Construction Employers' Association

PRESS RELEASE

Daily Pacific Builder

“UNIONS 2000”EDIOTION

CEA Continues to Foster Cooperative Relations with Unions

By Greg Cosko, President, Construction Employers’ Association
President, Hathaway Dinwiddie Construction Company

August 28, 2000

Since its inception 15 years ago during an era of mounting complexity in trade union negotiations, the Construction Employers’ Association has evolved from a handful of prominent builders, whose singular purpose was to collectively bargain in good faith a labor agreement with the carpenters, laborers and other appropriate crafts to preserve the competitiveness of the unionized sector of the Northern California building industry, to a full service association representing virtually all major players in the unionized building industry.

When the late Larry Walters, then vice chairman of Dinwiddie Construction Company, along with Robert Mounce and Michael Walton, originally pursued creating a new homogenous union builder bargaining group to enhance the builder's ability to negotiate effective labor agreements, I'm sure he had no idea just how successful his vision would be.

Our membership roster speaks for itself. Collectively, CEA contractors perform in excess of $10 billion in public and private construction volume annually. Our membership now represents approximately two and-one-half times the total number of union carpenter man-hours than are represented by any other contractor association in Northern California. There is strength in numbers and in stability.

A fundamental element in CEA’s success has been the active involvement in the association's affairs by the principals of its member firms.

Board provides guidance

CEA’s board of directors sets association policy and guides its direction.

This year CEA’s board is comprised of 27 industry leaders:

The promotion of cooperative relations with our labor union partners continues to be CEA's primary objective. Last year, our association negotiated three industry labor agreements - with the Northern California Carpenters, Laborers and Cement Masons.ar:

The 1999-2004 CEA/Carpenters Master Labor Agreement was bargained a year before its June 30, 2000 expiration date to promote continued labor peace and stability, as well as ample opportunity for contractors to extend the agreement. Highlights of the agreement include a gradual increase of beginning apprentice wage rates to attract better qualified young people; incorporation of a Saturday make-up day applicable year round for inclement weather or major mechanical breakdown; greater flexibility in subcontracting and in hiring; and a responsible wage and fringe benefit increase over the term of the agreement. The CEA/Carpenters Master Agreement covers some 1,400 employers and 20,000 carpenters throughout the 46 Northern California counties area.

Labor relations representation

Along with collective bargaining representation, CEA focuses on providing quality labor relations representation for its member firms. Utilizing a preventative approach in its labor relations program, CEA's experienced staff assists members with their labor disputes by providing professional advice, representation at grievance/arbitration proceedings and relevant labor related informational bulletins.

Beyond its labor relations and collective bargaining activities, CEA has selectively initiated and administered the following building industry programs: building industry legislative program, safety forum program, annual confidential building industry salary survey, construction management university grant program, and a public works/prevailing wage program. These programs are subject to annual evaluation by CEA's board to determine their value and effectiveness.

CEA's presence and ultimate success in the state legislative arena is in large part due to our cooperative relationship with the carpenters, laborers, and the other building trades unions. It was at the urging of the Carpenters several years ago, when the prevailing wage system was under attack by the Wilson administration, that CEA established a legislative program to provide advocacy for its members and the unionized building construction industry in general on select key issues with the California state legislature and the Governor's office. CEA Secretary Michael Walton and CEA Legislative Committee Chairman Terry Street were two of only a few management representatives invited to participate at the ceremonial signing by Gov. Davis of SB 16 (Burton), requiring state prevailing wages to be based on the modal (most commonly occurring) rates of pay for workers in a given area.

This year, CEA is devoting its attention legislatively to CEA-sponsored Senate Bill 471 (Solis) to provide financial protection for contractors, subcontractors and construction workers in the event of a construction project owner default along with providing advocacy on a host of other legislative proposals sponsored by labor and other groups.

We conducted our fourth Northern California Building Industry Salary Survey to participating members collecting confidential salary and benefit data for non-bargaining unit employees, including superintendents, estimators, project managers, administrative staff and top executives. The annual survey is a popular tool to assist member firms in their salary administration to retain and attract talented management and administrative personnel.

