CEA Letter to DOL RE: COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS)

Al Stewart                                                                   James “Jim” Frederick
Acting Secretary                                                       Deputy Assistant Secretary
U.S. Department of Labor                                       U.S. Department of Labor
200 Constitution Ave, NW                                      200 Constitution Ave, NW
Washington, D.C.  20210                                          Washington, DC  20210



Dear Acting Secretary Stewart and Deputy Assistant Secretary Frederick:

As the Department of Labor begins to evaluate the necessity of an emergency temporary standard (ETS) related to the COVID-19 pandemic in response to President Biden’s recently issued “Executive Order on Protecting Worker Health and Safety,” the Construction Employers of America (CEA) would like to respectfully submit our views on the matter.

The CEA is made up of seven construction employer associations: The International Council of Employers of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers (ICE-BAC); FCA International (FCA); The Mechanical Contractors Association of America (MCAA); The National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA); The Sheet Metal & Air Conditioning Contractors’ National Association (SMACNA); The Signatory Wall and Ceiling Contractors Alliance (SWACCA); and The Association of Union Constructors (TAUC).

These associations represent construction firms that are proud to use union craftworkers. The more than 15,000 signatory contractor members that compose the associations comprising CEA adhere to the highest standards, and their approximately 1.4 million workers are paid family-sustaining wages and have health insurance and pensions. Contractors represented by CEA member associations invest millions in worker training and safety through jointly trusteed registered apprenticeship training funds and joint labor-management cooperation committees.  Contractors within CEA are committed to strengthening the construction industry and providing the best value to project owners while providing good pay and benefits for their workers.

As construction employers, our members understand that it is incumbent upon management to work in partnership with worker representatives to find effective, common sense solutions to protect workers and keep them safe on the job. Since the beginning of the pandemic, the construction industry workforce has been deemed essential to ensuring the continuing operation of critical infrastructure. In fulfilling this charge, CEA members have prioritized worker safety and been proactive in working with our signatory unions to develop necessary work practices and to provide the resources to work safely.  These efforts have included the adoption of practices to ensure social distancing on jobsites, sanitizing work areas, quarantine protocols, and providing for those workers who fall ill. Despite the efforts we have made in cooperation with our labor partners to ensure the health and safety of our workers, we recognize that not all employers are making such efforts or giving similar consideration to the concerns of workers and the input of their representatives.

As the Department evaluates whether a federal COVID-19 emergency temporary standard is necessary, we respectfully urge DOL not to override the effective work practices that contractors have developed with their signatory unions. We ask that for workplaces in which management and a recognized collective bargaining representative of the workforce mutually agree on best practices, these joint labor management efforts supersede any ETS, so long as they are faithfully adhered to by all parties. 

If the Department refuses to allow labor and management to voluntarily adopt mutually agreed upon best practices, then it is imperative that any ETS avoid creating an uneven playing field for high road employers in industries with high rates of worker misclassification, like construction.  In the construction industry, many employers disclaim responsibility for ensuring a healthy and safe workplace by misclassifying their workers as self-employed. States like California that have adopted an ETS mandating that when employees are excluded from work for certain COVID-19-related reasons (like having or having been exposed to COVID-19) but remain “otherwise able and available to work,” employers must pay “exclusion pay” for the employees’ time away from the job and refrain from capping those earnings. The CalOSHA mandate essentially means that honest contractors who do not misclassify workers will be forced to pay an “exclusion wage” to employees sidelined due to COVID-19 in addition to paying a replacement employee to keep to the construction schedule. The need to replace absent employees who are drawing exclusion pay and benefits means the honest contractor now pays twice—once for the absent employee and again for the replacement. Unscrupulous employers who misclassify their workers as self-employed on the other hand would be exempt from this mandate, creating a competitive advantage for contractors that can simply let the sick worker go and hire a new worker to complete a project.

We applaud President Biden for his focused and sober approach to worker safety.  It mirrors the approach that contractors in CEA member associations have taken in coordination with their labor partners from the outset of the pandemic. We also hope that any standard that may be adopted will not provide further competitive advantages to unscrupulous businesses that refuse to acknowledge their obligations to their workforce by misclassifying them as self-employed individuals.  An ETS to protect workers should not have the unintended consequence of putting high-road employers at a further disadvantage to unethical competitors.  This would not serve workers or advance the goals of this Administration.

Thank you for your consideration of CEA’s views on this matter. We look forward to working with you to ensure that all workers are kept safe and treated with dignity and respect as our nation seeks to rebuild from the COVID-19 pandemic and related economic harm it has caused.

Sincerely,

The Construction Employers of America

www.constructionemployersofamerica.com 

International Council of Employers of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers
FCA International
Mechanical Contractors Association of America
National Electrical Contractors Association
Sheet Metal & Air Conditioning Contractors’ National Association
Signatory Wall and Ceiling Contractors Alliance
The Association of Union Constructors

 

 

 

 

CEA Support Letter RE: H.R. 447 The National Apprenticeship Act of 2021

The Honorable Charles Schumer
Majority Leader
United States Senate
322 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510

Dear Majority Leader Schumer:

On behalf of the Construction Employers of America (CEA) and the 15,000 signatory contractors and 1.4 million employees we represent, we strongly support Senate passage of the H.R. 447, the National Apprenticeship Act of 2021, which passed the House on February 5, 2021.

Quality apprenticeship programs are vital to the continued growth and success of the construction and specialty trade industries. CEA’s members have long recognized that private investment in high-caliber, accredited, and registered apprenticeship programs is critical to developing the high-skilled workforce. Our members invest approximately $1.3 billion annually in the over 1,100 joint labor management registered apprentice training centers in operation across the country. These centers currently have over 100,000 future construction workers enrolled in these training programs, creating career opportunities and pathways to the middle class.

H.R. 447 would expand and strengthen these privately funded registered apprenticeship programs by codifying standards for registered apprenticeship, youth apprenticeships, and pre-apprenticeship programs. This will provide consistency in quality standards and worker protections across all registered apprenticeship programs, expand workforce development and apprenticeship training opportunities, and ensure candidates for these programs have the skills necessary to successfully complete these rigorous programs. Based upon our members’ extensive experience in supporting joint labor-management training programs, we encourage you to support this important legislation. If enacted, H.R. 447 would strengthen registered apprenticeships and expand access to programs that will build the high-skilled construction workforce of the future.

Thank you for your consideration of this important legislation.

The Construction Employers of America

CEA Letter RE: Financial Factors in Selecting Plan Investments Proposed Regulation (RIN 1210–AB95)

Office of Regulations and Interpretations, Employee Benefits Security Administration
Room N–5655
U.S. Department of Labor
200 Constitution Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20210

Submitted via the Federal eRulemaking Portal at http://www.regulations.gov

RE: Financial Factors in Selecting Plan Investments Proposed Regulation (RIN 1210–AB95)

To Whom it May Concern:

The Construction Employers of America (CEA) is a coalition of seven leading, national construction employer associations that collectively represent thousands of businesses employing more than 1.4 million skilled construction industry trades employees. CEA works to strengthen the construction industry and advocates for the interests of construction employers that provide the best value to project owners through a highly productive, highly skilled workforce that earns fair wages and benefits.

Introduction

Nearly all CEA member employers and their employees participate in multiemployer pension plans. Our employer members serve as trustee fiduciaries of those plans. In this capacity, they oversee the investment of many billions of dollars in retirement assets. Our members have a deep interest in ensuring that those assets are invested appropriately in the best interest of the plan participants and to ensure the resources are there to pay beneficiaries. Our members must make good any funding shortfalls.

The CEA respectfully submits the following comments focusing on the impact the Department’s proposed rule, Financial Factors in Selecting Plan Investments, would have on construction industry collectively bargained multiemployer plans.

I. The Pecuniary Benefit of Investing in Jobs that Create Plan Contributions

The CEA’s primary concern with the proposed rule is that it would dissuade plan investments in funds that make housing, building, and infrastructure investments and require 100% union labor to be used on the projects. These funds are valuable investment opportunities for collectively bargained plans that produce rather unique pecuniary benefits that the proposed rule would at best discourage and at worst disqualify from consideration by fiduciaries in their investment selection process.

Construction industry multiemployer pension plans have successfully invested billions of dollars in such funds over the past several decades, and those investments have produced not only competitive investment returns but also participant contributions to the plans that made those investments. The participants of the plans that made these investments have benefited greatly from this investment structure. The CEA urges the Department to preserve fiduciaries’ ability to make investments in such funds without establishing a new standard or burden.

There are numerous investment funds and vehicles that invest in construction projects and require 100% union labor. Two primary examples are the AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust and the AFL-CIO Building Investment Trust. Both examples generate competitive investment returns and significant work hours for plan participants that result in participant contributions to the collectively bargained plans investing in these funds.

The AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust, in its March 31, 2020 Project Impacts Report, notes that it has created more than 178.3 million construction work hours since 1984. The AFL-CIO Building Investment Trust notes in its 2019 Annual Report that its investments have generated approximately 80 million construction work hours in its 31 year history. Because these funds require 100% union labor on all on-site construction of the projects they finance, the more than 250 million hours work hours generated by these funds were performed by participants in the very plans that made the original investment. If each work hour represent just a $4.00 pension plan contribution – a figure that is most certainly below the average rate – it can be said that these two funds alone have collectively generated more than $1 billion in participant contributions to collectively bargained construction industry pension plans. These participant contributions are of significant pecuniary value to those plans and their participants.

Paragraph (c)(1) of the proposed rule addresses consideration of pecuniary vs. non-pecuniary factors. The proposed rule focuses on investments that promote public policy, political, and other non-pecuniary goals. The proposed rule implies (but does not state) that a fund that invests in construction projects and requires 100% union labor on those projects, could be classified as an Environment, Social, Governance (“ESG”) investment. Because this requirement generates participant contributions for collectively bargained plans that invest in these funds, such classification would be inappropriate for a collectively bargained plan. The proposed rule should be modified to remove any question about a fiduciary’s ability to consider participant contributions to a collectively bargained plan as a pecuniary factor.

