• • Apprenticeship Payment option starts Sept. 9th
• • Proposed Electrical Apprentice/Journeyman Ratio
• • ABC to host Kittila Fundraiser
• • ABC Supports Proposed Buy America Waivers
• • ABC: President Biden's Inflationary PLA Schemes Hurt Taxpayers and Construction Job Creators
• • ABC Urges DOL to Withdraw Rule on Nondisplacement of Qualified Workers Under Service Contracts

The State of Delaware has been mandating apprenticeship participation for contractors on state-funded construction projects in accordance with the bill that passed a few years ago. Along with this requirement was the ability to make a financial payment in lieu of participating.  We have been waiting for completion of the payment option and we are now at that stage.

The ability to make a financial payment for compliance goes into effect on September 9, 2022, which is one year from the date of enactment. Any contracts executed on September 9, 2022, and after, will have the option to meet the Craft Training requirements through a financial payment. There are other changes that go into effect on September 9, 2022, which include the requirement to meet Craft Training requirements for each craft in the project (see 29 Del. C. § 6960A -Craft Training Requirements).

Click here for questions about training requirements.  Click here to learn about how to handle the payment options available to you. It also includes trades that must comply with the requirement either financially or through participation in the program.  Please note that not all the trades on prevailing wage jobs must comply. Only those listed in the document.  If you have any questions, please email ecapodanno@abcdelaware.com 

Top

New proposed regulation changes from the Board of Electrical Examiners for the Electrical Apprentice/Journeyman Job Site ratio were sent to ABC this month.  Click here to see the new proposed changes.

A public hearing will be held at the next Board of Electrical Examiners meeting Wednesday September 7, 2022 at 8:30 a.m.  You can also respond via letter to the address listed in the advertisement.  Written comments will be accepted till September 17th. 

ABC has taken a look at this and found the language to be ambiguous and subject to various interpretations.   We are interested in you reviewing these regulations and expressing your thoughts with the Board and ABC either in writing or in person at the hearing.

We are also concerned that the Board appears to be trying to adopt regulations that are more restrictive than the regulations included in the Department of Labor (DOL) Apprentice Agreement. We are not sure if the proposed regulations from the Board of Electrical Examiners can negate or supersede the agreement or contract that many Electrical Contractors have signed with the DOL.  We are working on finding this information out.

If you have any questions or would like to share your thoughts, please email ecapodanno@abcdelaware.com 

Top

Join ABC Delaware for an evening of fun, food and refreshments in the Golf Simulator at DuPoint Country Club Golf Center as we host a fundraiser for State Senate Candidate for the 4th District, Ted Kittila.  The 4th Senate district encompasses Brandywine Hundred, Hockessin, Greenville and Pike Creek.

The fundraiser is on Monday, September 19th from 5 - 7 p.m.  The cost is $150/person with a maximum of $600/person during this election cycle.  Checks can be personal or corporate and made out to Kittila for Delaware.  If you want to register, please email ecapodanno@abcdelaware.com 

If you can't make the event and still want to contribute to Ted's campaign and ABC's efforts, please mail or deliver a check to: ABC Delaware, 31 Blevins Drive, New Castle, DE  19720.

Top

On Aug. 15, ABC submitted comments to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in support of its proposed Small Projects and De Minimis General Applicability Waivers for Buy America requirements.

The $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, signed into law in November 2021, included the "Build America, Buy America Act," which expanded and made significant changes to Buy America requirements for federally funded infrastructure projects. The IIJA broadens Buy America preferences to include nonferrous metals, such as copper used in electric wiring; plastic- and polymer-based products; glass, including optical fiber; and certain other construction materials, such as lumber and drywall.

The EPA's proposed waivers would apply to water infrastructure projects funded through the agency's federal assistance programs. The Small Projects waiver would exempt all projects receiving less than $250,000 in funds, and the De Minimis waiver would exempt products that comprise 5% or less of a project's total materials cost.

ABC's comments supported both waivers and urged the EPA to engage in further study and public comment periods prior to implementing Buy America requirements, especially in light of economic headwinds impacting the construction industry. In the comments, ABC supports strategies to expand domestic jobs and manufacturing to avoid global supply chain disruptions and strengthen the American economy but urges the EPA to ensure Buy America requirements safeguard against increased costs and delays of taxpayer-funded infrastructure.

ABC will continue to monitor implementation of Buy America requirements and participate in the regulatory process. 

Top

ABC condemned an Aug. 19 proposed rule, Federal Acquisition Regulation: Use of Project Labor Agreements for Federal Construction Projects, which requires federal construction contracts of $35 million or more to be subjected to controversial project labor agreements, saying it will result in the award of construction contracts to powerful special interests at the expense of hard-working taxpayers and limit fair and open competition in government contracting.

"When mandated by governments, PLAs increase construction costs to taxpayers by 12% to 20%, reduce opportunities for qualified contractors and their skilled craft professionals and exacerbate the construction industry's worker shortage of 650,000," said Ben Brubeck, ABC vice president of regulatory, labor and state affairs in a news release. "ABC will continue to fight for quality, experienced contractors harmed by this proposal and the 87.4% of construction workers who have already made the choice not to belong to a union and want a fair opportunity to participate in local federal infrastructure projects--but cannot do so because of PLA schemes.

Last Friday, ABC sent a grassroots action alert urging members and industry stakeholders to ask lawmakers to co-sponsor the Fair and Open Competition Act (H.R. 1284/S. 403), introduced by Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind., and Rep. Ted Budd, R-N.C., restricting government-mandated PLAs on federal and federally assisted construction projects. Please share this link to the ABC grassroots alert with your colleagues and industry stakeholders.

Next week ABC will send a survey to membership asking for opinions on government-mandated PLAs and the proposed rule that will be used to inform advocacy strategies and ABC, ABC member and industry partners' comments on the proposed rule.

Top

On Aug. 15, ABC submitted comments to the U.S. Department of Labor identifying a number of concerns with its proposed rule on Nondisplacement of Qualified Workers Under Service Contracts, which would implement Executive Order 14055. Issued on Nov. 18, 2021, by President Biden, the EO requires that federal agencies include a clause about nondisplacement of workers in solicitations and contracts for projects covered by the McNamara-O'Hara Service Contract Act of 1965. The required clause states that successor contractors and subcontractors who win a bid for covered work must offer qualified employees employed under the predecessor contract a right of first refusal of employment under the successor contract.

In its comments, ABC urged the DOL to withdraw the rule in its entirety. The comments state, "ABC is concerned that, as written, the NPRM conflicts with the plain language of the SCA, which does not authorize the DOL, or the president, to require contractors to hire the incumbent employees of predecessor contractors on projects covered by the SCA. Two courts have so held without contradiction by Congress or by any other courts. In each of these cases, the courts rejected efforts by employees and/or labor organizations to assert preferential hiring rights for incumbent employees under the Act.

According to the NPRM, the total number of potentially affected small firms ranges from 74,097 to 329,470.

Further, "ABC observes that neither the EO nor the proposed rule contains any evidentiary support for the claim that the proposed changes will actually achieve greater efficiency in federal procurement. As is evident from the discussion of specific provisions of the NPRM, the proposed rule is likely to create greater inefficiencies as successor contractors are forced to employ workers who are not familiar with the often-different work practices that the successors may wish to implement. Thus, the cost savings that an agency may seek to achieve by hiring a new contractor will be lost or unobtainable if the successor is not allowed to bring its own uniquely qualified workforce onto the project."

Top

Thursday, Sept. 23, 8:30 a.m. ABC Classroom