The more things change, the more they stay the same. Governor Haircut is long gone, yet the new governor and legislative leaders are still stalemated on how to tax, spend and finance for the state budget. Lake County residents overwhelmingly pass a referendum to extend Route 53 to Highway 120 with a 76% YES vote, but several local politicians turn Build53 into a partisan issue and effectively roadblock the issue for the next several months. Many banks are given Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) funds to both stay solvent and to spur loans to jumpstart economic development, but business development loans remain rare. It’s June and the construction season should be in full swing, but it’s still a very slow market.

It would be easy to become discouraged in this kind of political and economic environment and to dwell on the negatives. Instead, I plan to remain optimistic about how quickly things could take off when things do improve. Remember, after each recession, there is always recovery. LCCA and LCCA members should be focusing now on preparing for that recovery.

When you are making tough decisions and cuts within your operations, are you also taking actions to organize and structure your business with an eye towards the eventual growth that will come? That approach will continue to be the focus within LCCA.

For example, LCCA’s investment in Build53Yes.org promotion will bear fruit for many years. The referendum result was the first fruit. And when – not if – Route 53 is built, the fruit will be sweet indeed. Further, the coalition that came together on that issue – particularly with labor groups – will result in future collaborative efforts on other important issues.

LCCA continues to plan for the future with a new Member Retention & Recruitment Program (see page 2). The program is designed to use personal incentive to boost current member attendance & participation, while also attracting and retaining new members.

Plan now, structure now, keep striving, keep working! At some point in the near future the logjams are going to break. A budget bill will pass. A capital infrastructure bill will become law. Route 53 will be built. Investment in development and economic recovery will happen. LCCA will grow in numbers and services to its members. Be ready, it’s coming!

Due in large part to the difficult economy, 41 LCCA members did not to renew their membership for 2009. LCCA continues to believe that its association membership, continuing education, training, networking & business opportunities are the industry’s “best bang for the buck.” And we all need to work harder to spread that message and add new members. To boost that effort, the Membership Committee has created a new, incentive-based Member Retention & Recruitment Contest.

For the very first time, all individuals at LCCA member firms are eligible to compete. The contest starts June 1, 2009, and ends January 31, 2010, with the winners announced at the February 2010 Safety Awards Membership Meeting.

The contest is point-based by individual. Individuals will receive 20 points for each new member firm they bring in to LCCA. But it’s not enough to simply recruit a company to sign up for membership; recruiters need to help encourage new members to grow within the association. So, the recruiting individual will also receive 1 point for each new member firm attendee at any regular LCCA meeting or seminar and 2 points for any new member firm attendee at any LCCA special event like the Annual Holiday Extravaganza or Golf Outing.

LCCA also wants its existing members to remain active and involved, so individuals will receive 1 point for attending (plus 1 point for each guest) any regular LCCA meeting or seminar and 2 points for attending (plus 2 points for each guest) any LCCA special event like the Extravaganza or Golf Outing.

And LCCA is going to make it worth your effort to recruit new members and become active. First prize in the contest is $1,000 cash for the individual – not the company – who accumulates the most Member Retention & Recruitment points. Second prize is $500 cash and third prize is $200. But in this contest everyone is a winner. The end result will be a larger, stronger, more active, more vibrant LCCA. On your marks, get set, GO!!

On May 12 LCCA’s Future Leaders held their first networking event at Austin’s Saloon in Libertyville. The purpose of this happy hour was to increase networking among individuals on the management track - to enable them to better know their peers.

There was no cost to attend this Happy Hour. It was a networking opportunity pure and simple. Approximately 15 – 20 people joined us – some old faces who are at new companies and even some prospective members. “Everyone had a great time meeting new friends and making new contacts,” explains Katherine Kresic, Municipal Marking, “we look forward to even more participation at future events.” Keep an eye on the Newsletter and your email inbox for information on future Networking events sponsored by LCCA’s Future Leaders.

LCCA contractors continue to be approached by unions and asked to sign a “Work Assignment” form prepared by the union. The form typically recites some specific item(s) of the work claimed by the union’s contract and requires “mutual consent” to altering assignments in the future.

Our legal counsel at MARBA continues to advise that contractors should continue their historical work assignments, but do not need to sign a Work Assignment form for that purpose. That is particularly true for contractors who do not have contracts with competing trades (e.g., Laborers v. Operators, Operators v. IBEW, Carpenters v. Laborers) for the same type of work. Where jurisdictional disputes on a job arise or are anticipated, it may be necessary for a contractor to make a written assignment of work, but that letter should be prepared by the contractor for the specific job and the specific work.

Contractors should NOT sign any separate Work Assignment agreement and the unions should not be soliciting LCCA/MARBA signatory contractors who have assigned their bargaining rights to sign such an agreement.

If you have any questions, please contact Tim at the LCCA Office at (847)623-2345 or call MARBA directly at (847)699-1283.

There are two LCCA/MARBA agreements currently being negotiated - Automobile Mechanics, Local 701 and Teamsters Joint Council No. 25.

