Organization: MCAA

Mueller Industries Contributes to MCERF

The Mechanical Contracting Education & Research Foundation (MCERF) recently received a $50,000 contribution from Mueller Industries, Inc. (Memphis, TN), the final payment on its $100,000 pledge.

Mueller is MCERF’s latest Partnership Enterprise member (those who have contributed at least $100,000)!

The MCERF Board of Trustees greatly appreciates the generous support which will allow the Foundation to continue funding programs that help our industry grow and thrive. Still thinking about making a donation? Click on the link below for more reasons to write the check.

Donate to MCERF.

MCAA Student Chapter Summit Makes BuiltWorlds’ Top 10 Videos

MCAA’s 2015 Student Chapter Summit, which brought together more than 200 future industry professionals, faculty advisors, MCAA contractor members and local association executives in Cleveland, OH last October, made BuiltWorlds’ top 10 videos of the year. BuiltWorlds, a Chicago-based organization that promotes companies that develop technologies for the construction industry, organized an exhibit of vendors that displayed a variety of technologies that contractors are …or will…use on the jobsite and in the office. MCAA student chapter members were filmed testing the new technologies and discussing their features and applications with the vendors.

View the Video

MCAA Takes Action on Paid Sick Leave Executive Order

MCAA filed comments on the Administration’s Paid Sick Leave Executive Order (EO) 13706, which also is under an expedited path for final publication for mid-2016 and implementation in 2017. The EO would require direct federal prime contractors and subcontractors to provide paid sick leave (one hour of paid leave for every 30 hours worked) on a covered federal contract or subcontract of $2,000 or more. The minimum annual amount of leave is 56 hours, which can be carried over on an annual basis and reinstated after breaks in service of less than a year.

MCAA filed comments on its own behalf and on behalf of the Construction Employers of America after the draft proposed regulations were sent to the Office of Management and Budget and Office of Information and Regulatory Analysis (OIRA) for pre-clearance before the expected early release of a regulatory proposal in February 2016.

MCAA’s comments raised a number of questions about the statutory authority for the EO and the specific implementation issues under the federal Acquisition Regulations. MCAA also requested an in-person discussion on the comments at OIRA in the review process. OIRA is expected to grant that request and provide a hearing with MCAA and coalition representatives in late January. MCAA is assembling a team of select federal contractors, prime and subcontractors that perform covered federal new construction and service contracts to discuss the EO issues with OIRA in late January.

Read the Comments

MCAA Seeks Delay on Affirmative Action and Non-Discrimination Regs

As the last year of the Obama Administration begins, regulatory activity is intensifying to get long-delayed initiatives off the regulatory docket and into regulations before the end of the legislative year to avoid Congressional suspension and review of midnight regulations. One issue concerns new and much more comprehensive affirmative action and non-discrimination regulations proposed for registered apprenticeship programs.

MCAA filed comments in late December seeking an extension of the comment period, slated to close January 5, until March 6, 2016 or later. The delay would allow more comprehensive and constructive analyses of sweeping new rules that set goals for disabled apprenticeship applicants and written affirmative action plans, comprised of specific labor market workforce availability analyses for minority and female candidates, and utilization analyses and specific goals and timetables for affirmative action goal compliance.

The proposed regulations also add age and gender identity/sexual preference as categories for non-discrimination safeguards in program administration. Penalties for non-compliance range up to program de-registration.

MCAA is working with the UA and the International Training Fund and an outside consultant on program compliance guidance. The Department of Labor granted the extension, with the comment period now due to expire on January 20, 2016.

Braconier Plumbing & Heating Contributes to MCERF

The Mechanical Contracting Education & Research Foundation (MCERF) recently received a $250 contribution from the Braconier Plumbing & Heating Company (Englewood, CO).

The MCERF Board of Trustees greatly appreciates the support which helps the Foundation continue its education and research programs that keep our industry thriving and advancing.

UA and MCAA Submit Joint Comments on New Apprenticeship Regulations

UA General President Bill Hite and MCAA President Steve Dawson submitted joint UA/MCAA comments on the Department of Labor’s new broad non-discrimination and affirmative action requirements for federal and state registered joint apprenticeship and training programs.

Marking yet another positive and constructive advance in joint UA/MCAA public policy advocacy during the Hite Administration, the joint comments advise the Department of Labor (DoL):

“The UA and the MCAA share the Department’s commitment to ensuring that apprenticeship and training and job sites where UA apprentices and journeypersons’ work are free from discrimination. The UA/MCAA further believe that all applicants for admission to the UA/MCAA apprenticeship program should be treated fairly and evaluated on their ability, skill, and potential to successfully complete an apprenticeship program, and not on their race, ethnicity, age, gender, gender identity, or disability.”

The comments then present a detailed analysis of the many potentially severe unintended consequences that the proposed rules’ assumptions may present for the sustainability of the registered apprenticeship training model; for instance, the broad assumption that any program that doesn’t perfectly match the racial, ethnic, and sexual identity of the Census data for the corresponding recruitment area is then suspected of tolerating discrimination or other barriers to the entry of “underutilized” populations of potential recruits.

The comments rebut that assumption with a number of factual statements and a test case showing that an applicant’s interest in the employment opportunity, the nature of the work and the skills, training and certifications required are the primary influences on whether individuals in a particular Census category choose to seek entry into apprenticeship programs.

The comments also contest the underestimated paperwork costs and the fiduciary questions trustees may face if the compliance costs outweigh the benefits to the program in particular areas.

The UA/MCAA comments ask the DoL to suspend the rulemaking or withdraw the proposed rules and engage in further fact-finding to avoid the potentially severe unintended consequences that seem to have been overlooked in the initial proposal.

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