Hobart Open House Competition Winners
Congratuations to our 2017 Hobart, Indiana winners! General Carpentry – Edward Livergood, Local 1485; Interior systems – Juan Miranda, Local 1485; Millwright – Matthew Michels Local 1076.
Warsaw Open House Competition Winners
Congratuations to our 2016 Warsaw, Indiana winners! General Carpentry – Kenny Allison, Local 615; Interior systems – Jose Mendez-Flores, Local 232; and Millwright – Kyle Van Ness Jr., Local 1076
Good News — May 15: Carpenters volunteer to build playground for elementary school
Published: May 14, 2017 – 10:06 PM
Members of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters Local 285 Members Action Committee recently donated their time and skills to build a playground for the elementary branch of Summit Academy on Leland Avenue in Akron.
Video: Indiana GOP Leader Admits Repealing Prevailing Wage ‘Hasn’t Saved a Penny’
By One Wisconsin Now – May 2nd, 2017 09:18 am
MADISON, Wis. — With the Republican-controlled Senate Labor Regulatory Reform Committee poised Wednesday morning to vote for a misguided repeal of prevailing wage laws for public works projects, video has surfaced from a forum April 24 in Milwaukee where Republican Indiana House Assistant Majority Leader Ed Soliday angrily reveals that similar legislation passed in Indiana which went into effect in 2015 “hasn’t saved a penny.”
“We got rid of prevailing wage and so far it hasn’t saved a penny,” Soliday says during the question and answer session last week hosted by the Wisconsin Transportation Development Association in Milwaukee. “Probably the people most upset with us repealing [prevailing] wage were the locals. Because the locals, quite frankly, like to pay local contractors and they like local contractors to go to the dentist in their own town.”
One comprehensive analysis showed repealing Wisconsin’s prevailing wage laws will result in a projected $500 million in construction value being completed by out-of-state contractors on an annual basis and a yearly total of over $1.2 billion being lost due to reduced economic activity. A second analysis revealed 885 public construction jobs left Indiana after repeal of prevailing wage and 770 jobs popped up across the border in Kentucky.
One Wisconsin Now Executive Director Scot Ross said he “wasn’t surprised the Wisconsin Republicans are using lies and deception to level yet another attack on Wisconsin workers.” Ross said the list of Republican co-authors on the bill was “a who’s who of Wisconsin’s anti-worker extremists.”
In the video obtained by One Wisconsin Now, Republican Soliday also mocks the outrageous claims about savings made by right-wing organizations like the Koch Brothers’ Americans for Prosperity. In Indiana, anti-worker groups claimed prevailing wage repeal would save taxpayers 22 percent on construction costs. Both the Wisconsin Americans for Prosperity and the Bradley Foundation-funded MacIver Institute have claimed prevailing wage repeal would save 23 percent in costs.
“The exaggerations in those hearings that we were going save 22 percent,” Soliday says. “Well, total labor costs right now in road construction is about 22 percent, and I haven’t noticed anyone who’s going to work for free. [They claim] there’s some magic state out there that’s going to send all these workers into work for $10 an hour and it’s just not going to happen. There’s not 22 percent savings out there when the total cost of labor is 22 percent. It’s rhetoric.”
Soliday adds, “So far, I haven’t seen a dime of savings out of it.”
Wisconsin’s independent Legislative Fiscal Bureau reported no fiscal impact nor budget savings for taxpayers by repealing prevailing wage laws.
One Wisconsin Now is a statewide communications network specializing in effective earned media and online organizing to advance progressive leadership and values
Thank You Memorial Hospital of South Bend Indiana
Memorial Hospital of South Bend, a Beacon Health Systems property, has made the commitment to utilizing fair area standards contractors. Most recently have just completed a $50 million children’s hospital and are committed to our ICRA standards. Thank you Memorial Hospital.
Carpenters in Lafayette are helping change lives
Sunday, May 14th 2017, 6:50 pm EDT by Kiyerra Lake
LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) — Lafayette carpenters are offering free services to help people in the community. Those services were life-changing for one Lafayette family.
Angela McMeans has been bound to her wheelchair for seven years.
“I have a hard time getting in and out the house,” she said. “I mean, I had to wait until my husband gets off work to do anything.”
Her husband, Steve McMeans, said it would take around 30 minutes to get her out of the house, down the stairs and in the car.
He said, “It was a chore of having to pick her up, carry her and then have to come back and get the scooter.”
But now, that time has been cut down. It’s all thanks to Carpenters Local 215. They built a ramp outside the home.
Union Worker Don Brightwell said, “When we help someone like that and they show their gratitude, as they did with all the hugs and the tears and everything, it’s wonderful.”
Brightwell and his team take on community service projects for free.
He said, “If for some reason we aren’t able to do it, we can contact, ya know, get you to the right people to be able to do that.”
The crew wants to help people who may not be able to pay for their construction projects.