There have been four negotiation sessions with the Automobile Mechanics. The parties last met on May 28^th and have agreed to extend the contract until June 14. This extension is pending finalization of the language changes related to pension funding which is tied to the economic package.

There have been four negotiation meetings with the Teamsters. There are still multiple issues under discussion, including subcontracting and economics. The current contract has a work continuation clause which provides for an additional thirty days for the parties to meet to reach an agreement. Future meeting dates are June 4, 9 and 16.

There are also several other area construction labor agreements that have been modified, settled, or are currently being negotiated. These include:

Bricklayers District Council No. 1
The parties agreed to a one-year extension agreement last year with an economic wage package increase of $3.25. There were a few contract changes which included modifications to the steward language and a single allocation for all contracts.

Electricians - Local 134 (Cook)
Local 134 requested and received a best and final offer. The offer was $2.00 effective January 1, 2010 and $2.50 effective January 1, 2011. Results are unknown.

Electricians - Locals 117, 150, 461 and 701
Northeastern Illinois NECA is negotiating twelve labor agreements with IBEW Local Unions 117, 150, 461 and 701 for the Inside Agreements, Residential Agreements and Voice Data Video Agreements. The Inside Agreements with the 4 locals were referred to arbitration and the details will be available soon. The Residential Agreements with the 4 locals were extended for 3 months. On Voice Data Video Agreements, the parties agreed to a three-year contract. The economic increases were $1.70, $2.00 and $2.20 with a number of language changes.

Glaziers, Local 27
The parties have met several times and are meeting again next week.

Ironworkers, Local 1 (Cook, DuPage & Lake)
The Associated Steel Erectors and Ironworkers, Local 1 have reached a settlement subject to ratification on May 30 by the union membership. The three-year agreement provides for economics of $2.76, $2.75 and $2.85 with several work rule changes.

Ironworkers, Local 63 (Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake & McHenry)
The Iron League of Chicago and Ironworkers, Local 63 are engaged in ongoing discussions.

Marble Setters, Local 66 (Cook, DeKalb, DuPage, Grundy, Kane, Kendall, Lake, McHenry & Will)
The parties are engaged in ongoing discussions.

Plumbers & Pipe Fitters, Local 501 (DuPage, Kane, Kendall & DeKalb)
PAMCANI and UA Local 501 met for an extended bargaining session on May 28. Over 20 language changes have been tentatively agreed to. Management presented its “Last, Best and Final” offer of a 4-year contract proposal with modest wage increases ($1.00 in year one, up to $3.00 in 2010 and wage and agreed language re-openers for 2011 and 2012). Local 501 has scheduled a Strike/Ratification Meeting at the hall on May 30. The CBA expires on May 31.

Central & Southern Illinois
Bricklayers, Local 8 (Champaign, Decatur, Springfield)
The parties have agreed to a five-year agreement with economics of $1.80 each year.

Mid Central Illinois Regional Council of Carpenters
A tentative agreement has been reached. Details will be forthcoming,

Cement Masons (Peoria)
The parties have concluded a three-year contract. Economics are $1.85 each year.

Cement Masons (Galesburg)
The parties agreed to a three-year contract with economics of $1.61 each year.

Quad Cities
Bricklayers, Local 6 (Rock Island area)
The parties concluded a one-year agreement for $1.05.

IBEW, Local 145 (Inside)
The parties arrived at a three-year settlement with the following economics: freeze for the first year; $1.75 package increase; and $2.00 package increase.

After years of struggling to get a capital plan through the Senate, much less the House, the General Assembly took just two days to approve three bills that will raise more than $1 billion in new revenue to support a multi-year capital plan totaling nearly $29 billion. Despite the relative ease with which the plan passed, however, the capital plan still faces approval by Governor Quinn who has given indications that he might renege on his promise not to tie the capital plan to final passage of the budget. As a result, the House exercised an unusual parliamentary maneuver to avoid sending the capital bill to the governor.

The new infrastructure plan relies on a mixed bag of revenue sources that will serve as a permanent funding source for future capital plans, including profits on the legalization of video poker, increases in motor vehicle user fees, increased tax rates on liquor, soft drinks, candy, and hygiene products, and changes to the Lottery. The capital spending bill also relies heavily on the incoming federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act dollars to support these capital projects.

Despite these controversial funding sources, HB 255 received large bipartisan support with just 12 “no” votes in the Senate and 30 “no” votes in the House. At the same time, both chambers unanimously signed off on both the spending and bonding portions of the capital plan, which will support roads and bridges projects, as well as vertical construction.

In total, the State’s multi-year road program will see an additional $11.6 billion while another $3.5 million has been set aside to support new state and local road construction projects. But all this positive legislative effort is seemingly on hold until (unless?) the Legislature presents Budget and Ethics bills to Governor Quinn.

