Organized Labor

Increased Infrastructure Funding, Employee Misclassification, and New Technologies to Stop Climate Change Top Legislative Agenda

By Roy San Filippo Staff Writer

The Building Trades Department celebrated its 100th anniversary at this year’s annual legislative conference from April 14-16. A record-breaking 2,405 delegates convened in Washington DC to lay out this year’s legislative and political agenda.

This year’s national priorities include securing funding for infrastructure projects, tackling climate change, fighting the misclassification of employees as independent contractors, protecting Davis-Bacon prevailing wage provisions, and electing a pro-union congress and president in the November elections.

In his keynote address before a crowd of over 3,000 delegates and guests, BTD President Mark Ayers expressed his confidence in the ability of the Building Trades to make a crucial impact in November.

“I am confident that everyone in this room will accept the responsibility for a powerful political education and mobilization effort…unlike anything we have ever seen in our 100-year history,” said Ayers.  While acknowledging that Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton have each received endorsements from various unions, Ayers emphasized that the building trades will unite around whichever Democratic candidate secures the nomination. 

“In Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, we have two very strong and steadfast friends of the building trades.”

Ayers went on to state the building trades’ case against John McCain.  “Ladies and gentlemen, I was always taught that charity begins at home, that true patriotism hates injustice in its own land more than anywhere else.  The America we know and love, the America we have and will defend, deserves better than John McCain.”

A John McCain presidency would be like a third-term for George Bush, said Ayers, and that would be bad for American workers.

“George Bush and his right-wing allies have stalled, blocked, or crushed every piece of progressive, pro-worker legislation that had come before Congress. If you like George Bush, you’re going to love John McCain,” said Ayers.

Ayers’s speech also outlined the challenges facing the union construction industry as it moves forward to re-position itself as a dominant organization in the construction industry.  
Ayers emphasized the need for Building Trades craft unions to deliver on the tradition of performance, craftsmanship and productivity that has been the cornerstone of union construction and will be crucial for crafts to maintain and improve market share.

  “My generation of unionists, and yours, arrived on the strong shoulders of those proud craftsmen who came before us—who built a tradition of skills, performance and pride in their work.” Ayers also noted that the Building Trades emphasis on providing quality craftsmanship and productivity has enabled craft unions to reclaim lost markets.

“We are working for customers and on projects that we haven’t been on for 25 years, because once again we are recognized as the best of the best.”

Other speakers on the first day of the conference included: Representative Loretta Sanchez (D-CA), Senator Bob Casey (D-PA), Representative Tim Murphy (R-PA), Governor Steve Beshear (D-KY),

Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), and U.S. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD).

Orange County Rep. Loretta Sanchez called for increased investment in the nation’s crumbling infrastructure to stimulate the country’s shaky economy.

“The best investment for an economic stimulus package would be to fix our bridges, fix our schools and fix our sewers,” she said.

Sanchez also denounced the recent assault against five Building Trades organizers in downtown Los Angeles.

Democratic Contenders Address Building Trades

Democratic presidential hopefuls Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton addressed the convention. On the second day, Barack Obama detailed his proposals to invest in America’s infrastructure and to fortify the Davis-Bacon Act.

“We’re going to invest in this country,” said Obama.  “Back in the 1950’s, Americans were put to work building the Interstate Highway system and that helped expand our middle class. We need to show the same kind of leadership today.  That’s why I’ve called for a National Infrastructure Reinvestment Bank that will invest $60 billion over ten years and generate millions of new jobs. We can’t keep standing by while our roads and bridges and airports crumble and decay. For our economy, our safety, and our workers, we have to rebuild America.”

And in reference to federal prevailing wage standards, Senator Obama forcefully declared, “After Katrina, George Bush suspended Davis-Bacon. Families had nothing left. Whole communities had been destroyed. But George Bush thought people didn’t deserve to make $9 or $10 an hour to rebuild that city. And John McCain isn’t much different.  He seems to think Davis-Bacon is something that comes from a pig farm. He’s opposed it time and time again. That’s wrong. We need to strengthen Davis-Bacon, and make sure any new infrastructure projects we’re proposing adhere to Davis-Bacon standards. And that’s what I’ll do when I’m President of the United States of America.”

On the convention’s third day, Sen. Hillary Clinton outlined her proposals to address the severe problems facing America today. “You know, it’s pretty simple for me,” said Clinton. “The well-connected have had their president. The drug companies, the insurance companies, the oil companies and Wall Street…they’ve had a president who sure has stood up for them.  And yet, the rest of our country has been watching.  They’re wondering when they’re going to get a president again.”

Clinton went on to proclaim her staunch support for the Davis-Bacon Act, project labor agreements, a worker-friendly Department of Labor and National Labor Relations Board, as well as for increased funding for the Helmets to Hardhats program.

Boxer Talks to CA Delegation

In a presentation to the California delegation, Sen. Barbara Boxer criticized Senate Republicans for holding-up crucial funding for the nation’s infrastructure. The same day as her presentation to the delegation, Senate Republicans were attempting to filibuster a highway technical corrections bill that would allow the release of $1 billion in infrastructure funds already approved by the Senate. “It really galls me in time likes these to see an open checkbook for Iraq and a closed checkbook for America,” she said.

Boxer emphasized that the conditions were ripe for a change, which she characterized as a perfect storm with billions of dollars following out of the country to fund the war in Iraq a recession at home and rising fuel and food costs squeezing American workers. “I hope you will remember that this is what the election in November is all about,” she said.
Delegates Visit Members of Congress

The issue of climate change was among the many issues Building Trades representatives discussed with members of Congress during the conferences day of lobbying. The delegations emphasized that solutions to climate change must be crafted that embraces a range of energy options and new technologies including renewable energy resources such as solar and wind, as well as nuclear power and coal-fired power plants equipped with carbon capture and storage technologies.

The delegation stated that the Building Trades were prepared to build the country’s new energy infrastructure that will meet the demands of a growing economy while being responsible environmental stewards.
Also on the agenda was the issue of employee misclassification of workers.

The Building Trades are pushing for federal legislation (H.R. 5804) to cut down the number of employees who can be classified as independent contractors.

The Taxpayer Responsibility, Accountability, and Consistency Act was recently introduced 11 months after two Ways and Means subcommittees—Income Security and Family Support and Select Revenue Measures—held a hearings on the issue.

The legislation would repeal Section 530 of the 1978 Revenue Act, the “safe harbor” provision, that prohibit the IRS from collecting employment taxes from employers that misclassify their workers. It would replace it with a new provision that lawmakers said would clearly define who can be classified as an independent contractor.

The bill also would allow workers to petition the IRS for a review of their classification status.

With penalties and fines for misclassification at a minimum, lawmakers said there was no incentive for employers to properly classify their workers.

“Workers misclassified as independent contractors are unfairly prevented from receiving benefits and protections—such as overtime pay, workers’ compensation or employer-provided health insurance—to which they are entitled under the law,” said Rep. John Tierney (D-Mass.), a co-sponsor of HR 5804.

“Further, employers that play by the rules are at a competitive disadvantage against the businesses that misclassify employees and do not pay the same labor costs.”

The Northern California delegation met with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, newly elected Congresswoman Jackie Speier and other representatives. Pelosi addressed the issue of undocumented workers, stating that she was in support of finding a pathway to citizenship to hardworking immigrants already in the US. She also stated she was committed to investing in the nation’s infrastructure which she see as an economic stimulus measure and a strategy for addressing climate change.