The Blog

Few in construction would dispute that the eight million people the industry employes nationwide are our most valuable asset. These men and women use tools every day. In May, which is Mental Health Awareness Month, we focus on making sure they have the tools they need for suicide prevention and to enhance their mental health.

Imagine you receive an email from a known creditor containing an invoice for an account payable. The email contains instructions for you to pay the invoice through an accredited clearing house (ACH). The email further contains the creditor’s bank account information for depositing the ACH payment. You pay the invoice by depositing the ACH payment as instructed in the email.

According to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of 2022 state union membership data published recently by UnionStats.com, at least 9 out of 10 construction workers in private industry do not belong to a union in 26 states, up from 24 states in 2021. Nationwide, a record 88.3% of construction workers do not belong to a union, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, up from 87.4% in 2021.

WASHINGTON, April 11—Associated Builders and Contractors reported today that its Construction Backlog Indicator declined to 8.7 months in March, according to an ABC member survey conducted March 20 to April 3. The reading is 0.4 months higher than in March 2022.

Rarely does a day go by in which the leaders of ABC MA companies don’t strategize about how to find and retain the qualified workers we need to meet the demand for our services. Meeting the challenge will require us to broaden our search for talent.

WASHINGTON, April 7—The construction industry lost 9,000 jobs on net in March, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of data released today by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. On a year-over-year basis, industry employment has grown by 196,000 jobs, an increase of 2.5%.

In February 2023, the National Labor Relations Board (the "NLRB") issued a decision, McLaren Macomb, 372 NLRB No. 58, that impacts the use of routine confidentiality and non-disparagement provisions common in many separation agreements. Notably, this decision applies to any employees and employers who are covered by the National Labor Relations Act in the private sector, whether or not the employees are represented by a union.

One of the biggest challenges our industry faces is finding enough qualified workers to meet the demand for construction services. In that environment, we don’t have the luxury of ignoring any pool of potential talent. ABC MA recognizes this fact – it’s why we’re conducting an ongoing diversity survey with proceeds from a state grant.

Gov. Maura Healey wants to separate housing and economic development in the state's bureaucracy, mostly to give housing production the enhanced focus she says it desperately needs. But Healey doesn't want to completely shatter the connection between the two topics.

If we take a moment to think about when we started in the construction industry, most of us will shake our heads at the thought of how much things have changed. Technology has transformed our lives in recent decades, and it’s unlikely that it’s changed anything more than the way we make a living.