It could be argued that contributions made to a defined benefit pension plan are net neutral because those contributions generate new benefits that are offset by new liabilities. This argument is incorrect. Industry activity that results in contributions to a pension plan is a key factor in determining a plan’s funding status and, in many cases, has a direct impact on funding previously accrued benefits without accruing new benefit liabilities.

Projected industry activity – the hours worked in the industry that will generate contributions to the plan – is a key factor in an actuary’s determination of a defined benefit pension plan’s funding status under the Pension Protection Act (PPA), as reflected at ERISA Section 305 (29 USC 1085(b)(3)(B)(iii)). A pension plans’ funded status has an obvious impact on its ability to provide future benefits to participants, and a plan that falls below certain levels may be forced to cut future benefits pursuant to the PPA.

More directly, investments that generate participant contributions to a defined benefit pension plan frequently fund benefits already accrued by active and retired participants. Defined benefit pension plans use various formulas to determine participant benefit accruals. A plan that uses a credit-based accrual formula is unlikely to establish a perfect relationship between the contributions made to a plan on a participant’s behalf and the benefits accrued by that participant. Instead, benefits are accrued as the participant earns a “credit” for achieving certain activity thresholds. Contributions received that exceed a credit threshold but fail to reach the next credit threshold may not result in any newly accrued benefits. Instead, those excess contributions fund participants’ and beneficiaries’ benefits broadly but without establishing a new, distinct benefit liability.

Moreover, the use of “supplemental” or non-accruing contributions has become more common among multiemployer defined benefit pension plans since the 2008 recession. A non-accruing contribution is a contribution to the plan for which a benefit is not accrued. Non-accruing contributions fund previously accrued benefits that are not fully funded because of prior shortfalls. Thus, an investment that generates contributions to a plan can have a direct, positive impact on funding participants’ and beneficiaries’ existing benefits by generating supplemental contributions that do not accrue new benefits.

In the background provided for the proposed rule, the Department notes that pension plans covered by ERISA are statutorily bound to a narrow objective: management with an “eye single” to maximize the funds available to pay retirement benefits. This is precisely the objective of the AFL-CIO Housing Investment and Building Investment Trusts, and similarly designed investment funds. They generate competitive investment returns and participant contributions to the collectively bargained plans that invest in them.

Because a union labor requirement generates participant contributions for collectively bargained plans that invest in these funds, such a requirement is a pecuniary factor and not only a collateral benefit. That is, a union labor requirement is a proper component of a collectively bargained plan fiduciary’s primary analysis of the economic merits of competing investment choices. However, the proposed rule’s definition of pecuniary factor is too narrow to clearly permit fiduciaries of collectively bargained plans to consider a union labor requirement as a pecuniary factor in making an investment decision. The CEA recommends that the Department remedy this concern by adding a new paragraph in section (c) as follows:

A fiduciary’s evaluation of an investment may take into consideration, as a pecuniary factor for purposes of this regulation, participant contributions to the plan that may be generated by the investment.

II. The Final Rule Should Preserve the “Tie-Breaker” Standard Unchanged.

Paragraph (c)(2) of the proposed rule would transform the well-established “tie breaker” standard by raising the standard to an unrealistic threshold based on the Department’s belief that the likelihood two investments will be economically indistinguishable is rare. The proposed rule would practically destroy the tie-breaker standard to the detriment of plans and participants. Because perfect equivalence between investment choices is a notional concept, it is necessary to retain the current “tie-breaker” standard to preserve fiduciaries’ ability to consider collateral benefits that may be derived from certain investments.

Under current regulation, the “tie-breaker” standard generally permits a fiduciary to consider non-pecuniary environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) factors where two investment options are economically equivalent. The proposed rule would transform that standard by requiring a fiduciary to determine that the investment options are economically indistinguishable and, to a skeptical Department’s satisfaction, document specifically why that determination was made.

The Department states its belief that the likelihood two investments will be economically indistinguishable is rare. And certainly, given the litany of pecuniary factors that are considered in distinguishing two investments, this is a legitimate belief on its face. But the Department’s belief implies that a fiduciary’s analysis of investment alternatives is rigidly quantitative, and that one investment will virtually always be revealed as the winner. If that were true, investment choices would be much easier for fiduciaries.

For the same reason that two investments will rarely be economically indistinguishable, a requirement that a fiduciary document specifically why two or more investments are indistinguishable is unrealistic. It cannot be done unequivocally because economically indistinguishable is a notional standard. Such a requirement will naturally chill fiduciaries’ investment in any vehicle that requires such documentation.

The Department stresses that the historic returns of an investment are a pecuniary factor. At the same time, virtually every investment prospectus includes a disclaimer to the effect of, "Past performance is not indicative of future results." In fact, the Securities and Exchange Commission Rule 156 requires such a disclaimer in investment company sales literature. (17 CFR § 230.156)

If all pecuniary factors for two hypothetical investment options are identical with the exception of historic returns, and those historic returns are nearly identical, it would be unreasonable to argue that ERISA would require the plan fiduciaries to select the investment option with insignificantly higher historic returns given that historic returns are not indicative of future results. Yet the Department implies that fiduciaries must not only consider past performance in making an investment decision but also that fiduciaries are duty bound to select the investment with better past performance over an otherwise equivalent alternative.

“Economically indistinguishable” is an untenable standard as to the review of investment options. Under this proposed standard, unless 1) a union labor requirement is clearly recognized as a pecuniary factor for collectively bargained plans, or 2) the tie-breaker standard is maintained as articulated in previous guidance, fiduciaries of construction industry multiemployer plans would arguably have to demonstrate that a building investment fund requiring union labor is at least economically indistinguishable as compared to alternatives before the proposed rule would permit them to invest in such a fund. This requirement could cause fiduciaries to forgo investment in a fund that would not only produce competitive investment returns but also deliver participant contributions to the fund. Knowing that participant contributions are a pecuniary benefit to the participants, it is difficult to understand the logic in compelling fiduciaries to invest in an alternative vehicle that might have, for example, insignificantly better historic returns but does not deliver participant contributions to the plan.

The preamble to Interpretive Bulletin 94-1 explained that the requirements of ERISA 403 and 404 do not prevent fiduciaries from investing plan assets in economically targeted investments (ETIs) if the investment has an expected rate of return commensurate to rates of return of available alternative investments with similar risk characteristics, and if the investment vehicle is otherwise an appropriate investment for the plan in terms of such factors as diversification and the investment policy of the plan. In other words, if the ETI investment is economically equivalent (but not economically indistinguishable) a fiduciary would not be prevented from selecting the ETI investment over a non-ETI alternative. Economically equivalent is the appropriate standard as to fiduciaries consideration of ETIs and ESG investment factors vs. non-ESG alternatives and should be maintained by the Department.

The Department expressed its belief in Interpretive Bulletin 2015-01 (IB 2015-01) that Interpretive Bulletin 2008-01 (IB 2008-01), which required fiduciaries to document their decisions to invest in ETIs “in a manner that demonstrates compliance with ERISA’s rigorous fiduciary standards,” had unduly discouraged fiduciaries from considering ETIs and ESG factors.

IB 2015-01 went on to describe the Department’s concern that IB 2008-01 may have dissuaded fiduciaries from pursuing “economically superior investments” and even investing in ETIs that were “economically equivalent.”

The proposed rule would raise the bar higher than IB 2008-01 by requiring fiduciaries to document “specifically why the investments were determined to be economically indistinguishable.” Because economically indistinguishable is a notional concept, this documentation requirement is unrealistic and is likely to have a harsher effect on fiduciaries’ ETI/ESG investment decisions than IB 2008-01. And in the case of collectively bargained plans that stand to receive participant contributions on the basis of investments in funds that the Department might classify as ETIs, it is likely to dissuade fiduciaries from pursuing what are often – at least in the case of collectively bargaining plans – economically superior investments.

Conclusion

It is clear in law and current regulation that fiduciaries must act with a single-minded focus on the interests of beneficiaries. The duty of prudence prevents a fiduciary from choosing an investment alternative that is financially less beneficial than an available alternative. And plan fiduciaries, when making decisions on investments and investment courses of action, must be focused solely on the plan’s financial risks and returns. The proposed rule implies that these legal requirements establish a bright line standard for investment selection. The concept of a bright line standard for investment selection is as unrealistic as the notion of perfect economic equivalence between two investment choices.

The CEA agrees that fiduciaries must not subordinate investment risk and returns to nonpecuniary objectives. Yet, the analysis of pecuniary objectives is not always straightforward exercise that clearly identifies a correct choice. If the purpose of this rule truly is to maximize funds available to pay benefits to plan participants, any final rule should deem contributions an investment generates to a collectively bargained plan as a pecuniary consideration. Additionally, the tie-breaker standard articulated in IB 2015-01 and clarified in Field Assistance Bulletin 2018-01 should be maintained by the Department. The final rule should not raise the bar by requiring plan fiduciaries to document why the investments were determined to be economically indistinguishable. Rather, the economic equivalence standard should be maintained for the tiebreaker test.

We urge the Department to incorporate these comments into its efforts toward the laudable goal of ensuring that fiduciaries make investment decisions based solely on financial considerations relevant to the risk adjusted economic value of a particular investment or investment course of action.

Thank you for your consideration and the opportunity to submit these comments.

