One of the most important responsibilities of Lake County Contractors Association is to represent our members in LABOR issues.  As such, LCCA is one of 7 builder associations in the Metropolitan Chicago area belonging to the Mid-America Regional Bargaining Association (MARBA).  Formed in 1971, MARBA is a multi-employer bargaining association focused on collective bargaining in the construction industry. MARBA is involved directly in labor relations constantly throughout the year. This provides contractors with a central group that is always “tending the store.”

MARBA recruits industry experts to serve on the Negotiating Committees. This stabilizes the construction industry by unifying contractors and providing them with a strong, single voice to handle union relations.  I believe that we have some good talent here and they are only getting better!

OK – so you are asking, why the MARBA history lesson and what does this have to DO WITH ME?  A LOT.  Bricklayers, Cement Masons and Laborers all have contracts that expire 5/31/06.  Many members have assigned bargaining rights and others will live with the results. Now we need your continued support during these negotiations.  Our negotiators dedicate many hours to negotiating the best possible contract for our members.  Their objectives are to provide standardization of wage and benefit rates as well as terms and conditions of employment in the industry.  YOUR SUPPORT allows our team to negotiate with the unions from a position of strength.  Multi-employer bargaining prevents the union from targeting individual employers with what are known as whipsaw strikes.
 

Craft meetings have been held and will continue until these contracts are resolved.  We will try to keep you up to date and informed on the progress.  If you have any questions or suggestions, please let Gary Dowty know.  He will make sure that the negotiators know your position and answer your questions.
 

We need to stand strong and together.  I read somewhere an old Sioux Indian phrase “the strength of the wolf is in the pack and the strength of the pack is in the wolf”.

Osco, Oil

P.O Box 70

Lemont, IL 60439-0070

13351 Main Street

Lemont, IL 60439-9374

Phone: (630) 257-8000

Fax: (630) 257-2181

Supplier

John McGovern, Vice President

On site construction fueling

Sponsor: Mike Ryan, H.H. Holmes Testing

You can win a $500 prize by just sponsoring a new member in the next few months. The LCCA Membership Committee, chaired by Mike Temple, Mechanical, Inc., wants everybody to help with LCCA’s membership efforts and you have a chance to win. The names of everybody who sponsors a new member by July 1 will be put in a hat and one lucky person will leave the September Membership Meeting with a nice prize. Already in the drawing are:  Ken Coslet, Mike DeNinno (2), Gerry Dumalski, Dave Henderson, Joe Henderson, and Mike Ryan.

The summer outing again this year will be to Miller Park in Milwaukee to see the Cubs play the Brewers, according to Program Committee Chair, Rick Grabowski, Pickus Construction & Equipment. The outing is scheduled for Friday, July 7, and will include bus transportation from Lake County, a tailgate cookout and club level infield box seat tickets along the first base line. All this for just $90 per ticket.

Unfortunately, we only have 180 tickets. So if you are interested, act quickly. Tickets will be distributed first come, first served. Employees, family and friends are welcomed. To register, CLICK HERE.

2006 Labor Negotiations will take center stage this month and several associations and unions look for new agreements. Contracts expiring on May 31 and the associations negotiating include:

Bricklayers, District I - Northern Illinois Mason Contr. Assoc./MARBA

Cement Masons #11 - 362 - (Lake County) -- LCCA

Plumbers/Pipefitters Local 501 (DuPage, Kane, Kendall, DeKalb) - PAMCAMI

Plumber's Local 93-- Plumbing, Heating & Cooling Contractors of Lake & McHenry

Cement Masons #502 (Cook County)-- MARBA

Cement Masons #803 (DuPage County)-- MARBA

Cement Masons #638 (McHenry, Kane, Kendall County) -- MARBA

Glaziers Local 27

Heat & Frost Insulators, Local 17

Ironworkers - Local 1-- Assoc. Steel Erectors of Chicago

Ironworkers - Local 63-- Iron League of Chicago

Laborers District Council – MARBA

Tuckpointers, Local 52

We expect most agreements to go down to the wire as usual. We will begin regular email updates for Contractor Members Only very soon. If you wish to be on this list to receive labor negotiations updates, please call Terry at the LCCA Office.

The State Legislature’s self decreed April 7 adjournment date fell victim, as many of their promises do, to political battles over the budget and many other issues.  The operating budget is moving and an agreement is expected in early May. The Capital budget, with construction projects, will probably not be approved and will be held until the fall veto session or when Gov. Blagojevich releases his income tax information – whichever is later.

