; and other office responsibilities, as assigned by the Division’s Chief and/or Deputy Chief.

Qualifications:
Applicants must have at least (A) two years of full-time, or equivalent part-time professional, administrative or managerial experience in business administration, business management or public administration the major duties of which involved program management, program administration, program coordination, program planning and/or program analysis, or (B) any equivalent combination of the required experience and substitutions

Preferred Qualifications:
Applicants should have at least two years of full-time, or equivalent part-time, professional or technical experience in related office work. Fluency in Spanish and/or Portuguese is preferred. Background in labor standards, as well as a JD or related degree, is preferred.

Comments:
The Office is an Equal Opportunity Employer. The Office actively seeks to increase the diversity of its workforce.

Please visit the Job Opportunities section of the Attorney General’s web site at
WWW.MASS.GOV/AGO for all job postings.

If applying for more than one position, send separate cover letters and resumes. Use the 10# as reference to position.

How To Apply:
Apply by submitting cover letter and resume to:

Sandra Macdonald, Recruitment & Hiring Coordinator
Office of the Attorney General
Human Resource Management Office
One Ashburton Place, 18th Floor
Boston, MA 02108

Inquiries regarding position & status may be made to: Amy Goyer, Chief of Investigations
(617) 727-2200 ext 2319

The New Bedford Standard-Time is reporting today on an increase in building permit applications in area towns, which it cites as possible signs of recovery for the area. The increase in activity is chalked up to numerous factors, including hungry bidders pushing down bid prices and the influx of stimulus money.

Carpenters Local 1305 Business Manager Ron Rheaume was a source for the story, and is quoted in it: "We're finally getting people back to work after what I call the Great Depression. The last two years have been the worst I've seen around here in my 36 years on the job. The last two years, it's been so depressing it's ridiculous."

Mark Erlich, head of the New England Regional Council of Carpenters, chimes in on a story about the distribution stimulus money in Massachusettsin a story by Jay Fitzgerald of the Boston Herald.

“When they put together the stimulus program a year ago, they were talking about ‘shovel-ready’ jobs and a second WPA,” said Mark Erlich, head of the New England Regional Council of Carpenters, referring to the Works Progress Administration’s building programs during the Great Depression. “That clearly hasn’t happened.”

The arguments before the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court regarding Callahan, Inc the handling of prequalification and award of the Hanover (Mass) High School to Callahan, Inc are now available for viewing online at this site. The case is Fordyce v Town of Hanover.

The protest, filed by ten union members who are residents of the town, alleges that Callahan, Inc committed fraud when it took credit for another company’s work and should be removed from the job. The Massachusetts Attorney General joined the members as a party to the suit. They had previously issued an opinion that Callahan, Inc had misled the town, a ruling which the Town ignored.

Three contractors associations--Associated General Contractors (AGC), Construction Industries of Massachusetts (CIM) and the Utitility Contractors Association of New England (UCANE)—all of which represent both union and nonunion contractors in the state, filed briefs with the court in support of the union’s position.

Their involvement, highlights the importance of this case not just to Hanover, but to the construction industry statewide. The CIM-UCANE brief, in particular, illustrates the ways in which the integrity of the public bidding system would be severely undermined should the events in Hanover be allowed to stand. The AGC brief is also instructive.

As to the cost and time delays the Town has consistently cited as a reason for pushing forward with Callahan, Inc., the job was not really begun when the AG issued its determination that Callahan, Inc had lied on its SOQ. Minor site clearing had been done and a temporary parking lot was built. Options other than continuing with Callahan were certainly available to the Town at that point and subsequent to that. Please refer to Note 4 of the CIM brief on page 12:

“It should be noted that the public bidding statutes contain an “emergency” provision that, under certain exigent circumstances, empowers an awarding authority to bid a contract in an expedited manner if necessary and appropriate to safeguard the awarding authority’s interest. SEE G.L. c. 149, S 44A Where, as here, the awarding authority is confronted with late-discovered bidding irregularities that it believes may threaten the timing of the project, this “emergency bidding provision” provides a more than adequate mechanism for promptly and expeditiously re-bidding the project or otherwise rectifying the irregularities at issue. The availability of this alternative procedure (as well as the clearly articulated goals of the public bidding laws) makes the alternative of proceeding with a tainted contract even less justifiable.”

Full press release here.

BOSTON - Attorney General Martha Coakley’s Office has reached an agreement with a Pennsylvania based engineering and utility infrastructure contractor to settle allegations they failed to pay 54 employees the proper state prevailing wage. Henkels & McCoy, Inc., of Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, has agreed to pay $145,000 in restitution as well as $15,000 in penalties to the Commonwealth as a result of the violations.