Sincerely,

The Construction Employers of America

FCA International
International Council of Employers of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers
Mechanical Contractors Association of America
National Electrical Contractors Association
Sheet Metal & Air Conditioning Contractors National Association
Signatory Wall and Ceiling Contractors Alliance
The Association of Union Constructors

CEA Response to Bill H.R. 6201, the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA)

March 22, 2020

The Honorable Mitch McConnell The Honorable Nancy Pelosi
Majority Leader Speaker of the House of Representatives
United States Senate United States House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20510 Washington, DC 20515

The Honorable Charles Schumer The Honorable Kevin McCarthy
Minority Leader Minority Leader
United States Senate United States House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20510 Washington, DC 20515

The Construction Employers of America (CEA) represents seven construction employer associations and the more than 1.4 million employees that work for our member contractors. Like so many other US employers, they have been significantly impacted by the Coronavirus outbreak. Our member firms remain committed to completing essential services, advancing critical infrastructure projects and carrying out vital construction activities that provide work opportunities for skilled craftworkers across the country.

The CEA applauds Congress' quick passage of legislation to address the public health crisis and economic uncertainty caused by the outbreak of the Coronavirus. We do, however, have some serious concerns with aspects of the just enacted second response bill, H.R. 6201, the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA). If these issues outlined below are not addressed in subsequent COVID-19 response packages, the requirements of FFCRA will create significant industry-wide challenges and cause significant financial and operational damage to the nation’s signatory construction contractors.

As the Federal government weighs additional policy options to address this public health and economic crisis, we urge you to ensure that any actions taken support the skilled building trades segment of the construction industry. Due to our essential role in building, operating and maintain the most critical public and private infrastructure around the nation and our role in training the future workforce required to provide these services, it is vital that our member firms and their workforce be sustained and allowed to perform their important work during this crisis.

Our suggestions are as follows:

Tax Credit Provisions Offsetting Employer Costs of Family and Sick Leave Mandate

  • Although the CEA supports the tax credits and emergency nature of the paid sick and family leave proposal that are tied to a declared health emergency and provide short-term paid leave for workers, we object to the provision of the legislation that caps the rate of $511 per day, and $5,110 in total for the tax credits at an insufficient level. This would create great financial hardship for our member companies, who compensate their workers above the sub average wage referenced in the legislation.

  • Employers covered by this requirement would also be subject to a tax credit cap of $200 per day for up to 50 days. The CEA urges Congress to remove the caps in subsequent COVID-19 legislation in order to reflect reasonable benefit levels from our contractors.

  • We do not support the more attenuated sick leave accrual based on hours worked contained in the non-emergency paid leave proposal, due to administrative and payroll challenges that are not appropriate to impose long term on employers during the crisis.

Multiemployer Pension Relief for Industry Economic Security

  • We appreciate that Congress continues to work on additional policies to provide economic stabilization during the economic decline. Therefore, we include several important proposals we believe should be included in any comprehensive COVID-19 response package. Paramount in importance involves reforms to the multiemployer pension system, which was in crisis prior to the economic emergency.

  • Several systematically significant plans are projected to become insolvent, threatening to bring down the entire system. The overall system is under stress; many plans face substantial unfunded liabilities and are subject to the same long-term risks that have driven other plans to insolvency. We are concerned that the economic fallout from COVID-19 will weaken the financial status of many multiemployer pension plans and urge Congress to take steps to address this looming crisis.

  • When responding to the 2008 – 2009 financial crisis, Congress did not include multiemployer pension plans in financial rescue packages passed to stabilize the economy. As a result, plan asset values plummeted, triggering devastating long-term problems in the system that Congress is still struggling to address today. Congress must not make the same mistake in this crisis.

  • Immediate action is needed to help mitigate the effect of this new crisis on multiemployer pension plans and the small family-owned construction companies who contribute to them. The relief must not go only to plans already failing. Without relief more plans will fall into “critical” or “critical and declining” status, even as more contributing employers go out of business, further destabilizing plans and remaining employers.

  • Beyond a direct infusion of cash into the system, permitting targeted actuarial smoothing of investment and contribution losses — that is, allowing sponsors to recognize losses over longer periods of time — would temper the impact of the recent market plunge by reducing required contributions by employers.

  • Finally, employers, with many of their labor partners, have urged Congress to authorize a hybrid benefit design called Composite Plans. Construction employers have stressed that the current defined benefit system basically requires them to insure long-term positive stock market performance, a virtual impossibility in today’s financial climate. Employers instead favor a shared-risk plan that would still provide a lifetime benefit for retirees that is better than a 401(k). It should have been done earlier. Now is the time.

Joint Labor-Management Health and Welfare Trusts

  • In addition to contributing to underfunded multiemployer pension plans, CEA employers also contribute to joint labor-management Health and Welfare trusts that provide1.4 million workers and families medical and other health benefits. These plans must be protected during this pandemic.

  • CEA would endorse adding a COBRA premium assistance subsidy like the credit that was made available in 2010.

  • The pending bills should make sure that the federal government reinsures the cost of COVID-19 testing and treatment to these self-insured plans and for related prescription drug coverage.

Comprehensive Infrastructure Investment

  • The COVID-19 virus has created uncertainty throughout the construction industry. CEA is asking for bigger and more innovative initiatives to keep the construction industry working and to keep America safe. In this time of crisis, one of the most important ways to sustain the construction industry is to fund a far larger, long term, comprehensive infrastructure package. This will ensure public buildings, schools, water systems, airports, transit and surface transportation networks can meet the demands of the 21st century.

  • This counter recessionary effort will maintain the nation’s construction industry, the quality contracting firms that provide stable employment opportunities to building trades workers maintain and strengthen the important joint labor-management pension and health and welfare funds.

  • To protect our communities and enhance public safety, any fiscal measure should include assistance for projects that include health care, education, transportation and technology projects which will continue to come under pressure in the coming months. The skilled workers of CEA are prepared to build, repair and retrofit pandemic-resilient infrastructure to preserve both the short-term and long-term safety of the population. Hospitals need to rapidly expand bed capacity, intensive care units, intake centers and temporary/portable facilities or structures to deal with an influx of patients over the coming months.

  • The pandemic has clearly shown the extreme danger of off shoring the production of medications vital to the health of American citizens. Any infrastructure bill should be mandated to enhance our country's ability to manufacture our own pharmaceuticals.

  • Local schools and universities are still functioning as vital community centers for the distribution of food and other supplies, while our nation's airports need vital support to handle changing transportation demands and all Americans need expanded high-speed broadband networks to facilitate remote work and learning.

Designating as Essential Construction, Facility Maintenance and Related Services

  • We urge Congress to include a provision in any COVID-19 response package that aid to states will be conditional upon following DHS/CISA guidance defining an essential worker as construction activities are essential to economic stabilization and public health.

  • Recently many local jurisdictions have imposed extensive shutdowns of commercial operations without an exemption for personnel who support vitally important, essential construction activities. The impact of halting construction activities during this crisis will have a severe effect on public safety, national security and our member firms and the union craftworkers they employ. Construction sites are unique workplaces, tightly controlled, feature significant safety protocols, protective of the general public and should not suffer from local shut-downs orders.

Payroll Tax Cancellation for Employers During Economic / COVID 19 Emergency

  • The CEA endorses a three-month cancellation of all payroll tax obligations to increase the probability that construction employers meet payroll demands, avoid large scale layoffs, retain highly skilled workers, maintain joint apprenticeship programs and prevent potential bankruptcy conditions for firms of all sizes throughout the economic crisis.

Thank you for consideration of our policy recommendations.

The Construction Employers of America
www.constructionemployersofamerica.com
International Council of Employers of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers
FCA International
Mechanical Contractors Association of America
National Electrical Contractors Association
Sheet Metal & Air Conditioning Contractors’ National Association
Signatory Wall and Ceiling Contractors Alliance
The Association of Union Constructors

Letter Urging Federal Government to Explicitly Recognize Construction Activities as Essential

March 22, 2020

The Honorable Mitch McConnell The Honorable Nancy Pelosi
Majority Leader Speaker of the House of Representatives
United States Senate United States House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20510 Washington, DC 20515

The Honorable Charles Schumer The Honorable Kevin McCarthy
Minority Leader Minority Leader
United States Senate United States House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20510 Washington, DC 20515

The Construction Employers of America (CEA) represents seven construction employer associations and the more than 1.4 million employees that work for our member contractors. Like so many other U.S. employers, they have been significantly impacted by the Coronavirus outbreak. Our member firms remain committed to completing essential services, advancing critical infrastructure projects and carrying out vital construction activities that provide work opportunities for skilled craftworkers across the country.

As our nation works to address this public health and economic crisis we are facing, we urge government officials at all levels to recognize the essential nature of the construction industry and the vital work it performs. To that end, we urge the federal government to explicitly recognize construction activities as essential to ensure public health and safety during this pandemic and allow our skilled workforce to provide these services. Any federal legislation binding the states and local governments should require that all mandatory quarantine orders include an exemption for “essential infrastructure” that would allow the construction industry to provide emergency and essential services. It is extremely important that our workforce be encouraged to undertake necessary construction, operation and maintenance of a countless variety of critical facilities.

The construction industry builds and maintains critical infrastructure, including vital energy and communication systems, roads and bridges, and social infrastructure, including police, fire and health care facilities. These services are vital and must remain in operation as the nation deals with this public health crisis. While we recognize the important steps many states and local governments are taking to stem the spread of the Coronavirus, it is critical that quarantine orders and mandatory business closures do not inadvertently prevent the construction industry from supporting the public and medical infrastructure necessary to combat this pandemic. The impact of halting construction activities during this crisis will have a severe effect on public safety, national security, as well as our member firms and their highly skilled union workforce.

Again, we thank you for your expedited efforts to ensure the public health and safety of our citizens. The construction industry remains committed to working with you to ensure essential infrastructure and related medical facilities remain available and operational during this crisis.

