President Joe Biden speaks at the UA Local 190 Training Center in Ann Arbor, Mich. to announce his Investing in America and Investing in Americans Executive Order. The mandate will drive more federal dollars to good-paying, safe jobs that offer benefits such as health insurance, retirement, paid leave and childcare.
Read MoreCleveland Mayor Justin Bibb signs an Executive Order mandating Project Labor Agreements on all city-owned projects that cost at least $500,000.
Read MoreThe top journeymen, apprentices and contractors from Northeast Ohio gathered at Cleveland Browns Stadium for the annual celebration honoring the local union construction industry.
Held on Aug. 29, the Building Excellence and Craftsmanship Awards honored those who helped build and re-build the region.
Cleveland Building and Construction Trades Council Executive Secretary/Business Manager Dave Wondolowski was reappointed to his seat on the Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority Board. Additionally, Pipefitters Local 120 Business Agent Ryan McCafferty was added to the board.
Read MoreAs part of this year’s biannual capital budget process, state lawmakers agreed to a one-time spend of over $700 million to fund a wide array of additional capital projects across Ohio. According to multiple media reports, lawmakers are calling this one-time spend the “Super Duper Fund,” which referred to a $717.8 million spike in state tax revenues after federal COVID-19 relief money flowed into Ohio.The Super Duper Fund is considered part of the overall $4.2 billion capital budget, the largest capital budget in state history.
Read MoreJust as a songwriter crafts pieces with the melody, harmony, and rhythm in mind from the beginning, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is embedding safety into its expansion project from the start. The construction stakeholders have signed a partnership agreement with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's Cleveland Area Office to protect workers involved in the project.
Read MoreWorking under a Community Benefits Agreement [CBA], affiliated members of the Cleveland Building Trades completed Phase I of the $200 million Progressive Field renovations in time for the Guardians home opener on April 8.
Read MoreOn Nov. 9, by a 5-2-1 vote, the Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority Board of Directors voted to repeal its Prevailing Wage provision. The Cleveland-Cuyahoga Port Authority is a public agency that provides financing solutions for economic development projects in Cuyahoga County and beyond. The Port Authority partners with economic developers, government entities and banks to provide funding options for projects in the private, non-profit and public sectors. According to its website, since 1993, the agency has funded 150 projects, issued $4.5 billion in bonds and leveraged $6.1 billion in construction.
Read MoreActing U.S. Department of Labor Secretary Julie Su visited Cleveland in mid-December to announce details related to the final rule to implement President Joe Biden’s Executive Order requiring Project Labor Agreements for most large-scale federal construction projects. This rule will help ensure large federal construction projects are completed by union construction workers, who will earn good wages and excellent healthcare and retirement benefits in exchange for performing quality construction work efficiently and on time, helping to complete the project on or under budget.
Read MoreThe U.S. Department of Labor announced a long-awaited final rule regarding the misclassification of workers. On Jan. 9, the DOL officially stated it would rescind an independent contractor rule put in place during the Trump Administration. Among the industries the rule is expected to affect are construction, healthcare, trucking and housekeeping.The new final rule will help employers and workers better understand when a worker must be considered an employee and when they qualify as an independent contractor under the Fair Labor Standards Act.
Read MoreCleveland Building Trades Executive Secretary, Dave Wondolowski. “In repealing its wage-protection policy, the Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority Board of Directors has violated its mission to advance the economic interests of Cleveland residents in favor of protecting profit margins for a handful of developers.”
Read MorePresident Biden and U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm announced the creation of seven regional clean hydrogen hubs that will receive $7 billion in Infrastructure, Investment and Jobs Act funding to accelerate the domestic market for low-cost, clean hydrogen. According to the White House, the seven selected regional clean hydrogen hubs will utilize more than $40 billion in private investment and create tens of thousands of good-paying jobs – bringing the total public and private investment in hydrogen hubs to nearly $50 billion.
Read MoreCleveland leaders gathered on the steps of City Hall on June 27 to talk about the Community Benefits Ordinance recently passed by the City Council. Ordinance 297-2023 was passed on June 5. It is designed to encourage developers to use Cleveland-based, minority-owned and women-owned businesses for construction projects in exchange for incentives. The new ordinance will also create job opportunities for members of the building trades and provide a pathway for more Cleveland residents to join the trades. “I worked closely with the city on this, so I’m very pleased it passed,” said Dave Wondolowski, Executive Secretary and Business Manager of the Cleveland Building and Construction Trades Council.
Read MoreActing Labor Secretary Julie Su strongly pushed workers’ rights enforcement to a Republican-controlled House committee that at times challenged her plan. Her testimony before the House Education and the Workforce Committee on June 7 was intended to be a discussion of the Department of Labor budget for fiscal 2024, which begins Oct. 1, but it also gave insight into how Su will lead the Labor Department.
Read MoreLaborers’ International Union of North American (LIUNA) General President Terry O’Sullivan announced his plan to retire effective April 30, after leading the union for almost
24 years.
“There has been no higher honor or privilege than to represent, defend and fight for the strong, proud and united men and women of LIUNA,” O’Sullivan said. “Each and every day I have served as General President, I have been awed by the power of this union.”
Read MoreThe strongest and loudest supporter of union construction, U.S. Department of Labor Secretary Marty Walsh, announced his intention to step down from his current position in mid-March. Walsh, 55, the former Mayor of Boston and Massachusetts state representative, will become the first traditional Cabinet secretary to leave since President Joe Biden took office. The former leader of the Greater Boston Building Trades Unions and a card-carrying member of Laborers Local 223 is returning to organized labor via professional sports.
Read MoreCleveland City Council will soon vote to allocate $10 million from its American Rescue Plan Act funding to help bolster the region’s construction workforce. According to a presentation made at Council’s Workforce, Education, Training and Youth Development Committee held on Jan. 24, the funds will be used for work development purposes in the following manner:
Read MoreThe Cleveland Guardians released details of their upcoming renovation project to reimagine their nearly 30-year-old ballpark. Renovation work on Progressive Field, the 11th-oldest ballpark in Major League Baseball, will begin upon the conclusion of the 2023 season and be performed by affiliated members of the Cleveland Building Trades under a Project Labor Agreement and a Community Benefits Agreement.
Read MoreThis is shaping up to be not just a big year for Ohio’s union construction industry, but a mega-year. Keyed by several mega projects, including the $20 billion Phase I of the Intel project in New Albany and the $3.5 billion Honda/LG joint venture battery plant in Jeffersonville, 2023 is forecast to be a record year for a number of Local Unions and regional building trades councils in terms of man-hours.
Read MoreElevator constructors who work in the State of Ohio will soon be required to obtain an industry license in order to ply their trade. On Jan. 2, Ohio Gov. Mike De-Wine signed House Bill 107, which mandated the licensure of elevator mechanics. The new law will affect the men and women who build, install or service commercial and industrial elevators, escalators and moving walks. The law will not pertain to those who install, maintain and repair residential conveyance systems such as wheelchair lifts and stair climbers.
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