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 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 MoreRetired bricklayer and current Geauga County Commissioner Jim Dvorak laid the first block on the Geauga County Courthouse expansion project.
Read MoreAn artist rendering of the Case Western Reserve University Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering building. The $300 million project will be the first new research facility built on campus in decades.
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 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 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 MoreIt was a busy year in most regions
Read MoreCuyahoga County Council voted on Dec. 14 to extend the County’s sales tax to pay for the new jail, set to be built in Garfield Heights. Taxpayers will pay the County’s 0.25 percent sales tax for an additional 40 years, which local leaders estimate will create enough revenue to fund the construction of the new county jail. The tax, which was set to expire in 2027, passed Council by a 6-5 vote and will stay on the books until 2067. The sales tax revenue has funded large downtown projects since 2007, according to The Cleveland Plain Dealer.
Read MoreAfter years of battles over permits and environmental concerns, the Lake Erie Energy Development Corp. (LEEDCo), announced it was pausing efforts to construct a freshwater wind farm in Lake Erie, citing delays and rising costs. The Icebreaker Wind project was supposed to be the first freshwater wind farm in North America.
Read MoreThe Sherwin-Williams global headquarters project in downtown Cleveland celebrated an important construction milestone on Dec. 4 with a Topping Off ceremony. Two weeks ahead of the scheduled ceremony date, Sherwin-Williams leaders were joined by elected officials, construction workers and others associated with the project to mark the installation of the final piece of structural steel on the 36-story tower (616 feet high), which when completed, will be the sixth tallest building in Ohio. “It’s really a special day for us and for all of Northeast Ohio,” said Sherwin-Williams Chairman and CEO John Morikis. “We’ve been proud to be a part of Cleveland since 1866 and call this home.”
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 MoreThe Cuyahoga County Council approved the purchase of land in Garfield Heights to build a new county jail on Sept. 26. The 72-acre site, located off Transportation Boulevard and Granger Road, was purchased for $38.7 million. County Executive Chris Ronayne told the council the Garfield Heights site was large enough to build what the county needs in the future, which may include multiple buildings and a central service campus with wrap-around services that people will need in addition to the county jail.
Read MoreAffiliated members of the Cleveland Building and Construction Trades are volunteering their time and talent to help turn an abandoned home into a safe and supportive housing option for pregnant women. Located on Cleveland’s west side, the home is owned by Sisters Haven, a nonprofit organization that provides safe housing and loving communities to pregnant women and new mothers. Once work is complete, up to seven pregnant women will live there until their child is approximately nine months old.
When a non-profit drug and alcohol rehab center needed a new compressor for the chiller at one of their properties, members of Pipefitters Local 120 and the Mechanical Contractors Association of Cleveland stepped up to help. The Ed Keating Center operates three non-profit sober living facilities for recovering alcoholic, and drug-addicted, men and women. The organization takes in individuals struggling with addiction at no cost to the individual or their health insurance.
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 MoreHolding a copy of this year’s AFL-CIO Deaths On the Job Report, an angry federation President Liz Shuler had a blunt message for the nation’s employers. “This report should not have to exist …These pages should be blank,” she said. Shuler joined a large crowd in the U.S. Labor Department’s main auditorium to honor the 5,190 workers killed on the job in 2021, the latest federal data available, which is what the AFL-CIO uses for its annual report
Read MoreUnion leaders, signatory contractors and community leaders gathered on March 14 to celebrate the dedication of a Habitat for Humanity home built only by union construction workers and contractors.
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