Sincerely,

The Construction Employers of America

www.constructionemployersofamerica.com

International Council of Employers of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers
FCA International
Mechanical Contractors Association of America
National Electrical Contractors Association
Sheet Metal & Air Conditioning Contractors’ National Association
Signatory Wall and Ceiling Contractors Alliance
The Association of Union Constructors

Re: Support for the “Helping America Re-Develop High-Quality Accessible Training Act”

September 4, 2018



The Honorable Anthony Brown
United States House of Representatives
1505 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, DC  20515


Re: Support for the “Helping America Re-Develop High-Quality Accessible Training Act”


Dear Congressman Brown:

On behalf of the Construction Employers of America (“CEA”) and the 15,000 signatory contractors and 1.4 million employees we represent, we extend our sincere appreciation for your leadership on labor, apprenticeship, and construction issues. In particular, we want to express our support for H.R. 6693, the “Helping America Re-Develop High-Quality Accessible Training Act”, or the “HARD HAT Act.” This legislation would have a profound effect on the specialty construction industry and the apprentices we train and employ, and we look forward to working with you to see the “HARD HAT Act” enacted as expeditiously as possible.

The “HARD HAT Act” would provide a leg up for federal construction contractors that are investing in the future of the construction industry and supporting the next generation of construction workers through investments in registered apprenticeship programs. Your legislation would bar federal agencies from awarding certain construction contracts unless the contractor agrees to require at least 20 percent of their non-management employees to complete or be enrolled in a Department of Labor recognized Registered Apprenticeship Program as of the date construction begins.

Apprenticeships are the backbone of the construction industry, and are the only way to ensure the long-term viability and growth of one of America’s most important careers. CEA’s members have long-recognized that the path to prosperity requires investment in high caliber, accredited apprenticeship programs. Our members independently finance 1,000 apprentice training centers across the country. With over 100,000 future construction workers currently enrolled in our Privately-funded, joint labor-management training programs, we are creating career opportunities for the blue collar workers that drive American exceptionalism. CEA contractors invest significantly in registered apprenticeship programs, even providing paid “on the job” instruction for our apprentices.

The “HARD Hat Act” would bar federal agencies from awarding certain construction contracts unless the contractor agrees to require at least twenty (20) percent of their non-management employees to complete or be enrolled in a Department of Labor-recognized Registered Apprenticeship Program as of the date on which construction begins. This requirement applies to contracts of $1.5 million or more for the construction or resurfacing of highways, roads, streets, bridges, or railways, as well the building of tunnels, sewage and waste facilities, and public buildings. CEA’s specialty trade contractors are the best in the industry at completing these types of projects, and our well-trained and energetic apprentices will assist in ensuring these projects are constructed with the highest quality standards in mind.

CEA’s seven employer associations include FCA International, International Council of Employers of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers, Mechanical Contractors Association of America, National Electrical Contractors Association, Sheet Metal & Air Conditioning Contractors National Association, Signatory Wall and Ceiling Contractors Alliance, and The Association of Union Constructors. We are available to meet with you or your staff to discuss the “HARD HAT Act” with you or your staff, and would be available to publicly support the legislation in any upcoming congressional hearings. You may contact me at jack.jacobson@constructionemployersofamerica.com or at 202-637-6820 with any questions or to speak to our associations and their members.

Sincerely,

Jack Jacobson
Construction Employers of America


Re:  Hearing on “Modernizing Apprenticeships to Expand Opportunities”

July 26, 2018

 

The Honorable Lamar Alexander           The Honorable Patty Murray
Chairman                                                         Ranking Member
Senate HELP Committee                           Senate HELP Committee
428 Dirksen Senate Office Building       428 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, DC  20510                              Washington, DC  20510

Re:  Hearing on “Modernizing Apprenticeships to Expand Opportunities”

Chairman Alexander and Ranking Member Murray:

Thank you for holding today’s hearing, “Modernizing Apprenticeships to Expand Opportunities”. The Construction Employers of America (“CEA”) and the 15,000 signatory contractors and 1.4 million employees we represent understand the critical role quality, accredited apprenticeship programs play in ensuring there is a robust, highly-trained workforce to meet the construction needs that drive our economy and which will employ the next generation of builders and contractors. CEA and our member organizations believe that the current federal framework for apprenticeship programs effectively supports our industry, and any effort to federally subsidize construction apprenticeships is unnecessary and would irrationally reward firms that have failed to invest in the future our of industry.

CEA’s member organizations independently finance 1,000 apprentice training centers across the country. With over 100,000 future construction workers currently enrolled in our apprenticeship programs, we are creating a path to prosperity for blue collar workers that are the backbone of America. CEA contractors have invested significantly in apprenticeship programs, even providing paid “on the job” instruction for our apprentices. We rely on the federal government and Department of Labor to ensure apprenticeship program quality through accreditation, not through taxpayer-funded subsidies.

Quality apprenticeship programs are vital to the continued growth and success of the construction and specialty trade industries. The Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee should continue to examine the rigor of apprenticeship programs, and Congress must continue to exercise its oversight authority to ensure that the Department of Labor and other federal agencies maintain and strengthen the quality of apprenticeship programs as policymakers seek to expand their use in the United States. However, it would be unwise for the Committee to consider unnecessary taxpayer subsidization as an effective tool to “modernize” apprenticeships.
 

In May, President Trump’s Task Force on Apprenticeship Expansion submitted its strategy to provide additional apprenticeship opportunities for the next generation of American workers. Secretary Acosta, in coordination with Secretaries DeVos and Ross, spent nearly a year studying the labor market and the training and career paths available to our skilled construction workers. We urge the Committee to critically examine the Task Force’s recommendations, and work with the Trump Administration, the specialty trades, and industry leaders to consider thoughtful proposals that reward hard work and long-term investments in the construction industry.

Thank you for the opportunity to submit this testimony for the hearing record. We look forward to continued discussions with you and your staff to support rigorous apprenticeship programs. CEA’s seven employer associations include FCA International, International Council of Employers of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers, Mechanical Contractors Association of America, National Electrical Contractors Association, Sheet Metal & Air Conditioning Contractors National Association, Signatory Wall and Ceiling Contractors Alliance, and The Association of Union Constructors. We would welcome the opportunity to meet with you or your staff to discuss the most appropriate role for the federal government in ensuring apprenticeship programs meet the needs of America’s construction industry. You may contact me at jack.jacobson@constructionemployersofamerica.com or at 202-637-6820 with any questions or to speak to our associations and their members.

Sincerely,

Jack Jacobson
Construction Employers of America

CC:  Members of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, & Pensions Committee

Re:   Include GROW Act in Joint Select Committee Recommendations

July 23, 2018

The Honorable Orrin Hatch                                     The Honorable Sherrod Brown
Co-Chair                                                                         Co-Chair
Joint Select Committee                                           Joint Select Committee
219 Dirksen Senate Office Building                        713 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC  20510                                             Washington, DC  20510

Re:   Include GROW Act in Joint Select Committee Recommendations

Dear Co-Chairs Hatch and Brown:

Thank you for your service on the Joint Select Committee on Solvency of Multiemployer Pension Plans. Your task is not an easy one. Like you, the Construction Employers of America (“CEA”) and the 15,000 signatory contractors and 1.4 million employees we represent have grave concerns about the future and long-term sustainability of the country’s multiemployer pension system. That is why our organizations strongly support the Giving Retirement Options to Workers Act of 2018 (H.R. 4997 or “GROW Act”), introduced by Reps. Phil Roe (R-TN) and Donald Norcross (D-NJ). We respectfully request your support for this important measure and that you work with us to ensure its inclusion in any recommendations put forth later this year by the Joint Select Committee.

CEA employers are contributing employers to multiemployer pension plans. In many cases, they are also plan participants. Our members see the value of providing lifetime retirement benefits to the high-skilled building and construction craftspeople they employ to deliver the quality construction work their customers expect. The looming multiemployer pension crisis threatens the ability of CEA members to continue providing these benefits to their employees.

Over the past several months the Joint Select Committee has heard first-hand from an array of stakeholders the impact that the collapse of the multiemployer pension system would have on retirees, workers, employers, and our economy. You have also heard testimony from both small and large businesses on the challenges that the current law and regulations governing this system have created for employers who are trying to abide by their commitment to provide lifetime retirement income to their workers while maintaining their ability to remain competitive and grow their companies. While Congress cannot alter the economic forces that have put at risk the solvency of hundreds of these plans, it can and must take steps to not only stabilize the current multiemployer pension system but protect its ability to provide for current and future generations of workers and employers.

We hope the crisis facing failing plans, and now facing Congress, helps everyone understand that the current defined benefit system does not guarantee retirement benefits and that the viability of contributing employers and the system is at risk without new plan options. While we recognize the need to address the looming insolvency of failing plans, we are also concerned about the impact of plan failures on the multiemployer system as a whole and urge the Joint Select Committee pursue a comprehensive solution to protect the retirement security of plan participants and the viability of contributing employers.

The GROW Act represents a reasoned approach to updating current law and modernizing our country’s multiemployer pension system through the authorization of “composite plans” as an option that local joint management and labor plan trustees may voluntarily consider to ensure the stability and long-term viability of their pension funds and the benefits they provide for highly skilled building and construction trade workers. Defined benefit plans and defined contribution plans, which each have serious shortcomings, are the only pension plan options available under the current multiemployer pension system. Composite plans, however, are designed to blend the most attractive components of existing defined benefit and defined contribution pension plans, ensuring lifetime employee retirement benefits while protecting contributing employers and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (“PBGC”) during disruptive economic swings. If a composite plan funding level falls below 120% of its obligations, contribution rates would go up and accrual rates would go down before any benefits were reduced. Any future benefit reductions would be a last resort for employers and labor to consider together if and when necessary.

The GROW Act would also give multiemployer retirement plans the ability to secure their future at no cost to the federal government or pension plan participants, and would still give employers the opportunity to offer a lifetime retirement benefit to their employees. As plans transition to composite plans, the PBGC is protected from the failure of more plans while at the same time premiums continue to be paid to the PBGC for legacy defined benefit plans.

