On February 7, the White House Task Force on Worker Organizing and Empowerment released its report on encouraging the federal government to promote the value of labor unions and making government contractors’ employees aware of their rights to join a labor union. Many of the nearly 70 findings in the report are similar to policy recommendations and actions already being undertaken by the Biden Administration, such as efforts to enforce misclassification of independent contractors, preferences for government-mandated project labor agreements, local hire requirements on federal construction projects, and more.

Ends Secret Ballot in Union Organizing elections (Card Check), Forced CBA Arbitration and More
TAKE ACTION: Tell Congress and the President to Oppose Government-Mandated PLAs
Agencies are working on the fourth and fifth versions in play since 2015

The chief executive officer of the Associated General Contractors of America, Stephen E. Sandherr, issued the following statement today in response to President Biden’s new executive order seeking to impose project labor agreements on many federal construction projects:

On January 26, AGC of America, along with its Construction Industry Safety Coalition Partners, responded to OSHA on its first regulatory step towards establishing a federal heat standard for indoor and outdoor work, a rule with the potential to have far-reaching impacts on the construction industry. While the proposal issued by OSHA lacked actual, draft regulatory language, and was presented in a series of questions, AGC’s responses took the opportunity to highlight proactive efforts the industry has taken, confusion surrounding existing state standards, and the impracticality of an 80-degree trigger threshold for such a standard from the perspective of the wide array of climates nationwide. AGC will continue to engage with members to better inform the agency as they proceed, which is most likely the case for this initiative.