SB 2399 – Senate Bill 2399 has been loaded down with a number of labor bills including the elimination of start/stop time reporting for certified payrolls, and:

Truth in Employment –ICIC was successful in getting an amendment to SB 2399 to tighten the definition of “independent contractor” Here is our amendment.

For purposes of this Act, an individual who is a sole proprietor of or a partner in a business enterprise that the contractor has retained as a subcontractor shall not be considered an employee of the contractor while performing services in connection with that business enterprise if all of the following conditions are present:

1. The individual providing the labor or services is free from direction or control over the means and manner of providing labor or services, subject only to the right of the contractor for whom labor or services are provided to specify the desired results;
2. The individual’s interest in the business is not subject to cancellation or destruction upon severance of the relationship;
3. The individual has a substantial investment of capital beyond ordinary tools and equipment and a personal vehicle;
4. The individual owns the capital goods and gains the profits and bears the losses of the business enterprise;
5. The individual makes his services available to the general public or the business community on a continuing basis;
6. The individual includes his services on a Federal Income Tax Schedule as an independent business or profession;
7. The individual performs services for the contractor under his own business name;
8. When the services being provided require a license, the individual obtains and pays for the license in his own name;
9. The individual providing the labor or services furnishes the tools or equipment necessary to provide the labor or services;
10. If necessary, the individual hires his own helpers or employees, without the contractor’s approval, pays them without reimbursement from the contractor and reports their income to the Internal Revenue Service;
11. The contractor does not represent the individual as an employee of the firm to its customers; and
12. The individual has the right to perform similar services for others on whatever basis and whenever he chooses.

Generally speaking, everyone is in agreement that this will NOT apply to incorporated companies since the bill applies to “individuals.” It will apply to all levels of construction but protect a contractor from liability incurred by their subcontractors.

Apprentice Reporting – SB 2399 also includes new reporting. Contractors and apprentice programs will be required to make an annual report to the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity that includes:

• The number of persons applying to perform work on the project in each of the following categories of race or ethnicity: white, black or African American, Hispanic or Latino ethnicity, Asian American, and Native American.
• The number of persons performing work on the project in each of the following categories of race or ethnicity: white, black or African American, Hispanic or Latino ethnicity, Asian American, and Native American
• The number of persons of each gender applying to perform work on the project.
• The number of persons of each gender performing work on the project.

PROMPT PAYMENT – HB 5260 has passed both houses and is on the way to the Governor for signature. As passed, the bill amends portions of the State Prompt Payment Act (30 ILCS 540) and the Local Government Prompt Payment Act (50 ILCS 505). Both Acts currently provide that businesses that sell goods or services to the state or to local governments are to be paid promptly. If HB 5260 is signed by the Governor, it will strengthen some portions of both Acts to protect Illinois businesses, including contractors, from unfair delays before receiving payment for work done for Illinois governments.

The State Act will be amended to provide that:

• If the state agency fails to pay a bill, it must notify the vendor of the perceived problem to be corrected within 30 days of submittal of the invoice.
• If only some items in an invoice are disapproved for payment, the state must pay the remainder of the invoice.
• Interest paid to a general contractor by a state agency under this act must be shared proportionately with subcontractors whose payments were also delayed.

The Local Act will be amended to provide that:

• If only some items in an invoice are disapproved for payment, the local government must pay the remainder.
• Interest paid to a general contractor by a local government under the Act must be shared proportionately with subcontractors whose payments were also delayed.

The lead sponsors on HB 5260, Representative Jim Durkin (R-Western Springs) and Senator Terry Link (D-Vernon Hills) worked hard to pass HB 5260 for you. 

LCCA hosted a panel of Apprenticeship Programs last month to give the Building Trades students at the Lake County High School Tech Campus a look at several options for careers in construction. Participating were:

Don Walker, Bricklayers

Paul Hoetzer, Laborers

Gary Ellis; Carpenters

Bill Yukna and Dennis Malec, Electricians

Ken Sharp, Operating Engineers, and

Gary Menzel, Roofers.

These Junior and Senior students have many options when they graduate and giving them a sample of the 22 trades that make up the construction industry helps broaden their horizons to the many options available. Each Apprentice Coordinator provides information on the trade, requirements to get into their program and how to get started. Hopefully, some will choose construction when the time comes.

LCCA also helps the Tech Campus Building Trades Program by arranging a tour of a construction site in the fall, providing all students with a safety course taught by a safety professional and rewards the top students with cash awards at the Tech Campus Awards Ceremony this month. 