In recent years a significant number of employers have migrated from offering defined benefit plans to offering defined contribution plans, a system in which workers cannot save enough during their career and all too frequently outlive their benefits. CEA employers see the value in lifetime retirement benefits for our employees and we are committed to continuing to provide those benefits. Authorization of composite plans would allow CEA employers to continue to provide lifetime retirement benefits while allowing flexibility for our members’ companies during times of great economic hardship, which would otherwise put their businesses—and the defined benefit plans they offer—at risk. In short, we view composite plans as vital to ensuring contributing employers’ ability and willingness to remain in the multiemployer pension system, and their continued ability to ensure retirement security for the skilled American workers they employ.

The recommendations of the Joint Select Committee will have profound and lasting effects on the future of America’s multiemployer pension plans and the millions of Americans who depend on these plans during their twilight years. CEA encourages the Joint Select Committee to put forward bipartisan, common sense recommendations that can pass the House and Senate and be signed into law. The GROW Act is an affordable, responsible, thoughtful option to bolster the multiemployer pension system and provide additional retirement plan options for management and labor to consider together. We hope that you will work with us to ensure this legislation is included in the final legislative recommendations package put forward by the Joint Select Committee.

CEA’s seven employer associations include FCA International, International Council of Employers of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers, Mechanical Contractors Association of America, National Electrical Contractors Association, Sheet Metal & Air Conditioning Contractors National Association, Signatory Wall and Ceiling Contractors Alliance, and The Association of Union Constructors. We are available to meet with you or your staff to discuss the benefits of composite plans and the benefits of such plans. You may contact me at jack.jacobson@constructionemployersofamerica.com or at 202-637-6820 with any questions or to speak to our associations and their members.

Sincerely,

Jack Jacobson
Construction Employers of America

 

CC: Members of the Joint Select Committee on Solvency of Multiemployer Pension Plans

Re: Hearing on “Effective Oversight and the Power of the Purse”

January 18, 2017


Chairman Pete Sessions Ranking Member Louise Slaughter
Committee on Rules Committee on Rules
U.S. Congress U.S. Congress
The Capitol H-312 1116 Longworth House Office Building

Washington, DC  20515 Washington, DC  20515

Re: Hearing on “Effective Oversight and the Power of the Purse”

Dear Chairman Sessions and Ranking Member Slaughter:

The Construction Employers of America (CEA), a joint initiative coordinating action on labor, workforce, and construction issues facing construction industry, appreciates the Committee on Rules holding the hearing, “Effective Oversight and the Power of the Purse.”  

CEA works to strengthen the construction industry and provide opportunities for top-quality construction workers to learn and maintain the skills they need to deliver highly-productive, quality workmanship that provides the best value to project owners while earning high-value compensation and benefits for themselves, their families, and their communities. As part of the CEA’s mission, we strongly support efforts to increase direct investment in all forms of domestic infrastructure. Construction firms are in a unique position to understand the real-world effects of infrastructure investments for businesses, their employees, and the families that depend on the blue-collar jobs that built America’s middle class.

Unfortunately, for too long Federal policy makers have failed to address the need to significantly increase infrastructure investment and provide the revenues necessary to support this investment. With the country currently in need of over $4 trillion in infrastructure investment, now is a critical time to work towards passing a major infrastructure package.

If, as part of an infrastructure package, Congress decides to provide discretionary funding targeted towards infrastructure priorities, the transparent and accountable use of “congressional directed investments” (i.e. earmarks) is appropriate and necessary to ensure that the infrastructure needs of all regions and congressional districts are considered in the allocation of available funding. Currently, these project-level funding decisions for discretionary surface transportation investments are left to the U.S. Department of Transportation (U.S. DOT). We believe that providing all project review and selection authority to Federal agencies undermines representative government and takes away from the elected representatives the ability to respond to vital infrastructure needs in the congressional districts they represent.  

While we do not object to infrastructure legislation authorizing U.S. DOT to award a portion of funds towards major national and regionally significant projects, we believe that it is equally important for congress to provide Members an opportunity to target investments towards critical infrastructure projects in their districts. Regardless of who allocates the funds, decisions must be made in a transparent manner, with public disclosure and open vetting prior to selection. Under the appropriate circumstances and selection criteria, congressional directed investments can play a critical role in furthering representative government and ensuring that members have voices in setting Federal investment priorities resulting from the legislation they are called to pass.

We are happy to discuss Congress’s constitutional prerogative for funding federal projects with you or your staff at your convenience. Should you have any questions, you can reach me at jack.jacobson@constructionemployersofamerica.com or 202-637-6820.

Sincerely,

Jack Jacobson
Construction Employers of America
 

CC: Members of the Committee on Rules

Re: Authorization of Composite Plans Will Aid Pension System

December 5, 2017


The Honorable Virginia Foxx The Honorable Bobby Scott
Chair Ranking Member
Committee on Education and the Workforce Committee on Education and the Workforce
2176 Rayburn House Office Building 2176 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515 Washington, DC  20515

The Honorable Kevin Brady The Honorable Richard Neal
Chair Ranking Member
Committee on Ways and Means Committee on Ways and Means
1102 Longworth House Office Building 1102 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, DC  20515 Washington, DC  20515

Re: Authorization of Composite Plans Will Aid Pension System

Chairwoman Foxx, Chairman Brady, Ranking Member Scott, & Ranking Member Neal:

Last week Construction Employers of America (CEA) watched with interest the Education and the Workforce Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions hearing, "Financial Challenges Facing the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation: Implications for Pension Plans, Workers, and Retirees." On behalf of the 15,000 employers and 1.4 million employees we represent, we share the Committee’s concerns with the long-term health of our country’s multiemployer pension plans, and appreciate the thoughtful and timely hearing with Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) Director Reeder.

CEA urges the Committee and Congress to take swift action to modernize our country’s multiemployer pension system by immediately authorizing “composite plans”. Composite plans would offer voluntary options to companies, workers, and plans participating in the PBGC multiemployer insurance program. As you are aware, composite plans are designed to blend the best components of existing defined benefit and defined contribution pension plans, ensuring the future of lifetime employee retirement benefits while protecting contributing employers and the PBGC.

If composite plans are authorized, benefits in employee legacy plans would be protected and participants would remain entitled to the benefits in those plans. In massive numbers, single employers have moved from defined benefit plans to defined contribution plans, a system in which workers cannot save enough and too frequently outlive their benefits. CEA employers are committed to providing lifetime retirement benefits like those in composite plans. Such an approach is vital to ensuring contributing employers’ ability and willingness to remain in the multiemployer pension system, and their continued ability to ensure retirement security for the skilled American blue-collar workers they employ.  

Composite plan legislation would give multiemployer plans the ability to secure their future at no cost to the federal government or pension plan participants. As plans transition to composite plans, the PBGC is protected from the failure of more plans. Premiums continue to be paid to the PBGC for legacy plans. In addition to providing relief to the PBGC, composite plans are a vital component of a long-term solution to America’s looming pension crisis.

CEA agrees with the need to strengthen the country’s pension system and address deficiencies in the 2014 “Multiemployer Pension Reform Act.” However, requiring higher premiums to participate in the PBGC does not improve our pension system.  Unreasonably high premiums would have the unintended consequence of driving more employers out of the system, further eroding PBGC’s financial situation and putting millions of retirees’ and employees’ future at risk.  We therefore support efforts, such as the authorization of composite plans, to obviate the need for premium increases with a new plan design—especially the dramatic increases Director Reeder posited in his recent testimony.

Construction Employers of America is a joint initiative coordinating action on labor, workforce, and construction issues facing our industry. CEA works to strengthen the construction industry and provide opportunities for construction employers that provide the best value to project owners through a highly productive, highly skilled workforce that earns fair wages and benefits for themselves, their families, and their communities.

CEA’s seven employer associations include FCA International, International Council of Employers of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers, Mechanical Contractors Association of America, National Electrical Contractors Association, Sheet Metal & Air Conditioning Contractors National Association, Signatory Wall and Ceiling Contractors Alliance, and The Association of Union Constructors. We are available to meet with you or your staff to discuss the benefits of composite plans and the benefits of such plans. You may contact me at jack.jacobson@constructionemployersofamerica.com or at 202-637-6820 with any questions or to speak to our associations and their members.

Sincerely,

Jack Jacobson
Construction Employers of America

CC: Members of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce
Members of the House Committee on Ways and Means

Re: Construction Employers Urge NO Vote on King #23, Rooney #64 Amendments on Davis-Bacon Prevailing Wage

July 26, 2017


U.S. Representative
U.S. Capitol Building
Washington, DC  20515

Re:  Construction Employers Urge NO Vote on King #23, Rooney #64 Amendments on Davis-Bacon Prevailing Wage

Dear Representative:

On behalf of the Construction Employers of America and our seven member associations, we urge you to oppose Rep. Steve King’s (Amendment #23) and Rep. Francis Rooney’s (Amendment #64) amendments to H.R. 3219, the “Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2018”. Congressman King’s amendment and Congressman Rooney’s amendment would eviscerate local and regional prevailing wage laws that protect American workers, undermining our country’s long-standing and effective prevailing wage law, commonly known as “Davis-Bacon.”

As you may be aware, regional prevailing wages ensure that employees are paid a fair wage based on calculations from a survey of local market wages and benefits paid to construction workers without regard to their union or non-union status. It's fair, it’s transparent, and it's working for the American people, as it has for the past 85 years. The King Amendment and the Rooney Amendment would prohibit the implementation, administration, and enforcement of prevailing wage laws that have protected and supported American employers and employees for decades.