The General Assembly has passed SB 51 to clean-up many of the onerous registration requirements in the Illinois “Pay-to-Play” law passed last December. Once signed into law, this measure will:

1. Remove “minor children” from the definition of “affiliated person” and the requirement for registered business entities to report minors;
2. Amend the definition of “affiliated entity” to include any corporate parent and each operating subsidiary of the bidding or contracting business entity (instead of any subsidiary) and each operating subsidiary of the corporate parent of the bidding or contracting business entity (instead of any member of the same unitary business group);
3. Amend the definition of “executive employee” to only include the President, Chairman, or CEO (or any other individual that fulfills equivalent duties) of the business entity and any employee whose compensation is derived directly, in whole or in part, by the award or payment of the state contract;
4. Provide a slight increase to the time in which a business is required to report changes (5 days instead of 2 days).

These changes will provide additional relief to businesses who have already spent an exhaustive amount of time in ethics law compliance. In April Governor Quinn repealed the executive order established by his predecessor to match the Ethics/Pay-to-Play law. That executive order barred any contractor doing business in excess of $50,000 per year with the state of Illinois from making any contributions to legislators, or those seeking legislative office. Despite both of these reform actions, the Ethics/Pay-to-Play law which bars contributions for constitutional officers and requires contractors to register with the State Board of Elections REMAINS IN EFFECT.

Spots are literally filling up fast for LCCA’s June 9^th Safety Day. This annual event, co-sponsored again by Abbott & OSHA, usually fills to capacity. This year’s topic is Crane and Rigging Safety. Did you know that crane and rigging accidents are among the most common accidents in construction? They have the potential to cause extreme catastrophic damage. 2008 proved to be one of the worst years in U.S. history for crane accidents with numerous incidents and many lives lost.

This course will help you understand the hazards associated with cranes and rigging, and offer practical suggestions to protect your facilities from damage and employees from injury. Speakers for this event will be Al Brooks of Gatwood Crane Services and Pat Mehegan of the John Sakash Company.

Al Brooks will instruct you on everything you wanted to know about Crane Safety – from inspection procedures and OSHA requirements to accident prevention strategies and your responsibilities as construction employees and employers. Pat Mehegan will teach on the do’s and don’ts about rigging safety, inspection Procedures, load handling and more.

Registration and lunch will begin at 10:30 am on Tuesday, June 9, 2009, at the Greenbelt Cultural Center, 1215 Green Bay Road in North Chicago. Safety training will begin at 11:30 am with door prizes awarded at 2:45 pm. Certificates of training will be provided to all attendees.

Seating at this year’s event is extremely limited and we are nearly sold-out. To register, please call Lisa in the LCCA office at (847)623-2345.

A member recently called looking for information on what other contractors do about drug testing. So we asked the Board of Governors and Safety Committee what their companies do about drug testing. Here are the results:

• “Safety is usually involved with the Drug testing program. Abbott employees get tested on site. Our contractors go to St. Therese or wherever they want to go. I know that on site testing is possible, but the chain of custody and legal issues need to be carefully guarded. If not done properly that can be a significant risk to a contractor.”
• “Under our collective bargaining agreements, we are only allowed so much when it comes to drug testing. All of our employees are required to get a post accident 5-panel drug test and breath alcohol test.”
• “The company should set up an account with a medical facility or occupational health clinic such as Alexian Brothers Corporate Health (about 8 or 9 local locations); Concentra Medical Centers (about 8 or 9 local locations); Advocate Occupational Health (about 4 or 5 local locations); Vista Health (go to www.vistahealth.com/sv-corporate.htm); Industrial Medical Services. There may be others. The company simply fills out a form indicating what services they want (drug testing, 5-panel, alcohol testing), and where the results should be sent to. Normally you can find a clinic close to the job site.”
• “We use a saliva test that our superintendents administer. We bought these on the internet for $7.00 each. These provide a 5 panel drug screening. These are used on projects that require the employees to submit a current test while working on site.”
• “As part of our drug testing program, we administer instant drug testing in the field. We utilize an “Onsite Oral-Lab+” that we buy through Qwest Diagnostics (product No. 6902596). The product is a 6-panel oral test that checks for cocaine, opiates, amphetamines, PCP, methamphetamines, and THC. Our foremen are trained on how to administer the product through a CD that is furnished by Qwest. It is like a 30 minute online video that prints a certificate upon completion. This will address any liability associated with the company administering the test. We have prepared a simple procedural checklist for our guys to follow that identifies issues with HIPPA, etc. The test is also a self contained process that we can actually narrate and have the employee “self administer” (again, eliminating liability). Results are available in about 10 minutes. Since the test is 99.9% accurate we have set the following procedure: If the employee is negative, then we are done. If they show up “not-negative” then we drive to the nearest Qwest Facility and have them re-take the test (this time shifting any actual liability over to them).”
• “As a union company, the union does a weekly random notification to our employees who will report to an approved clinic or lab. The union has a 3^rd party (SCREENSAFE) to follow testing procedures, policy, follow up, and treatment if needed. We are only notified if the employee is not available for work. We know little about any treatment or results. Employees are also tested on post injury when required.”