On Oct. 5, the Subcommittee on Workforce Protections, chaired by Rep. Tim Walberg (R-Mich.), held a hearing entitled, “Workplace Safety: Ensuring a Responsible Regulatory Environment.” The hearing examined Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulatory proposals and their impact on worker safety. The hearing also featured a discussion about finding a responsible way to promote strong safety protections for workers without stifling economic opportunity and job creation.
AGC joined several other industry and trade groups in the business community calling on Congressional leaders to oppose the expansion of Buy American provisions in the president’s jobs bill, the American Jobs Act of 2011. These provisions, while similar to language in the Recovery Act passed in 2009, are expanded to cover programs that have never been covered before.
Today, the House approved H.R. 2681, the Cement Sector Regulatory Relief Act of 2011, a bill that would force the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to rewrite three new rules targeting cement makers that impose stringent emission requirements and solid waste standards on the industry.
On Oct. 6, Reps. Richard Hanna (R-N.Y.) and Donna Edwards (D-Md.) introduced the AGC-supported Clean Construction Act of 2011. The legislation is intended to minimize the impact on contractors whose equipment must comply with air quality standards in PM 2.5 non- attainment areas.
AGC is again attacking agency efforts to use Project Labor Agreements on federal construction projects. AGC sent a follow-up letter to the Department of Labor (DOL) expressing strong concerns against DOL’s decision, to impose a project labor agreement (PLA) on contractors that will perform the construction of the Department’s new Job Corps Center in Manchester, New Hampshire.
On Oct. 5, the House Small Business Committee held a hearing titled, “Adding to Uncertainty: The Impact of DOL/NLRB Decisions and Proposed Rules on Small Businesses.” The hearing examined recent proposed rules by the Department of Labor (DOL) and National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and how they will add uncertainties to small businesses. Issues addressed included the “persuader rule,” the “quickie election rule” and the “poster rule.”
On Oct. 5, the chairman of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, John Kline (R-Minn.), introduced the Workforce Democracy and Fairness Act. The bill would rein in the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and disallow the NLRB to use executive action to implement key portions of the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA).
The National Labor Relations Board announced on Oct. 5 that it has postponed the implementation date of its recently issued regulation requiring nearly all private-sector employers to post notices of employee rights under the National Labor Relations Act. The Board has delayed the deadline for compliance from Nov. 14, 2011, to Jan. 31, 2012. The agency stated that it plans to make no further changes to the rule or to the form or content of the required notice.
On Tuesday, the House of Representatives passed a short-term continuing resolution (CR) - which had cleared the Senate last week - to keep the government funded at current levels through Nov. 18. A CR is needed because none of the 12 appropriations bills were passed and signed into law by Sept. 30, the end of FY 2011.
The U.S. House of Representatives is expected to begin consideration of a bill to repeal the 3 percent withholding mandate next week. The bill will first be considered by the House Ways and Means Committee, followed by a vote on the House floor as early as the week of Oct. 24.