Put simply, Davis-Bacon protections raise the standard of living for all Americans. For over 80 years, Davis-Bacon prevailing wage requirements have ensured that companies pay fair wages and labor receives fair compensation for their work based on regional wages. Prevailing wage safeguards have proven sound construction procurement policy, ensuring project success by respecting and adhering to prevailing workforce standards and wages. Davis-Bacon discourages artificially low bids that undercut high workforce standards. Artificially low bids frequently lead to claims, disputes, and project delays. Established industry and project owner practices in both the private and public sectors recognize that high workforce standards delivery superior project outcomes. Prevailing wage standards also promote using local labor forces for public works projects.

Construction Employers of American once again urge you to vote against the King Amendment #23 and the Rooney Amendment #64 and defend local prevailing wage laws. The Construction Employers of America, our member associations, and our 1.4 million employees nationwide appreciate your leadership. CEA members include FCA International, the International Council of Employers of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers, the Mechanical Contractors Association of America, the National Electrical Contractors Association, the Sheet Metal & Air Conditioning Contractors’ National Association, the Signatory Wall and Ceiling Contractors Alliance, and The Association of Union Constructors.

Thank you,

Jack Jacobson

​​​​​​​Re:  Construction Employers Urge NO Vote on Rooney #65 Amendment on Project Labor Agreements

July 26, 2017


U.S. Representative
U.S. Capitol Building
Washington, DC  20515

Re:  Construction Employers Urge NO Vote on Rooney #65 Amendment on Project Labor Agreements

Dear Representative:

On behalf of the Construction Employers of America and our seven member associations, we urge you to oppose Rep. Francis Rooney’s Amendment #65 to H.R. 3219, the “Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2018”. Congressman Rooney’s amendment would prohibit federal agencies from using funds to implement or enforce Executive Order 13502, which allows agencies the flexibility to use Project Labor Agreements (PLAs) on a project-by-project basis.

Project Labor Agreements have proven a cost-effective tool for federal agencies to use to ensure high quality construction projects are completed on time and on budget. PLAs ensure that the federal government selects contractors that can meet all of the terms of the Agreement before a major construction project begins. This greatly reduces the potential for cost overruns. PLAs minimize the risk of labor disputes and promote on-schedule and on-budget completion of projects, reducing overall costs and minimizing risks to taxpayers.

In short, PLAs are good for business, good for the government, and good for taxpayers. Unnecessary congressional action to interfere with that proprietary choice would promote regressive federal procurement policy.

Project Labor Agreements have been used by public and private owners and project managers to promote sound and effective labor policies and project productivity for many years. PLAs are most often used in the private sector where corporate budget and scheduling decisions are highly scrutinized. They serve to promote efficiency, control costs, and ensure the timely completion of construction projects. CEA members have long worked with our private sector customers under PLAs that promote stability and efficiency in the construction of projects and further owners’ economic interests.

Construction Employers of America supports the consideration and use of PLAs when deemed to be in the best economic interest of the project owner on behalf of the taxpayer. Banning the use of PLAs on large federal projects in past Presidential Administrations may have found favor in some circles, but did not ensure sound construction management. Economics, not ideology, should drive PLA decisions.  

Construction Employers of American once again urge you to vote against the Rooney Amendment #65 and support the federal government’s ability to use PLAs when advantageous. The Construction Employers of America, our member associations, and our 1.4 million employees nationwide appreciate your leadership. CEA members include FCA International, the International Council of Employers of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers, the Mechanical Contractors Association of America, the National Electrical Contractors Association, the Sheet Metal & Air Conditioning Contractors’ National Association, the Signatory Wall and Ceiling Contractors Alliance, and The Association of Union Constructors.

Thank you,

Jack Jacobson

Re: Worker Misclassification Enforcement in Tax Reform Legislation

July 17, 2017


The Honorable Orrin Hatch                            The Honorable Ron Wyden
Chairman                                                               Ranking Member
Senate Committee on Finance                       Senate Committee on Finance
219 Dirksen Senate Office Building                219 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, DC  20510                                      Washington, DC  20510

Re: Worker Misclassification Enforcement in Tax Reform Legislation

Chairman Hatch and Ranking Member Wyden:

Employee misclassification in the construction industry has created an uneven playing field that rewards bad actors while robbing employees of benefits and local jurisdictions of tax revenue. Misclassification occurs when an employer improperly classifies an employee as an independent contractor to gain a competitive advantage at the expense of responsible, lawful companies and depriving employees of benefits they deserve.

Companies that deliberately misclassify employees benefit from a competitive advantage over companies that comply with employment laws and regulations. Misclassification allows companies to avoid paying appropriate Social Security and Medicare taxes, federal and state unemployment insurance taxes, and workers compensation premiums. With these ill-gotten savings, companies can scam the system and steal business from their competitors by undercutting project bids.

Misclassification deprives employees of benefits they deserve as well as federal, state, and local governments of money they are owed. It is estimated that between $3-4 billion in federal income and employment tax revenue is lost each year due to worker misclassification.  The federal government should reform existing tax law to identify bad actors so the government can recoup lost tax revenue and ensure all businesses compete under the same rules. This type of payroll fraud also includes paying workers "off the books", frequently involving undocumented workers.

Construction Employers of America, representing seven specialty construction trade associations and 1.5 million employees, urges the Committee to include worker misclassification enforcement as a revenue generator in tax reform legislation. This will bring violators to heel and ensure the proper payment of federal taxes.

CEA’s seven employer associations include FCA International, International Council of Employers of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers, Mechanical Contractors Association of America, National Electrical Contractors Association, Sheet Metal & Air Conditioning Contractors National Association, Signatory Wall and Ceiling Contractors Alliance, and The Association of Union Constructors. Our impact on the American economy is significant. We represent over 15,000 employers nationwide. If you or your staff would like to discuss this issue further with CEA and our members, you may contact me at jack.jacobson@constructionemployersofamerica.com or 202-637-6820.

Regards,

Jack Jacobson

RE: Oppose H.R. 1552, "Fair and Open Contracting Act"

March 27, 2017

The Honorable Ron DeSantis
U.S. House of Representatives
1524 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515

Re: Oppose H.R. 1552, “Fair and Open Contracting Act”

Dear Representative DeSantis:

On behalf of the Construction Employers of America (CEA), our seven employer associations, and our more than 1.4 million employees, we urge you to oppose H.R. 1552, the “Fair and Open Contracting Act”, sponsored by Congressman Dennis Ross (FL-15). CEA and our 15,000 affiliated employers have long recognized the benefits of project labor agreements (PLAs); PLAs have proven a cost-effective tool for federal agencies to use to ensure high quality construction projects are completed on time and on budget.

Project labor agreements can be an effective mechanism to ensure that the federal government selects contractors that can meet all of the terms of an agreement before a major construction project begins. PLAs minimize the risk of labor disputes and promote timely completion of projects that meet budgets, reducing overall costs and minimizing risks to taxpayers. In short, PLAs are good for business, good for the government, and good for taxpayers.

Congressman Ross’s legislation would impose a “one size fits all” approach on federal contracts even when PLAs would enforce cost controls and ensure timely completion of federal projects. CEA supports PLAs as an option when their use is in the economic interest of the project owner and the taxpayer.

We strongly urge you to oppose this ill-advised legislation. CEA’s seven employer associations include FCA International, International Council of Employers of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers, Mechanical Contractors Association of America, National Electrical Contractors Association, Sheet Metal & Air Conditioning Contractors National Association, Signatory Wall and Ceiling Contractors Alliance, and The Association of Union Constructors. Should you have any questions, you may contact me at jack.jacobson@constructionemployersofamerica.com or via telephone at 202-637-6820.

Regards,

Jack Jacobson

Congratulations & Construction Employer Policy Priorities

February 9, 2017

The Honorable Elaine Chao
U.S. Department of Transportation
1200 New Jersey Ave., SE
Washington, DC 20590

Re: Congratulatlons & Construction Employer Policy Priorities

Dear Secretary Chao:

On behalf of Construction Employers of America, our seven member associations, and our 1.5 million employees nationwide, we extend our heartfelt congratulations to you on your confirmation as Secretary of Transportation. We look forward to working with you and your team on a host of critical infrastructure and labor issues and stand with you as eager partners to build our economy through infrastructure investments and providing opportunities for hard working, blue collar construction workers.

CEA Is eager to engage with you to address Important Infrastructure and labor policy Issues that will help American smaII businesses prosper. From Investing In the country's transportation and energy infrastructure to ensuring we are training and preparing the next generation of craftsmen through innovative and proven apprenticeship programs, we stand ready to work with you to strengthen the American economy through sound investments. CEA and our member organizations would like to meet with you or your appropriate team member(s) at your earliest convenience to discuss the issues outlined below and identify opportunities to work together on behalf of our members' small business owners and employees.

We commend President Trump for the commitment he made during the campaign to invest in America's infrastructure, which is vital to strengthen the middle class. We are pleased to detail issues supported by the Construction Employers of America where you, as Secretary of Transportation, will play a critical role. We look forward to working with you and your colleagues in the Trump Administration to enact these common sense policies that will strengthen our industry and create skilled jobs across the country.

Invest in Infrastructure - Providing sufficient federal funds to invest in our nation's aging building, transportation, energy, and water infrastructure is vital to the country, the economy, and the construction industry. We are supportive of the President's commitment during the campaign to invest $1 trillion in infrastructure over the next ten years. While the President's plan, even at $1 trillion, won't meet all of the country's infrastructure needs, it is a much-needed step in the right direction and we look forward to working with you to ensure swift enactment of this important legislation.

Recent studies have demonstrated that every $1 billion invested in nonresidential construction would add $3.4 billion to gross domestic product (GDP), add $1.1 billion to personal earnings, and create or sustain 28,500 jobs. One-third (9,700) of these jobs would be on-site construction jobs. In addition, one-sixth (4,600) of the jobs would be indirect jobs from supplying construction materials and services. Most jobs would be in-state, depending on the project and the mix of in-state suppliers. Lastly, about half (14,300) of the jobs would be induced jobs created when the construction and supplier workers and owners spend their additional incomes. These jobs would be a mix of in-state and out-of-state jobs.

