Public Construction Savings Act (S.4121/A.7855)
ABC has long opposed government mandates of anti-competitive project labor agreements (PLAs) on public work projects. The Public Construction Savings Act would bring neutrality into contacting for public work and simply allow contractors to submit responsive bids whether they choose to use a PLA or not. It is the only fair and objective way to insure that taxpayer interests are protected in public contracting.
Sections 240/241 “Scaffold Law” Reform
This antiquated law exposes property owners and contractors to unfair strict liability, which makes insurance prohibitively expensive and ultimately drives up the cost of construction in New York State. ABC calls on our state leaders to establish a more sensible and balanced negligence-based standard. This would drive down the cost of insurance, create more jobs and improve the business climate in New York State.
Diesel Retrofit (S.2369C/A.6899B)
A 2011 amendment postponed implementation of the diesel retrofit requirement for many on-road and off-road heavy-duty vehicles until the end of 2012. The state courts have similarly limited prior State effort to expand the applicability of the retrofit requirement by regulation to subcontractors and suppliers of materials. While these victories have provided some reprieve, with just a short extension hard-hit contractors and businesses are again facing the same problem – high compliance costs for nominal environmental benefit. By postponing implementation until the end of 2014, at a minimum, contractors as well as state agencies would be given a more realistic timetable with which to phase out ageing fleets of non-compliant vehicles.
Repeal of the Wage Theft Reporting Act (S.4452/A.7756)
In 2010, the “Wage Theft Reporting Act” was enacted into law over the strong objections of ABC and the business community, and with little apparent justification, and became effective in April 2011. Instead of a narrowly crafted response to deal with those who would commit fraud against their employees, the law’s proponents pushed a broad-based law which requires honest employers to incur massive new administrative costs and regulatory exposure. The new requirements and significant penalties in this law are ill-timed for employers who are already struggling to survive in the current down economy.
Annualization Reform (S.4018-A)(A.4810)
Currently, the NYS Department of Labor calculations annualize both private and public benefits by the same method, resulting in excessive costs to contractors already providing benefits to their workers. Because of these calculations, many contractors are eliminating traditional benefit packages and, instead, are offering the benefits as a cash supplement in the employee’s pay check. This growing practice eliminates double payment of previously offered benefits by contractors, but exposes the employee to higher taxes without receiving important benefits. This bill would again allow contractors to provide, and employees to receive, benefits, without penalty.
Prevailing Wage Rate Reforms
Mandated on public work projects, prevailing wage rates are far in excess of the market wage rate. ABC is calling for meaningful reform to the wage mandate system that would do away with the current practice of merely making the union wage the prevailing wage.
Apprenticeship Council Enhancement (S.3748/A.7372)
ABC supports the work and purpose of the State Apprenticeship Council, first formed in 1961. This bill would require that one of the three representatives from employer organizations must be a sponsor representative of an exclusively merit shop apprenticeship program. This amendment would reflect the current status of apprenticeship programs, where there are now more than one hundred apprenticeship programs individually sponsored by non-union companies statewide and more currently pending approval by the Department of Labor.