News in the MASDC
Enjoy Reading news concerning the Mid-Atlantic States District Council. Stories are chronological.
Mid-Atlantic Holds IPAL Training
MAY 8, 2010 - Local 5 Washington, DC was host to training for IPAL Political Coordinators of the Mid-Atlantic States District Council. The training session was conducted by Political Director Davie Kolbe and Tarin Polucha of IPAL. The MASDC was the first District Council to provide this valuable training. "This Fall's election cycle may prove to be pivotal to the interests of American Workers" said District Council President Buddy Cefalu. In attendance were:
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Local 697 Roanoke, VA - DC Pres. Buddy Cefalu
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Local 5 Washington, DC - BM Kendall Martin, BA John Rayner, Training. Dir. Dave McNair
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Local 16 Baltimore, MD - Org. Ron Edwards
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Local 28 Richmond, VA - Training Dir. Tony Suttles
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Local 79 Norfolk, VA - BM Thomas Bell
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Local 201 Washington, DC - BM Kevin McVeigh
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Local 568 Cumberland, MD - BM Clifford Wendricks
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Washington Building Trades - Vance Ayers, Mark Coles
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AFL-CIO - Mike Noonan
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IPAL Facilitators - Dir. David Kolbe, Tarin Polucha
The training was a full day of information that was distributed and studied. Participants asked questions and had a general good feel for this very important training.
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Help Put Another Ironworker
In Congress
Dear
Brothers and Sisters:
We are facing challenging times both politically and economically.
With that being said, this is not the time to scale back on
political
activity or recruiting new members.
The Iron Workers currently have one member in Congress,
Representative
Steve Lynch (MA-09), and we now have the opportunity to put another
ironworker in the United States House of Representatives. Harry
Crawford, Local 751, Anchorage, Alaska is a 37 year member and is
currently a member of the Alaska State House of Representatives.
Harry
is working hard running for U.S. Congress but he needs our help.
Federal candidates cannot accept contributions from monies made up
from
union dues and the Ironworkers federal PAC has given the maximum
amount
allowed by law. If you can afford $25.00 or more go to
http://www.harrycrawfordforcongress.com/ and make a credit card
donation. Helping a brother ironworker getting elected to Congress
helps us all.
If we all do a little we can make a big difference. Please
contribute
to Brother Harry Crawford and encourage other ironworkers to do the
same.
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Veterans Need Your Support
There is a very easy way for ironworkers, their families and friends to show support for our nations veterans.
Local 361 Business Manager Dick O'Kane has a come up with a way that we all can help. On January 2, 2009, a Bill was reintroduced on the floor of the 111th Congress.
House Resolution 147 was introduced by Representative Steve Israel of the 2nd Congressional District of New York State.
The purpose of the Bill is to amend the US tax code and allow taxpayers to designate a small portion of their income tax payment to provide assistance to homeless Veterans.
PLEASE HELP by contacting you US Representatives and Senators and request that they: 1) Sign on as a co-sponsor of H.R. 147, and 2) Do everything they can to ensure its passage.
We can not allow this national disgrace to continue. If you need contact information for your Congressional Representative or you two US Senators call the Washington, DC office at 617-268-2382.
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Local 848 "Job Well Done"
Carolina Local Union 848 members received accolades in a letter for the recently completed Ben Sawyer Bridge Project. The bridge was erected by Florida Structural Steel from Tampa, FL using Local 848's skilled craftsmen and according to Project Coordinator Robert Willis, "Please allow me to express the great appreciation for a job well done". Read the entire letter.
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The Mid Atlantic States District Council Apprentice Competition
February 2, 2010
The 2010 Mid-Atlantic States District Council of Iron Workers will hold its annual competition on June 5th. The host will be Local Union #568 Cumberland, Maryland. Please check back periodically for details.