Steve McMeans said, “We never would have been able to afford it.”
Brightwell said, “They go for months and sometimes years struggling and we’re here to help — all you have to do is ask.”
After years of depending on her husband for help, Angela gained back her independence.
She said, “I can do about anything. If I want to look at my flowers, I can look at my flowers.”
“It’s just been a real blessing no matter how you look at it,” Steve McMeans said.
The House just passed a bill that affects overtime pay
by Julia Horowitz @juliakhorowitzMay 2, 2017: 10:42 PM ET
“Do you get paid for overtime work? The House of Representatives just passed a bill you may want to know about.
The measure, backed by Republicans, would let employers give workers paid time off instead of time-and-a-half pay the next time they put in extra hours. The vote tally was largely along party lines, with no Democrats voting in favor of the bill. Six Republicans also voted against it.
G.O.P. leadership has touted the legislation, called the Working Families Flexibility Act, as an attempt to codify flexibility for employees.
“I don’t think there’s anything more powerful than giving them more control over their time so that they can make the best decisions for themselves and their families,” Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington said Tuesday morning in a press conference held by Republican leaders in the House.”
National Poll: Most Voters Support Prevailing Wage on Public Infrastructure Projects
SMART CITIES PREVAIL
APR 26, 2017
“While voters may have disagreed on many issues this past November, they agree that prevailing wage laws should be preserved by a wide margin,” said pollster Brian Stryker. “Only 21% of voters want to eliminate prevailing wage laws—even after hearing a commonly referenced argument for doing so. And support for prevailing wage extends to large majorities of Democrats, Republicans, Independents and Trump voters.”
Greenwood Open House Competition Winners
Congratuations to our 2017 Greenwood/Indianapolis winners! L-R Director of Education Todd Pancake;General Carpentry: Craig Whitaker, Interior Systems: Arie Perez, Millwright: Josiah Wooden.
 |
Gary Wetzel: Repealing Wisconsin’s prevailing wage law would hurt veterans
GUEST COLUMN
Feb 21, 2017
SOUTH MILWAUKEE — I am a proud military veteran, Medal of Honor recipient, American Legion member and retired operating engineer. Though retired, I am an active advocate for veterans, their medical care, job opportunities and family sustaining wages.
Specifically, I am concerned about a repeal of Wisconsin’s prevailing wage law and the negative impact it would have on veterans.
Wisconsin legislators are threatening a rollback of the prevailing wage law that would mean a significant cut in wages for anyone — union or non-union — working in construction. The Wisconsin American Legion understands the seriousness of the situation and recently passed a resolution calling for veterans to receive employment preference for projects that receive state, county and municipal grants and contracts. It also calls for wages to be paid at a family-sustaining level (as set by federal guidelines mirroring our state prevailing wage law) to prevent the financial exploitation of veterans.
When I came back from the Vietnam War, I was one shot-up man. Almost exactly 49 years ago, our helicopter was shot down near Ap Dong An, and I lost one of my arms. My crew members were either dead or soon-to-be dead, because the helicopter was on fire and the enemy had us pinned down. I grabbed the ’copter’s machine gun and returned fire with my one good arm. I survived that day with a few others and was awarded the nation’s highest award for valor by President Lyndon B. Johnson.
When I came back, a career in the operating engineers offered me training, a community and a good living. Transitioning to civilian life was hard, but having a job to support a family helped make that transition easier. I operated heavy machinery with one arm for 40 years.
In Wisconsin, veterans make up 8.3 percent of the construction workforce, which is significantly higher than the percentage of veterans in the general workforce. Employment in the construction industry is projected to grow by over 14,000 jobs between now and 2022. In other words, Wisconsin has a real opportunity to put veterans to work in an industry they already gravitate toward.
Opponents of prevailing wage policies argue that repeal saves money. They claim a low-skilled, undertrained construction worker making rock-bottom wages will produce the same product as a higher-skilled, professionally trained craftsman. I can tell you from experience that is simply not true.
What low-road contractors save in labor costs never materializes as savings for taxpayers. That’s because taxpayers end up footing the bill for reduced worksite efficiency, higher injury rates, and the prospect of needing to go back and fix work that wasn’t done right the first time by a contractor who by then is long gone, resulting in higher material and energy costs.
This is not a union versus non-union issue. All workers in the construction industry benefit from prevailing wage laws. Prevailing wage laws simply ensure workers building our vital infrastructure receive a fair wage. If you cut construction worker wages by repealing prevailing wage laws — which everyone agrees will happen if prevailing wage laws are eliminated — veterans will be harder hit because veterans are more likely to work in the construction industry.
We are veterans who want our voices heard and have a deep desire to continue proudly serving this great state and country by building safer roads, schools and communities for our families. Let us send a loud message to our legislative leaders — protect job opportunities and wages for our veterans.
Wetzel, of South Milwaukee, is a member of Legion Post 434 in Oak Creek.