The Lake County High School Tech Campus Building Trades Program and other area high schools are looking for summer jobs for high school juniors and seniors in construction to provide a practical application for what they are learning in school. If we are going to attract good students into the industry, we need to support them when they are making a choice of careers.  

In addition, we are looking for sponsors for Graduating Seniors who want to get into the Laborers and Carpenters Apprentice Programs. We hope to place 5-10 students who are ready and eager to get into the construction industry. Students will be screened and we will only recommend the very best in the graduating High School Tech Campus Building Trades students. If you are looking for a motivated apprentice Laborer, call Gary at the LCCA Office.

A series of Public Input Forums have been planned by the Lake County Transportation Alliance to gather your opinions on transportation improvements in Lake County.  This information will be used to develop the ballot for the 2006 Transportation Summit scheduled for September:

• Tuesday, May 23; 6 pm to 9 pm-
  Antioch Township Hall, 1625 Deep Lake Rd.
• Wednesday, May 24; 6 pm to 9 pm-
  Warren Township Hall-O'Plaine Campus Lecture Hall, 500 N. O'Plaine
• Thursday, May 25, 6 pm to 9 pm-
  Deerfield High School, 1959 N. Waukegan Rd.
• Saturday, June 3; 9 am to 11:30 am-
  Wauconda Township Hall, W. Bonner Rd., Wauconda
• Wednesday, June 7; 7:30 am to 9:30 am-
  College of Lake County, Room C-003,
  19351 Washington St.
• Tuesday, June 13; 8 am to 10 am-
  W.W. Grainger Auditorium,
  100 Grainger Parkway, Lake Forest

On Wednesday, September 20, 2006, the Lake County Transportation Alliance, Lake County, the Transportation Management Association of Lake Cook, and the College of Lake County will host the Second Annual Lake County Transportation Summit to develop Lake County's 2007 Transportation Consensus Agenda.

At this Summit, Lake County's elected officials will be asked to vote on the prioritization of State Highway add-lanes projects and Metra and PACE capital projects and additions to current transit service levels.

Your assistance with identifying the transportation projects and setting the agenda for the Summit is urgently requested. For more information, please go to the Lake County Division on Transportation's website: www.co.lake.il.us/dot/.

Safety Committee Chair Fred Rodheim, Abbott Laboratories, has announced that LCCA, in cooperation with Abbott Laboratories, Chicagoland Construction Safety Council (CCSC) and OSHA, will host a Safety Seminar on Confined Space on June 29 at the Greenbelt Cultural Center. Tentatively the seminar will run from 11:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. and include lunch. Details are being finalized but mark your calendar and plan to attend.

The Lake County Contractors Association has signed a renewal of our Alliance with OSHA continuing a collaborative relationship to foster safer workplaces in Lake County. President Micky Day, DK Contractors, Safety Committee Chairman Fred Rodheim, Abbott Laboratories, and Diane Turek, OSHA Area Director for the Chicago North Office, signed the agreement.

The Alliance provides that OSHA and the LCCA will work together to achieve the following outreach and communication goals:

• Develop and disseminate LCCA information through print and electronic media, including electronic tools and links from OSHA's and the LCCA's web sites, along with applicable articles in their print media.
• Provide a forum for OSHA personnel to speak, exhibit or appear at conferences sponsored by the LCCA.
• Promote and encourage members associated with the LCCA to participate in OSHA's compliance assistance, education and outreach programs.

In addition, OSHA and the LCCA will work together to achieve the following goals related to promoting dialogue on workplace safety and health:

• Develop and present a seminar for the LCCA members to be delivered in conjunction with OSHA.
• Organize and provide the necessary resources for the presentation of OSHA's construction course for the organization's members when OSHA and the organization identify the need.
• Promote and encourage members of the LCCA to individually participate in OSHA's cooperative program of compliance assistance, the Voluntary Protection Programs, Consultation, and SHARP.  In addition, OSHA will recognize members that aspire to excellence in health and safety for their worksites.
• LCCA will consult with OSHA personnel and industry safety and health professionals in effective construction safety management practices as jointly determined by OSHA and the LCCA.
• Use the LCCA's newsletters, web site, workshops, meetings, and other resources as vehicles to disseminate OSHA or LCCA developed information and guidance on workplace safety issues.
• Encourage LCCA's members to act as industry liaisons and resources for OSHA's cooperative programs and Compliance Assistance Specialists.
• Raise awareness through speeches and appearances by the LCCA's leaders of safe worksite programs and their commitment to workplace safety and health.

We are looking forward to a productive alliance and increased assistance for LCCA members to meet safety goals.