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Valuing-Families
By: CAROLINE FAN
Protecting Workers Rights by Stopping Misclassification as Independent Contractors in Maryland
Earlier this month, the Maryland legislature joined a number of states in cracking down on worker misclassification by enacting the Maryland Workplace Fraud Act (S 909 / H 819 ) which has the support of Gov. O'Malley who is expected to sign the bill shortly. The main focus of the bill was stopping the misclassification of workers as "independent contractors" used by employers to deny them a minimum wage, overtime and key workplace benefits:
· Helping Workers Enforce their Own Rights: A key provision in the bill is a private right of action where workers knowingly misclassified as independent contractors by their employer can enforce their own rights in court and receive treble damages and attorneys fees among other relief. The law gives workers three years after a violation to file a case in court, although employees cannot sue on their own where an government agency has taken action and issued a final order against a company. The prospect of triple damages and other financial relief makes it far more likely that minimum wage workers will be able to find lawyers willing to take their case and hold their employers accountable. Since few states have such an explicit private right of action for independent contractors misclassified as independent contractors, the law is path-breaking in this area.
· Expanded Powers for State Enforcement: The Workplace Fraud Act grants the state Department of Labor, Licensing and Contracts the right to enforce worker misclassification in the construction and landscaping industries, and allows agencies the authority to give offending companies citations and fines. The law also steps up agency enforcement by enabling the Labor Commissioner to hold hearings and assess penalties for worker misclassification, and coordinate with other agencies that each independently assure employer compliance on workers' compensation, unemployment benefits, and other state regulations. The law increases civil fines to $5000 for knowingly misclassifying a worker the first time, assessing double that amount the second time, and assesses a $20,000 fine for the third offense. All civil fines would go into the General Fund. The law also increases damages for workers and encourages quick resolution of complaints with a judgment required within 120 days of the Commissioner receiving a complaint.
· Increased Agency Funding and Accountability: The law includes specific annual funding of $700,000 for upholding labor standards and the prevailing wage by the DoL. It also provides for an annual report on wage administration and enforcement by the state agency.
· Increased Employer Transparency and Record Keeping: To encourage record keeping by employers (who often seek to evade the law by not keeping records), the law authorizes fines of $500 per day if employers fail to provide documentation on independent contractors after a request by the Commissioner of Labor and Industry. For at least 3 years employers must keep records of each worker's classification, their pay rate, hours worked, and the amount they were paid each pay period. If workers are classified as independent contractors or exempt individuals, the employer must provide them with written notice in English and Spanish of their classification and what the implications are for being a contractor versus being an employee.
Other States Taking Action on Misclassification: State legislators introduced a large number of bills across the states addressing the problem of misclassification of workers this session, many of which include a private right of action for workers. These include: CO H 1310, IN S385, IN SR 74, KS H 2175, KS H 2281/KS S 229, KY S 136/KY H 392 , MA H17, MA H17, MA H1870/MA S 682, 2009 MA S 718 , NYA 403, NYA 403, OR H2890, PA H 400, RI H 5049, RI H 5178, RI SR 279 , RI H5676/RI S 643 , TX H2271 ,VT S 137 , VT S 137 Last year, the Governors of New Jersey (NJ EO 96), Massachusetts (MA EO 499), Michigan (EO 1) and Iowa (EO 8) signed Executive Orders creating task forces and commissions to address the problem of rampant worker misclassification.
The importance of cracking down on misclassification was emphasized by a Cornell University study found that about 10.3% of the private workforce in New York were wrongly classified as contractors and that this cost the state unemployment insurance payments of $175,674,161 from 2002-2005. So enforcing proper classification of employees can be a revenue generator for governments while ensuring a level playing field for workers and employers.
Wage Enforcement a National Trend: On top of the misclassification issue, states have been debating and passing a number of other kinds of wage enforcement bills this session. In Maryland, both chambers also approved SB 406 which would expand rights and remedies for private enforcement suits under the state prevailing wage law, but the House and Senate were unable to concur before the session ended. Maryland also introduced SB 451 which would increase criminal penalties for violations of certain wage and hour laws and would allow each week to constitute a separate violation.
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Local 848 and Williams Erectors Work on $1.3 Billion Project
_________________________________Wachovia First Street reprinted from SoutheastConstruction@mcgraw-hill.com.
Despite the Bank’s Turmoil, Work Progresses on $1.3 Billion Charlotte Campus
By Debra Wood
(Photo courtesy Batson-Cook Co.) When the building starts to truncate at the 42nd floor, it switches to a structural-steel frame with Vierendeel trusses, which are nontriangulated.
for full article, go to: http://southeast.construction.com/features/archive/2009/0409_F3_WachoviaFirstStreet.asp
