There's still time for you to help preserve thousands of union members' jobs in the nuclear industry. Please contact your congressperson to support a bill in the U.S. Congress called H.R. 4024, the Zero-Emission Nuclear Power Production Credit Act of 2021. Sending a letter by clicking the button below takes less than 30 seconds.

The Zero-Emission Nuclear Power Production Credit Act creates a new business-related tax credit through 2030 for the production of electricity from zero-emission nuclear power. It also requires a recapture of credit amounts for contractors who fail to pay their employees the prevailing wage rate. Contractors must ensure that at least 15% of their workforce is composed of qualified apprentices unless there is a lack of availability of qualified apprentices in the applicable geographic area.

Please click the button below to contact your member of Congress and ask them to co-sponsor this important piece of legislation. If prompted to choose a category for your letter, select "Energy." Feel free to add personal information to the letter.

Please ask your congressperson to support Project Labor Agreements (or PLAs). This also takes less than 30 seconds. PLAs are under attack by the Associated Builders and Contractors, an anti-union organization. The group is lobbying Congress against PLAs, calling them rigged and costly.

Project Labor Agreements are pre-hire contracts that help everyone on a construction site — from developers and contractors to workers and taxpayers. PLAs make sure the playing field is level for all contractors and that construction companies pay a good wage and follow safety regulations. Creating good jobs isn’t rigging the system. The system should be creating good jobs.

You can tell your congressperson you support PLAs by clicking the button below. If prompted to choose a category for your letter, select "Labor."

The Tennessee Legislature has voted to put an amendment that would add a “right-to-work” clause to the state's constitution on the ballot in November 2022. Tennessee already has a “right-to-work” law, but legislators want to make it as difficult as possible to repeal the law by enshrining it in the state constitution. A constitutional amendment also could hamper federal efforts to weaken right-to-work laws.

A bill that would put a "right-to-work" clause in the North Carolina constitution was introduced in that state's Senate on April 7.

Falsely named right-to-work (RTW) laws, which are in place in 27 states (including all 11 states in the SSMRC's jurisdiction), allow workers to opt out of supporting unions while unions remain legally bound to represent them. Those workers enjoy union-negotiated wages and benefits without paying dues. 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 3% lower wages, on average, than their peers in other states. Workers in RTW states also are less likely to have employer-provided health insurance and retirement plans. And they are more likely to die in workplace incidents. In contrast to legislatures in Tennessee and North Carolina, the Illinois General Assembly has voted to place a constitutional amendment before voters in 2022 that would BAN “right-to-work” laws. A recent study shows right-to-work states under-perform Illinois on wages, income growth, workforce productivity, poverty, and workplace safety. Read the report here.

If you live in Tennessee, you will have the opportunity to vote on the proposed constitutional amendment in November 2022. Please vote "no" and encourage others to do the same.

If you live in North Carolina, please click here or the button below to ask your senator to vote no on Senate Bill 624. It takes less than 30 seconds!

Labor leaders, including Millwright Local 2411 Business Agent Robert Jeffers, spoke to the Jacksonville, Florida, City Council on Aug. 10 about the need for city-funded construction projects to utilize local residents enrolled in Registered Apprenticeship Programs.

“There are millions of dollars around here going into projects,” Jeffers said. “If we could get this language implemented, we can get our future workers trained and spend the money on local families.” Learn more here.

The U.S. Senate approved a $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill Aug. 10 that would provide $73 billion for electric grid and power infrastructure, $110 billion for roads and bridges, $65 billion for broadband investments, $55 billion for water systems and infrastructure, $25 billion for airports, and more. The House of Representatives is expected to vote on the bill by Sept. 27.

Funding in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act would create significant work for union millwrights.

The United Brotherhood of Carpenters, our parent organization, has commended the legislation and is urging members of the House of Representatives to pass it. Read more about the bill and what potentially lies ahead. View fact sheets by state about the impact of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act is part of the Biden administration's overall spending plan. A proposed budget reconciliation bill would fund additional components of the plan, which fall under the Build Back Better agenda. Read a UBC fact sheet about the Build Back Better agenda here.

The U.S. Department of Labor rescinded on July 29 the "Joint Employer Rule" issued under the Trump administration.

“This is a welcome decision,” said Douglas J. McCarron, general president of the UBC. “The 2020 Joint Employer Rule made it easier for employers to evade minimum wage, overtime, and record-keeping requirements.”

A federal court struck down most of the rule last year, stating that it was contrary to the Fair Labor Standards Act and was “arbitrary and capricious” due to its failure to explain why the DOL's Wage and Hour Division had deviated from all prior guidance and had not adequately considered the rule's effect on workers. Read more in a federal register alert and a UBC press release.

A U.S. Senate vote on June 8 struck down an amendment to the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act that was meant to remove the bill’s prevailing wage, or Davis-Bacon, provisions. This was the first major floor vote on Davis Bacon in the U.S. Senate in over a decade. A bipartisan group of 58 senators (listed above) voted to reject the amendment that would have stripped labor standards from the bill. 

A recent example of Davis-Bacon wage violations occurred when a Mississippi-based plumbing, heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning contractor with 10 Southeast locations violated Davis-Bacon and related acts and was forced to pay back wages and fringe benefits to 45 workers.

Watch a United Brotherhood of Carpenters video below about Davis-Bacon and learn how it protects your wages, your job, and your community.

A new law in West Virginia denies workers unemployment benefits, workers compensation, state wage payment, and anti-discrimination protection when they sign take-it-or-leave-it contracts that convert them from employees to independent contractors. The law is part of an initiative of legislators with the extremist American Legislative Ex-change (ALEC). ALEC created the model legislation, which has been proposed in Missouri, Oklahoma, Louisiana and North Carolina.