All posts tagged U.S. Department of Labor

DOL to target companies who misclassify workers

The U.S. Department of Labor proposed a rule change designed to target employee misclassification.

The proposed rule change would rescind a Trump-era rule from 2021, and would impact a number of industries including construction, healthcare, trucking, food service and retail.

Jessica Looman, Principal Deputy Administrator at the DOL, announced the plans to protect low-wage workers from being misclassified as independent contractors.  Continue reading →

Proposed Davis Bacon updates are good news for member of SMW 24

For the first time in over 40 years, the government has proposed updating the Davis-Bacon regulations.

The 1931 Davis-Bacon Act requires the payment of Prevailing Wage rates on federal or federally assisted construction contracts. The law applies to workers on contracts in excess of $2,000 entered into by federal agencies and the District of Columbia for the construction, alteration or repair of public buildings or public works. It protects local wage standards by preventing contractors from basing bids on cheaper wages than those prevailing locally. 

If the proposal is acted upon, it would directly benefit members of Sheet Metal Workers Local 24 members, along with other union building trades and even some non-union construction workers. It would benefit all Local 24 members working on federal projects, especially on contracts at the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, which have been particularly prevalent.  Continue reading →

SMART Members Contribute to Historic Number of Comments Submitted to the DOL against IRAPs

North America’s Building Trades Unions called effort to submit comments to the U.S. Department of Labor against Industry-Recognized Apprenticeship Programs, also called IRAPs, record setting.

In an Aug. 27 prepared statement, NABTU said nearly 325,000 Americans told the DOL they do not support IRAPs in the construction industry. The number of submitted comments broke the previous record of 25,000 submitted on changes to overtime pay.

According to a statement on the SMART website, SMART members submitted just over 18,000 comments to the DOL, with several thousand more comments submitted by friends and family members. Continue reading →