The CEA Building Industry Safety Forum Program, initiated in 1997, has been a success with our membership, providing opportunities for safety officers and key jobsite personnel to network and share ideas on safety issues through involvement in discussions, workshops and seminars where safety authorities speak quarterly on important issues relating to the building industry. Forums and seminars have been held on such topics as: subcontractor compliance with Cal-OSHA requirements; new OSHA regulations and policies re: multi-employer jobsites, hazard communication, how to conduct effective jobsite safety meetings, crane safety, scaffold safety and fall protection.

Earlier this year, the CEA Safety Forum Program Steering committee held a forum on the general contractor's role and responsibilities in the multi-employer jobsite environment relating to subcontractors' work and the impact of Assembly Bill 1127.

The next forum on August 17th at the Laborers Training and Retraining Center for Northern California will address the issue of excavation safety. Jerome Williams, an instructor at the Laborers' facility in San Ramon, will be making a presentation.

CEA also participates in Cal-OSHA's standards board proceedings. Committee members monitor the standards board activities for proposed construction related regulation changes and variances. Most recently, CEA has decided to expand its role in providing safety services to its members. We are in the process of establishing a recommended protocol for members to use on their jobsites and minimum performance standards for subcontractors engaged in our work. We anticipate implementation in January.

We have continued to hold annual labor-management conferences with our key crafts along with the entire building trades community in certain geographic areas. These conferences have proven to be beneficial in building relationships with union leaders and in constructively and informally addressing issues affecting our industry. Promoting communication between building industry executives and their union counterparts is a key component in strengthening labor-management relations. For 13 consecutive years, CEA and the Carpenters have held annual state-of-the-state conferences and for five years, we have held similar conferences with the Laborers Union leadership. For seven years, CEA principals performing work in Santa Clara County have met with leaders of the Santa Clara Building Trades Council for an annual labor-management partnering conference to constructively explore solutions to industry issues. Earlier this year, a similar conference was successfully held with industry and labor leaders performing work in San Francisco. The primary theme of both conferences was the recognition that the building construction industry needs to recruit more qualified people at all levels and provide quality training.

CEA provides scholarships and grants

Three years ago, CEA initiated a Construction Management University Grant Program. The program demonstrates CEA's commitment to support and promote quality construction management education and to develop long-term relationships with prominent university construction management programs and their graduates. For the 1999 program year, we awarded grants to the following universities: UC Berkeley; California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo; CSU Chico; CSU Sacramento; and Stanford University.

We will be reviewing grant applications for the 2000 Program year and plan to issue awards shortly.

CEA intends to hold its second CEA/Construction Management Education Conference in October to provide a forum for the principals of leading building contractor firms to discuss the current state of construction management education and needs for the building construction industry with department heads, professors and construction management students from the five universities that participate in our program.

CEA's Public Works/Prevailing Wage Program continues to be a valuable resource to members performing public works. Our professional staff provides assistance and education to members with respect to compliance issues and the technical aspects of labor and prevailing wage laws. Members are advised of the prime and subcontractors' prevailing wage and payroll reporting responsibilities on public works projects along with the current enforcement policies of governmental agencies. Procedures have been developed by CEA that emphasize a preventative approach to monitoring the payment of wages to all workers and that strive to minimize the potential for penalties or liquidated damages. In addition, research, advice, and investigative services are available to members who encounter prevailing wage complaints on their projects.

Responding to the union construction industry’s biggest challenges - to expand market share, to attract vitally needed qualified young people into the industry, and to counter the generally negative public perception of the construction industry as a whole - CEA is providing guidance and support in establishing an industry joint labor-management market program with the Carpenters union.

In addition, CEA has been assisting the San Francisco Unified School District in developing a four-year curriculum to capture the interests of high school students to enter the fields of construction and engineering. This curriculum is designed to provide a meaningful educational experience, both inside and outside the classroom, to prepare students in pursuing an engineering or construction career. CEA hopes that this career pathway, once fully developed, will serve as a pilot program for other school districts in California to assist in recruiting high school students in pursuing construction and engineering careers in the trades, project management, and design engineering.

Our Web-site (www.cea-ca.org) has been on-line since the beginning of this year, providing an alternate means of delivering key information about CEA programs and services.

CEA will continue to focus on enhancing the union building contractor's competitive position in the industry. In addition, we will annually evaluate CEA's varied industry programs and services to best serve our members and the unionized building construction industry.

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