PCCA Journal 3rd Quarter 2013 - page 48

PCCA Journal|3
rd
Quarter 2013
48
Labor News
CDW Sees Victory as
Nuclear Option Averted
O
n July 16, the Coalition for a Democratic Workplace
(CDW) released the following statement about the
Senate’s reported deal to avert a “nuclear option”
to end filibuster rules in the Senate, which involves the
removal of nominations of Richard Griffin and Sharon Block
to the National Labor Relations Board. CDW had opposed
the nominations and launched an aggressive lobbying and
media campaign, which included inside-the-Beltway ads and
a digital campaign targeting key states.
CDW chairman Geoffrey Burr said: “We’re pleased with an
outcome that preserves the integrity of the Senate’s role in
nominations and the important institutional processes of the
Senate. Today’s agreement is a tacit admission that the Presi-
dent’s nominations of two illegally recess appointed individu-
als led to unnecessary tension. Thankfully, the nominees that
accepted the illegal recess appointments will be withdrawn
and the process of filling the NLRB can begin in good faith
and in earnest.
“We hope the Senate will continue its deliberative duty and
find acceptable nominations for the National Labor Relations
Board. Employees and employers deserve a board that is fair
and seeks to advance rather than restrict workplace democ-
racy.
“We will continue to fight to ensure the NLRB enforces,
rather than rewrites, labor law and oppose efforts to trample
the rights of employees and employers alike.”
OSHA Forms Alliance
with San Antonio Temp 
Agency
I
n an effort to protect temporary workers hired in the
construction industry, the Occupational Safety and
Health Administration and Marek Employment Man-
agement Co. in San Antonio recently signed an alliance to
provide workers with workplace safety training.
“Workplace hazards, such as falls, struck by, caught in
between, and electrical are commonplace in the construction
industry and pose a risk to all workers, whether they’ve been
on the job for one day or throughout the course of a project,”
said Kelly Knighton, OSHA’s area director in San Antonio.
“Workers must be safe, and this voluntary alliance provides
temporary construction workers with much needed training, in
English and Spanish, on recognizing construction hazards.”
DOL’s Actions to Expand
Davis-Bacon Come Under Fire
T
he heat was turned up on
the Department of Labor
over its sudden decision
to expand Davis-Bacon
requirements to surveying
professionals. In July, three key mem-
bers of the House Committee on Educa-
tion co-signed a letter to the department
demanding an explanation from the
agency as to how it would make a sub-
stantive change to settled regulatory and
legal application of the law without even
conducting any public outreach, notice,
or input.
The letter from Reps. John Kline
(committee chair), Sam Graves, and
Tim Walberg noted, “Labor secretaries
since the Eisenhower administration
have recognized survey crews engage in
pre-construction activity and are exempt
from the Davis-Bacon Act.”
A coalition of design and construc-
tion associations also raised this matter
with the department, voicing their strong
opposition to the agency’s actions both
with respect to the policy change and
the process in which it was promulgated.
A July letter from the coalition stated,
“This is costly and unnecessary, and sets
a very dangerous precedent. More than
50 years of accepted and settled policy
has been unilaterally overturned without
a change in legislation, legal ruling by
a court or the Comptroller General, or
public input or comment.”
The letter continued, “We strongly
object to both the change in policy and
the process used to make this change
in policy. We respectfully urge you to
rescind AAM 212 and restore the policy
on application of the Davis-Bacon Act
to survey crews established by Secretary
Goldberg and accepted in the market for
more than 50 years.”
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