Brown campaign cheating on taxes?
Differences between Massachusetts Senate candidates Martha Coakley and Scott Brown have been pretty stark during the campaign. From demanding Wall Street bailout money be repaid to creating a fair tax code for middle class Americans, their positions are often in direct odds with each other. But a revelation on Saturday about how the two campaigns treat their own staff told union carpenters all they should need to know to make their final decision for the Tuesday special election.

At a campaign stop on Saturday morning, Coakley noted that far from supporting expanding access to health care for workers, Brown didn’t even offer it to his own campaign staff. Brown has promised to be the “41st vote” to kill health care reform should he get elected, so not offering his staff health care coverage—as the Coakley campaign does—was not shocking. The Brown campaign's response still brought a surprise, though.

A spokesman for the Brown campaign tried to justify not offering health care to the staff by saying: “We have a small staff and they are paid as independent contractors.”

But that’s even worse: a gimmick straight out of the worst non-union contractors' playbook.

As union carpenters know, classifying workers as “independent contractors” is an all too common scheme by contractors to avoid legally required insurance and payroll taxes. It gives them a significant bidding advantage and cheats the Commonwealth of hundreds of millions of dollars of owed tax revenue. In this case, it seems simply a money saving scheme by the Brown campaign. Campaign “staff” are anything but independent. They work in the campaign office, at the specific direction of campaign management and with little or no control over their budgets or hours.

“Any union carpenter or citizen of the Commonwealth that works hard and pays their taxes in compliance with the law should be appalled,” said Mark Erlich, Executive Secretary-Treasurer of the New England Regional Council of Carpenters. “If Scott Brown has such a poor understanding of the law that he thinks his campaign staff are all independent contractors, he is certainly not fit to be a United States Senator.”

Attorney General Martha Coakley has made a consistent commitment to heading off misclassification of employees as independent contractors since taking office. Her office has worked with the task force established by Governor Deval Patrick and brought cases against employers who misclassify workers to avoid tax and insurance obligations.

As the campaign for a special election to fill the Massachusetts Senate seat formerly held by Ted Kennedy nears it's end, there are a dizzying array of polling results showing the race to be deadlocked, close or not so close.

The varied poll numbers have led to questions about how the candidates have run their campaigns and what, if any, indicator they may be for the national political landscape.

All of that may come into clearer view after voters actually have their say on January 19. Until then, candidates, campaigns and citizens are still hard at work trying to convince and pull voters to the polls.

Today's Boston Globe takes an insider's look at the Coakley campaign and some of those involved with it. Featured in the article are some quotes from Carpenters Local 108 Business Manager Jason Garand, one of a host of union members who view Coakley as the only reasonable choice for construction workers and union members.

“No candidate is going to have the energy Kennedy had,’’ says Jason Garand, business manager of Local 108 of the New England Regional Council of Carpenters. “We would rather have a person who talks quietly and carries a big stick than someone who talks a good game but doesn’t remember your name.’’

The carpenters cite the attorney general’s investigation into the underground economy in the construction business, a phenomenon Garand says costs builders jobs and the state millions in unpaid taxes.

“Martha really is a breath of fresh air for labor,’’ he says. “She does what she says she will do.’’

Union Carpenters turned out to show their support for Senate Candidate Martha Coakely last night. The visibility was in front of the University of Massachusetts, Boston campus leading up to Coakley participation in the final debate before the January 19 special election.

A Massachusetts roofing company pled guilty Friday to 20 counts of unemployment fraud, four counts of larceny over $250, 60 counts of aiding or assiting in fraudlent tax returns and three counts of workers compensation fraud. Richard Copeland, owner of Copeland Contracting, Inc. (CCI) was given three-and-a-half years of probation and will pay $146,851 in restitution, according to a press release from the Attorney General's office. He was also ordered to complete 100 hours of community service.

From the release:

During the period of November 2003 through January 2008, Copeland held workers’ compensation policies with three different insurance companies. During that time, Copeland avoided paying the proper premium for these policies by misclassifying the type of work his employees performed. Copeland classified his employees as carpenters instead of roofers. During this five-year time period, three workers suffered serious injuries on work sites where CCI was doing business. When the injured workers filed workers’ compensation claims with CCI’s insurance companies, the insurance companies discovered that none of the injured employees were listed on CCI’s payroll. One of the insurance companies then contacted the Massachusetts Insurance Fraud Bureau (IFB) as a result of the discrepancies between the payroll records and an injured worker’s claim.