Regional councils and locals that make up the United Brotherhood of Carpenters, our parent organization, participated in more than 200 events and initiatives across the United States and Canada during construction-industry Tax Fraud Days of Action. See a recap here.

Construction-industry tax fraud hurts everyone – workers, including our members, and their families, law-abiding contractors, communities, school children, veterans, and all taxpayers. The Southern States Millwright Regional Council ran a geofence campaign, sent letters to attorneys general and political leaders, and implemented a member-education campaign. Learn more about Tax Fraud Days of Action 2022 here.

Two SSMRC staff members were among a small group of union leaders who met with the U.S. vice president and labor secretary in Durham, North Carolina, on March 2, sharing concerns about unfair competition from law-breaking contractors and about the need for government policies that support contractors who hire skilled workers and provide good wages and benefits. Read more about the meeting here.

America is approaching Tuesday, November 8, 2022. In the 2022 midterm election year, all 435 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives and 35 of the 100 seats in the U.S. Senate will be up for vote. Thirty-nine state and territorial gubernatorial elections and numerous other state and local elections also will be held. These will be the first elections affected by the redistricting that followed the 2020 census.

Voting is a constitutional right – a right that perhaps only those who have been deprived of it can fully appreciate. You decide to either be part of history or to sit on the sidelines without a voice. Primaries are happening across the South; make a plan to get out to vote. Voting laws across several Southern states have changed. Read more here to find out what you need to know.

Six members and staff of the SSMRC gained valuable information and tools to share by attending the 2022 Get Out the Vote Conference, held by our parent organization, the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, in March at its International Training Center in Las Vegas.

“Voting is important, and we must continue to be aware elections have consequences,” said Local 1263 Business Agent Charles Smith, who attended the event. All six SSMRC attendees plan to use what they learned at the conference to communicate with other members about the importance of voting.

UBC Southern District Vice President Dennis Donahou (pictured on the right) and Bryan Spradley, (center), director of the Arkansas-Oklahoma Carpenters and Millwrights Training Program, hosted U.S. Sen. John Boozman (R-Arkansas) at the new Russellville Training Center. Read more about the visit here.

Over the next decade, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law will create millwright work through investments of $73 billion in electric-grid and power-generation infrastructure, $55 billion in water and wastewater infrastructure, and $25 billion in airports. So far, $2.89 billion has been made available to rebuild U.S. airports.

For the first time in 40 years, the U.S. Labor Department is proposing comprehensive updates to the Davis-Bacon Act. The changes would speed up prevailing wage updates, improve efficiency, and ensure prevailing-wage rates keep up with actual wages, according to the department.

"Updating these regulations will ensure workers on federal projects are being paid fairly and help contractors recruit and retain skilled workers," a Labor Department statement reads. Learn more about the proposed changes here.

A proposal by a Republican U.S. senator from Florida would increase income taxes for the lowest-earning 40% of Americans and allow all federal legislation to “sunset” within five years, meaning programs including Social Security, Medicare, and more would end unless Congress reauthorized them. States where the most people would be affected by tax hikes under the plan are Southern ones. Read more about the proposal here.

A warehouse in Staten Island, New York, has become the first U.S. Amazon facility to unionize. Former and current employees mounted a campaign that led to a vote of 2,654 for the union and 2,131 against it. Results were announced April 1. Read more here.

Around the same time, votes were counted in a second election at the Amazon facility in Bessemer, Alabama. With 993 no votes and 875 yes votes, Amazon won the second election with a much slimmer margin than it won the first, after which the National Labor Relations Board ordered a re-vote due to misconduct by Amazon. The Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union again filed complaints with the NLRB, saying Amazon illegally interfered with the second election.

Allegations include the company threatening an employee with plant closure if the union was voted in, barring employees from posting pro-union literature, and engaging in surveillance and/or creating the impression of surveillance of employees engaged in protected activities, and more. Read an article about the man who was fired and about the aftermath of the vote.

Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt signed a bill into law May 20 that reduces the time Oklahomans can receive unemployment benefits from 26 weeks to 16 weeks beginning in January of next year. Starting in January of 2025, the number of benefit weeks will range from 16 to 20, depending on the number of people seeking benefits. Read the bill here.

Bills the Louisiana Legislature is considering would reduce the maximum number of weeks a person could receive unemployment benefits from 26 to 12 weeks when the state’s unemployment rate is at or below 5.5% and to 20 weeks when the state unemployment rate is above 5.5%. The same bill would increase the weekly benefit amount, and others would increase the minimum weekly benefit amount. Additional bills call for verification of job interviews and require the Louisiana Workforce Commission to conduct more checks to prevent fraudulent filing and payment of claims.

Gov. Brian Kemp signed into law in May a measure that would help prevent employers from misclassifying workers as independent contractors rather than employees. By classifying a worker as an independent contractor, an employer can avoid paying employee benefits and the employer portion of employee taxes. In addition, independent contractors are not eligible for unemployment benefits. Read the bill here.

A bill Kemp signed into law in April rewards contractors for employing apprentices. Contractors can “sponsor” apprentices in U.S. Labor Department-registered apprenticeship programs for high-demand careers and receive an award of up to $10,000 for each apprentice who remains in their employment through program completion. Read more here.

In November, members who live in Tennessee will have the opportunity to vote on a proposed amendment – Amendment No. 1 – that would add a falsely named “right-to-work” clause to the state constitution.

Right-to-work laws, which are in place in 27 states, allow workers to opt out of supporting unions while unions remain legally bound to represent them. This robs locals of the resources they need to bargain well, enforce contracts, build solidarity, and survive labor disputes. In states with RTW legislation, workers earn lower wages, on average, than their peers in other states and are less likely to have employer-provided health insurance and retirement plans. And they are more likely to die in workplace incidents.

Please make plans to Vote “No” on this amendment and to encourage others to do the same.