Promote Sound Infrastructure Policies - Federal procurement policy should continue to allow federal agencies to utilize project labor agreements (PLAs) in projects where they determine a PLA would provide the best value and highest quality for federal and federally-assisted projects.  PLAs are not mandatory, but allow agencies like the Department of Transportation to employ them when it makes sense for the Department and for the taxpayer. PLAs also ensure that only American citizens and documented workers are employed on federal projects with PLAs in place.

Prepare the Next Generation of Skilled Workers - The construction industry is facing potential labor shortages in coming years with the retirement of a significant portion of our workforce and insufficient new, trained construction workers in our employment pipelines. Skilled labor is vital to the success of our industry, and we have invested heavily in apprenticeship training.

The Department should impose federal construction industry Prompt Payment rules on grantees so that federally-assisted projects reap the benefits of improved payment flow. Greater use of public-private partnerships and tax credit financing for public works should ensure public contractor selection and contract administration protections, including prevailing wage standards; bonding protections for the agencies, subcontractors, and suppliers; public contract contractor and subcontractor selection procedures; payment protections; differing site conditions; and warranty protections.

Reduce Tax Gap by Closing Employee Misclassification Loophole - Miscassification and accompanying payroll fraud occurs when an employer improperly classifies an employee as an independent contractor to gain a competitive advantage at the expense of responsible, lawful companies. Misclassification deprives employees of benefits they deserve as well as federal, state, and local governments of money they are owed. It is estimated that between $3-4 billion in federal income and employment tax revenue is lost each year due to worker misclassification.  The federal government should reform existing tax law to identify bad actors so the government can recoup lost tax revenue and ensure all businesses compete under the same rules. This type of payroll fraud also includes paying workers "off the books", frequently involving undocumented workers.

Thank you for your time and for your consideration of these important national policies that will help spur employment across the country. We look forward to meeting with you or the other appropriate individual(s) at the Department. To confirm a meeting, please contact me at jack.jacobson@constructionemploversofamerica.com or at 202-637-6820.

The charter members of the Construction Employers of America include FCA International, the International Council of Employers of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers, the Mechanical Contractors Association of America, the National Electrical Contractors Association, the Sheet Metal & Air Conditioning Contractors' National Association, the Signatory Wall and Ceiling Contractors Alliance, and The Association of Union Constructors. CEA firms and workers are best qualified to handle high-skilled projects in a cost-effective manner and are the predominant force in the high end sector of the construction industry.

Sincerely,

Jack Jacobson

CEA Letter to Vice President-elect Mike Pence Re: CEA Asks Support of Executive Order 13502, Allowing Consideration of Project Agreements for Federal Construction

Dear Vice President-Elect Pence:

On behalf of the Construction Employers of America (CEA) and our six member associations, I would like to express our enthusiastic support for sustaining Executive Order 13502, which grants federal agencies the flexibility to consider Project Labor Agreements (PLAs) on a project-by-project basis. As you know, PLAs have proven a cost-effective tool for federal agencies to ensure high quality construction projects are completed on-time and on budget. CEA supports the consideration and use of PLAs when deemed to be in the best economic interest of the project owner on behalf of the taxpayer.

Project Labor Agreements ensure that the federal government selects contractors that can meet every term contained in a complex federal construction agreement before a major construction project begins. This greatly reduces the potential for cost overruns. PLAs minimize the risk of labor disputes and promote on-schedule and on-budget completion of projects, reducing overall costs and minimizing risks to taxpayers. In short, PLAs are good for business, good for the government, and good for taxpayers. Unnecessary executive branch action to interfere with the current proprietary choice would promote regressive federal procurement policy.

Project Labor Agreements have been used by public and private owners and project managers to promote sound and effective labor policies and project productivity for many decades. PLAs are most often used in the private sector where corporate budget and scheduling decisions are highly scrutinized. They serve to promote efficiency, control costs, and ensure the timely completion of construction projects. CEA members have long worked with our private sector customers under PLAs that promote stability and efficiency in the construction of projects and further owners’ economic interests.

CEA has consistently supported the consideration and use of PLAs when deemed to be in the best economic interest of the project owner on behalf of the taxpayer. Banning the use of PLAs on large federal projects in past Presidential Administrations may have found favor in some circles, but did not ensure sound construction management. Economics, not ideology, should drive PLA decisions.

After considering the CEA’s extensive experience performing PLA construction for states and federal owners, we hope you will defend the federal government’s future ability to use Project Labor Agreements. The Construction Employers of America, our member associations, and our 15,170 employers and 1.4 million employees nationwide appreciate your leadership. CEA members include the International Council of Employers of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers, the Mechanical Contractors Association of America, the National Electrical Contractors Association, the Sheet Metal & Air Conditioning Contractors’ National Association, the Signatory Wall and Ceiling Contractors Alliance, and The Association of Union Constructors.

Sincerely,

Jack Jacobson

Click here to download a PDF of the letter to Vice President-elect Mike Pence RE E.O. 13502

CEA Letter to Trump Transition Team

Dear Vice President-elect Pence:

Congratulations on President-elect Trump and your election, and thank you for your commitment to addressing the country’s infrastructure needs in your first 100 days in office. This letter follows up on our October 6, 2016, letter to Governor Christie encouraging the Transition Team to focus on building our economy through infrastructure investments and providing opportunities for blue collar, quality construction jobs.

The Construction Employers of America and our six specialty construction associations look forward to working with the Trump Administration to address important infrastructure and labor policy issues that will help American small businesses prosper. From investing in the country’s transportation and energy infrastructure to ensuring we are training and preparing the next generation of craftsmen through innovative and proven apprenticeship programs, we stand ready to work with your
Administration and strengthen the American economy through smart investment.

We greatly appreciate the commitments President-elect Trump made during the campaign to focus on sustaining and increasing wages, which is vital to strengthen the middle class. Construction employment is key to achieving these goals. The average union construction wage is $33 per hour; when retirement, health, and welfare benefits are included, union employees are receiving $54.36 per hour in wages and benefits.

We are pleased to detail issues supported by the Construction Employers of America for your review. We urge President-elect Trump and his Administration to strongly consider the policies outlined below. We look forward to working with the Trump Administration to enact these common sense policies that will strengthen our industry and create fair-wage, skilled jobs.

Promote Sound Infrastructure Policies - Providing sufficient federal funds to invest in our nation’s aging building, transportation, energy, and water infrastructure is vital to the country, the economy, and the construction industry. Recent studies have demonstrated that every $1 billion invested in nonresidential construction would add $3.4 billion to gross domestic product (GDP), add $1.1 billion to personal earnings, and create or sustain 28,500 jobs. One-third (9,700) of these jobs would be onsite
construction jobs. In addition, one-sixth (4,600) of the jobs would be indirect jobs from supplying construction materials and services. Most jobs would be in-state, depending on the project and the mix of in-state suppliers. Lastly, about half (14,300) of the jobs would be induced jobs created when the construction and supplier workers and owners spend their additional incomes. These jobs would be a mix of in-state and out-of-state jobs. In addition, federal procurement policy should continue to
allow federal agencies to utilize project labor agreements (PLAs) in projects where they determine a PLA would provide the best value and highest quality for federal and federally assisted projects.

Modernize Retirement Plan Options - The multiemployer pension system needs to be modernized through federal authorization of composite plans, which would provide employees lifetime annuity benefits while ensuring predictability for employer contributions. Composite plans would revitalize the multiemployer pension system by creating a third pension plan that combines the best attributes of defined benefit plans that employees favor and defined contribution plans that employers prefer.
Once authorized by Congress and signed by the President, employers and employees would have the voluntary option of selecting composite plans that would provide employees lifetime annuity retirement benefits while providing long-term certainty for employers who contribute to the plans.

Prepare the Next Generation of Skilled Workers - The construction industry is facing potential labor shortages in coming years with the retirement of a significant portion of our workforce and insufficient new, trained construction workers in our employment pipelines. Skilled labor is vital to the success of our industry, and we have invested heavily in apprenticeship training programs for well over 65 years. One recent study noted that there were approximately 19 times more apprentices in
union construction apprenticeship programs than in nonunion programs. This is because CEA employers and their labor partners operate over 1,100 apprenticeship training centers nationally and make private investments of over $1.3 billion annually in workforce training and apprenticeship programs. An additional benefit of our joint programs is that diverse applicants go through a rigorous screening program that works to the benefit of American workers and national security. Continued and expanded federal support for existing and well-established apprenticeship and training programs will yield long-term benefits to the construction industry and the millions of customers we serve.

Protect Prevailing Wage Laws - For over 80 years, Davis-Bacon prevailing wage requirements have ensured that companies pay fair wages and workers receive fair compensation for work based on regional wage rates actually paid on local, private projects. Prevailing wage discourages artificially low bids that undercut local workforce standards and frequently lead to claims, disputes, and project delays. Established industry and project owner practices in both the private and public sectors recognize that high workforce standards deliver superior project outcomes. Moreover, prevailing wage standards promote the use of local blue collar labor forces for public works projects and support hundreds of thousands of jobs that provide middle class family wages.

Invest in Energy Efficient Buildings - Buildings are the single largest energy users in the country, consuming 40% of our energy demand. Building more efficient buildings and retrofitting existing building stock will save consumers money, reduce energy-related pollution, and improve our quality of life. Energy efficient buildings demand highly-qualified construction workers and engineers. The federal government must invest in building efficiency research and development, set and enforce
strong and attainable building codes, and promote innovation.

Enhance Manufacturing Efficiency - Combined heat and power (CHP) and waste heat to power (WHP) are proven and effective energy resources that can help address current and future energy needs and enhance manufacturing competitiveness while reducing environmental impacts. CHP and WHP projects create direct jobs in manufacturing, engineering, installation, operations, and maintenance, which increase the competitiveness of companies that install the systems and receive the energy savings benefits. The federal government must support policies that advance the deployment of these important clean-energy technologies.

