Local Upate

The Borough of Fanwood, NJ may enter into an experimental deal for temporary labor with one of the county’s unions next week, in a cost-saving measure that will serve as a test for other municipalities around the state.

The council will vote July 13 on the agreement with Building Laborers’ Local 394 enabling the borough to hire workers at an hourly wage to augment its shorthanded public works department.

“It’s all about smaller government working more efficiently, and I think this was an opportunity,” Mayor Colleen Mahr said, noting the agreement would save the borough in overtime costs and benefits in tight budgetary times.

The agreement would be a pilot program for all the state’s labor unions, said New Jersey Laborers’ Union spokesman Robert Lewandowski, noting other mayors have expressed interest.

“The construction industry is decimated, so these are really people who are looking for work as well,” he said, noting unemployment among the state’s labor unions ranges between 20 percent and 40 percent. “I think necessity truly is the mother of invention.”

The borough of 7,100 currently has six workers, one secretary and a director in the public works department. As a cost-saving measure, the borough has not replaced an employee who resigned in March.

If the council approves the agreement, the borough could ask the union for workers to perform specific tasks like emergency snow removal or small projects in the capital improvements budget like sidewalk replacements. Mahr said the laborers’ hourly rates would be similar to the salary range of its full-time workers but without health benefits or vacation time.

“These guys are trained to do it, and they’re the same people the contractors would be using, quite frankly,” Fanwood chief financial officer Fred Tomkins said at Tuesday’s borough council meeting. “You would eliminate the contractors’ profit, because there wouldn’t be a profit.”

Tomkins said he had worked out similar arrangements for capital projects in Jersey City years ago, but Mahr said Fanwood would be the first municipality in Union County to try it out.

Fanwood’s council members favored the proposal.

“As a union man, I applaud this terrifically, especially if we could somehow get our own local residents,” said councilman Michael Szuch, who works as an electrician, at Tuesday’s meeting.

Source: NJ.com

NOTICE TO PROPOSERS:

It is the responsibility of each proposer to ensure that its proposal is received by the Department of General Services prior to the Proposal Submission Deadline, regardless of method of delivery used. No proposal shall be considered if it arrives after the Proposal Submission Deadline, regardless of reason for the late arrival. Proposals delivered in person by the proposer or through an authorized representative will be received by the Department of General Services, on the 3rd Floor of the Arsenal, Building, Harrisburg, from individuals presenting picture identification and providing evidence of his/her authorization from the proposer to deliver the proposal on behalf of the proposer, no later than the Proposal Submission Deadline.  All envelopes containing proposals must be clearly marked “PROPOSAL” and must include the proposer’s name, address, project name and project number.

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Lehigh Valley Live is reporting that dozens of Hercules Cement Co. employees lined the road into the plant Monday to strike against a job transfer policy that some employees worry could lead to abuse by supervisors.

The strike is not driven by wages or benefits but rather language in a proposed contract that would give the company the power to move workers into different roles at the plant, Teamster Local 773 Chief Steward Tim Groller said.

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GBCA is pleased to announce the release of the Four County Market Share Recapture Program by the International Union of Operating Engineers, Local #542. … Read More

On May 12, 2010 at approximately 4:30 p.m., the Contractors Association of Eastern PA had reached tentative settlements with the following trades:

Carpenters

Cement Masons

Laborers

Operating Engineers

Accordingly, the CAEP Labor Committee withdrew its shutdown directive.

Soon after (5:30 p.m.), the CAEP also reached a tentative settlement with the Teamsters for a $1.01 hour increase.

The Philadelphia Inquirer is reporting that the Contractors Association of Eastern Pennsylvania said on its website that it has reached a tentative agreement with the union that represents laborers on highway and road construction sites.

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The GBCA has a signed Memorandums of Agreement with both the Metropolitan Regional Council of Carpenters and the Cement Masons Local 592.

Each is a one-year agreement that includes a financial settlement of $0.75. The distribution has yet to be determined.

The GBCA will release the details of the agreements as each Memorandum is completed and signed and the contracts are ratified.

The Inquirer is reporting that work stoppages on major road projects around the area continue Tuesday after talks between the Contractors Association of Eastern Pennsylvania and four unions representing laborers, cement masons, carpenters and operating engineers ended without a contract settlement on Monday.

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The GBCA bargaining team has reached tentative settlements with the following trades:

Carpenters

Cement Masons

Operating Engineers

Details will follow. Check LaborLink frequently for updates.

For GBCA members tomorrow is a workday for all trades, with the exception of the Cement Masons, who continue to be on strike.

Any contractors experiencing work stoppages, picket lines, or job site damages should report that information to the GBCA Headquarters at 215-568-7015.