Support Transparency in Government Contracting Through Bid Listing - The federal government should prohibit the practice of post-award bid shopping on low-bid federal construction projects in order to restore equitable safeguards for subcontractors who submit their bids to prime contractors in good faith. Procurement policy should require prime contractors on low-bid solicitations over $1 million to list all subcontractors with work over $100,000 and require prime contractor project winners to use the listed subcontractor at the price listed.

Reduce Tax Gap by Closing Employee Misclassification Loophole - Misclassification and accompanying payroll fraud occurs when an employer improperly classifies an employee as an independent contractor to gain a competitive advantage at the expense of responsible, lawful companies. Misclassification deprives employees of benefits they deserve as well as federal, state, and local governments of money they are owed. It is estimated that between $3-4 billion in federal income and employment tax revenue is lost each year due to worker misclassification. The federal government should reform existing tax law to identify bad actors so the government can recoup lost tax revenue and ensure all businesses compete under the same rules. This type of payroll fraud also includes paying workers “off the books”, frequently involving undocumented workers.

Thank you for your time and for your consideration of these important national policies that will help spur employment across the country. Should you be interested in any additional information or to speak with Construction Employers of America or one of our small business owners, please contact me at jack.jacobson@constructionemployersofamerica.com or at 202-637-6820.

The charter members of the Construction Employers of America include the International Council of Employers of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers, the Mechanical Contractors Association of America, the National Electrical Contractors Association, the Sheet Metal & Air Conditioning Contractors’ National Association, the Signatory Wall and Ceiling Contractors Alliance, and The Association of Union Constructors. CEA firms and workers are best qualified to handle high-skilled projects in a cost-effective manner and are the predominant force in the high end sector of the construction industry.

Sincerely,

Jack Jacobson

CC: Reince Priebus
       Thomas Pyle
       Ado Machida

Click here to download a PDF of the CEA letter to the Trump Transition Team

CEA Thanks the Honorable Richard Hanna for Voting Against the King Amendment 1330 on Prevailing Wage

On behalf of the Construction Employers of America and our five member associations, we thank you for your vote against Congressman Steve King’s amendment (H.Amdt. 1330) to H.R. 5538, the “Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2017”.  Congressman King’s amendment would have prohibited federal funds to implement, administer, or enforce prevailing wage requirements, more commonly known as “Davis-Bacon”.

For over 80 years, Davis-Bacon prevailing wage requirements have ensured that companies pay fair wages and labor receives fair compensation for work based on regional wages. Prevailing wage safeguards have proven sound construction procurement policy, ensuring project success by respecting and adhering to prevailing workforce standards and wages. Davis-Bacon discourages artificially low bids that undercut high workforce standards. Artificially low bids frequently lead to claims, disputes, and project delays. Established industry and project owner practices in both the private and public sectors recognize that high workforce standards deliver superior project
outcomes. Prevailing wage standards also promote using local labor forces for public works projects.

By voting to defeat Congressman King’s amendment, you stood up for high-quality, specialty construction work. Construction Employers of America, the 22,000 construction companies affiliated with CEA and our member associations, and our combined 1.4 million employees nationwide appreciate your leadership on this critical issue.

Click here to download a PDF of the letter to the Honorable Richard Hanna

CEA Urges Members of Congress to Vote NO On King Amendment 1330 on Davis-Bacon Prevailing Wage

Dear Representative LoBiondo:

On behalf of the Construction Employers of America and our five member associations, we urge you to oppose Rep. Steve King’s (IA - 04) amendment (H.Amdt. 1330) to H.R. 5538, the “Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2017”. Congressman King’s amendment would prohibit federal funds to implement, administer, or enforce prevailing wage requirements, more commonly known as “Davis -
Bacon”.

For over 80 years, Davis - Bacon prevailing wage requirements have ensured that comp
anies pay fair wages and labor receives fair compensation for their work based on regional wages. Prevailing wage safeguards have proven sound construction procurement policy, ensuring project success by respecting and adhering to prevailing workforce stan
dards and wages. Davis - Bacon discourages artificially low bids that undercut high workforce standards. Artificially low bids frequently lead to claims, disputes, and project delays. Established industry and project owner practices in both the private and public sectors recognize that high workforce standards delivery superior project outcomes. Prevailing wage standards also promote using local labor forces for public works projects.

This is not a simple vote for or against union labor. Construction Employers of America, our five member associations, and the 22,000 construction companies affiliated with CEA and our member associations support Davis - Bacon and prevailing wage laws.

Construction Employers of American once again urge you to vote against the King Amendment and defend local prevailing wage laws. The Construction Employers of America, our member associations, and our 1.4 million employees nationwide appreciate your leadership. CEA members include the International Council of Employers of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers, the Mechanical Contractors Association of America, the National Electrical Contractors Association, the Sheet Metal & Air Conditioning Contractors’ National Association, and The Association of Union Constructors.

Click here to download a PDF of the letter to Representative LoBiondo (R-NJ)


 

CEA Urges Democratic National Convention Platform Committee To Include Construction Industry Priorities in Platform

Dear Governor Malloy and Mayor Franklin: 

The Construction Employers of America urges the Democratic National Convention’s Platform
Committee to include policies that will ensure that the country continues to support and nurture a vibrant, high-quality domestic construction industry. CEA is a joint initiative of five employer associations coordinating action on labor, workforce, and construction issues facing our industries. CEA works to strengthen the construction industry and provide opportunities for top-quality construction workers to learn and maintain the skills they need to deliver highly
productive, quality workmanship that provides the best value to project owners while earning
high-value compensation and benefits for themselves, their families, and their communities.
Highly skilled union building trade shops strengthen the middle class and are good for the
country. Most CEA member companies are family-owned small businesses that follow the rules
and provide superior wages and benefits--including health insurance, pensions, and worker
safety investments--to their employees.

CEA and its member associations would look forward to working with the Platform Committee to ensure the Democratic National Convention acknowledges the important role the construction industry plays in moving America forward. Congress recently acknowledged the construction industry’s importance when it founded the bipartisan Congressional Building Trades Caucus to promote and protect the country’s 6.6 million construction-related employees. From investing in infrastructure to training the next generation of high-quality construction workers, there are several important policies that we urge the Committee to incorporate into the Democratic Party’s official Convention Platform.

Promote Sound Infrastructure Policies - Providing sufficient federal funds to invest in our
nation’s aging infrastructure is vital to the country, the economy, and the construction industry.

In addition, federal procurement policy should continue to allow federal agencies to utilize
project labor agreements (PLAs) in projects where they determine a PLA would provide the best value and highest quality for federal and federally assisted projects. CEA also supports effective enforcement of prevailing wage and other current laws.

Modernize Retirement Plan Options - The multiemployer pension system needs to be
modernized through federal authorization of composite plans, which would provide employees
lifetime annuity benefits while ensuring predictability for employer contributions. Composite plans would revitalize the multiemployer pension system by creating a third pension plan that combines the best attributes of defined benefit plans that employees favor and defined contribution plans that employers prefer. Once authorized by Congress and signed by the President, employers and employees would have the voluntary option of selecting composite plans that would provide employees lifetime annuity retirement benefits while providing long-term certainty for employers who contribute to the plans. 

Prepare the Next Generation of Skilled Workers - Skilled labor is vital to the success of our
industry, and we invest heavily in apprenticeship training programs. Our employers and their
labor partners operate over 1,100 apprenticeship training centers nationally and invest over $1.3
billion annually in workforce training and apprenticeship programs. Continued and expanded
federal support for apprenticeship and training programs will yield long-term benefits to the
construction industry and the millions of customers we serve.

Invest in Energy Efficient Buildings - Buildings are the single largest energy users in the
country, consuming 40% of our energy demand. Building more efficient buildings and retrofitting existing building stock will save consumers money, reduce energy-related pollution, and improve our quality of life. Energy efficient buildings demand highly-qualified construction
workers and engineers. The federal government must invest in building efficiency research and
development, set and enforce strong and attainable building codes, and promote innovation.

Enhance Manufacturing Efficiency - Combined heat and power (CHP) and waste heat to
power (WHP) are proven and effective energy resources that can help address current and
future energy needs and enhance manufacturing competitiveness while reducing
environmental impacts. CHP and WHP projects create direct jobs in manufacturing,
engineering, installation, operations, and maintenance, which increase the competitiveness
of companies that install the systems and receive the energy savings benefits. The federal
government must support policies that advance the deployment of these important clean-
energy technologies.

Support Responsible Employers Through Bid Listing - The federal government should
prohibit the practice of post-award bid shopping on low-bid federal construction projects in order to restore equitable safeguards for subcontractors who submit their bids to prime contractors in good faith. Procurement policy should require prime contractors on low-bid solicitations over $1 million to list all subcontractors with work over $100,000 and require prime contractor project winners to use the listed subcontractor at the price listed.

Close Employee Misclassification Loophole - Misclassification occurs when an employer
improperly classifies and employee as an independent contractor to gain a competitive
advantage at the expense of responsible, lawful companies and depriving employees of benefits they deserve. The federal government should reform existing tax law to identify bad actors so the government can recoup lost tax revenue and ensure all businesses compete under the same rules.

Thank you for your consideration of these policies that would recognize the important role the
construction industry plays in keeping America competitive and providing high-quality
construction services to American companies and consumers. CEA’s five employer associations
include the International Council of Employers of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers,
Mechanical Contractors Association of America, National Electrical Contractors Association,
Sheet Metal & Air Conditioning Contractors National Association, and The Association of Union
Contractors. Our impact on the American economy is significant. We represent over 15,000
employers and 1.4 million employees nationwide. Information about the CEA can be found
online at www.constructionemployersofamerica.com.

Click here to download a PDF of the letter to DNC Convention Platform Committee