ABC Central Ohio - News

New ABC Multiskilling Research Proves the Merit Shop Case—And Hands Wage-Hour Auditors a Roadmap

Fri, 11 Sep 2026 12:32:42 GMT

Bottom line for employers:
On September 2, 2026, Associated Builders and Contractors and the Simplar Foundation released the first national field study of multiskilling in U.S. construction. Multiskilled crews put 39% more time into direct construction work, cut idle time 68%, and covered with 10 workers what single-trade crews needed 14 to 17 workers to cover. The productivity argument is the good news. The compliance argument is not. Every hour a worker spends outside his primary trade is an hour that Davis-Bacon, the FLSA, and the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation will classify for you—at the highest rate—if your records do not classify it first.

What the Research Found
The Simplar Foundation, with researchers from the University of Kansas, Arizona State University, and the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, published four reports on September 2, 2026, with two more due in the coming months. The field work was real, not modeled: 40 site visits to 36 projects across 24 states and 22 project types, 60 multiskilled crews totaling 644 workers at 30 contractors, and more than 11,400 work-sampling observations. Workers spent 36% of their time outside their primary trade across 128 distinct trade combinations. Measured against a single-trade counterfactual applied to the same observed work sequences, direct work time rose 39% and idle time fell 68%, both at a 99% confidence level, and covering the same scope without multiskilling would have taken 45% to 72% more workers. Participating contractors
reported a 0.74 total recordable incident rate across 33.2 million work hours, 57% below benchmark.

Why This Matters for Merit Shop Contractors
Multiskilling is not a productivity tactic that happens to suit the merit shop. It is the merit shop. A contractor that advances workers on ability rather than craft jurisdiction can put a qualified worker on the next task in front of him. A contractor bound by jurisdictional work rules cannot, and there is now peer-reviewed field data putting a number on what that costs. Principal investigator Dr. Brian Lines described a Midwest data center where an electrical contractor was barred by work rules from offloading skids it had prefabricated in its own shop—crews waited on a handoff that served nothing except the rule itself.

That research is evidence you can put in front of an owner, a contracting officer, or a court. Use it. But understand what you are also putting in front of a Wage and Hour investigator: a peer- reviewed statement that a third of your workers' hours fall outside their primary classification.

Three Places Multiskilling Creates Real Exposure

Federal and federally assisted work: split classifications or pay the top rate. Under 29 C.F.R. § 5.5(a)(1)(i), a laborer or mechanic who performs work in more than one classification "may be compensated at the rate specified for each classification for the time actually worked therein"— but only "Provided, that the employer's payroll records accurately set forth the time spent in each classification in which work is performed." Miss that proviso and the whole day gets paid at the higher rate, with back wages and interest. Weekly certified payrolls under § 5.5(a)(3) must show each worker's "correct classification(s) of work actually performed" and daily and weekly hours. The June 2026 order from the Northern District of Texas narrowed the 2023 Davis-Bacon rule
only as to offsite facilities, delivery drivers, and retroactivity. Certified payroll, apprentice ratios, and fringe crediting are untouched.

Overtime: the regular rate is a weighted average, not the last rate worked. If your multiskilled workers earn different rates for different work—and if they do not, you are underpaying your best people—29 C.F.R. § 778.115 controls: "Where an employee in a single workweek works at two or more different types of work for which different non-overtime rates of pay . . . have been established, his regular rate for that week is the weighted average of such rates." Paying overtime
at whatever rate the worker happened to be earning at hour 41 is a violation, and it multiplies across a crew, a season, and a two-year limitations period. The § 7(g)(2) alternative is available, but only under an agreement reached with the employee before the work is performed.

Ohio workers' compensation: no records, highest-rated classification. Ohio Adm.Code 4123- 17-08(G) lets you divide one employee's payroll across manual classifications, but the rule is unforgiving: records "must reflect actual time spent working within each job classification," and "[e]stimated or percentage allocation of payroll is not permitted." If the records do not show actual payroll by classification, "the entire payroll of the individual employee must be assigned to the highest rated classification that represents any part of his or her work." On a crew of multiskilled electricians and instrumentation techs, that is a premium swing you will feel at true-up and again in your experience modifier.

Licensing and Safety: Where the Trap Is Quieter
Ohio licenses contractors, not journeymen. Under R.C. Chapter 4740, the Ohio Construction Industry Licensing Board licenses an individual as an electrical, plumbing, HVAC, hydronics, or refrigeration contractor; the "tradespersons" that contractor employs need no individual state license. Ohio therefore gives you more room to multiskill in the field than states that license individual journeymen. That advantage stops at the municipal line and at the state border confirm local registration and permit rules before you cross-task, and do not assume an Ohio staffing model travels to Michigan or West Virginia. OSHA training follows the worker, not the job title. Section 1926.21(b)(2) requires the employer to "instruct each employee in the recognition and avoidance of unsafe conditions and the regulations applicable to his work environment." A multiskilled worker has several work environments. The study documented the practice that satisfies this: crafts broken into discrete tasks, each worker competency-tested per task, proficiency verified before release to the field. Keep those records—per-task training and consistent enforcement are also elements of the unpreventable employee misconduct defense.

The Policy Fight Is Not Over
Government-mandated project labor agreements remain the single largest legal obstacle to the productivity this research documents. Executive Order 14063 and FAR Subpart 22.5 still require a PLA on direct federal construction projects estimated at $35 million or more, and on April 21, 2026, the Eleventh Circuit declined to enjoin the mandate in ABC's challenge. MVL USA gave relief limited to the specific procurements at issue. Assume the mandate applies.

Assume it, and then attack it project by project. FAR 22.504(d)(1) lets a senior procurement executive except a project when a PLA "would not advance the Federal Government's interests in achieving economy and efficiency," or when market research shows a PLA "would substantially reduce the number of potential offerors." Those exceptions have always been argued on assertion. They can now be argued on peer-reviewed national field data. Exceptions must be granted by the solicitation date, so the time to make the record is before the solicitation issues, not after you lose the bid.

What Contractors Should Do Now

Fix timekeeping first. Code hours by classification daily, not weekly and not by estimate.One change protects you under Davis-Bacon, the FLSA, and Ohio BWC at once. Without it, multiskilling converts a productivity gain into a three-agency liability.
Audit one prevailing wage job this month. Compare the classifications on your certified payrolls against the work the crew actually performed. One classification per worker per day on a multiskilled crew is a problem to fix before someone else finds it.
Recalculate overtime on your dual-rate workers. Confirm you are using a weighted average regular rate. If you intend to use the § 7(g)(2) method, get the agreement in writing and in place before the work is performed.
Document the competency, not just the training. Task-level qualification records are the difference between a defensible program and an OSHA citation for putting an untrained worker in an unfamiliar hazard.
Build the PLA exception record now. If you bid federal work at or above $35 million, get the ABC and Simplar findings into your market-research responses and pre-solicitation communications while a contracting officer can still act on them.
Check your comp classifications before true-up. A payroll division that fails Ohio Adm.Code 4123-17-08(G) is not fixed retroactively—it is assessed at the highest rate.

Bottom Line
ABC and Simplar just handed merit shops their best evidence yet that multiskilling builds faster, safer, and with fewer people—and that the rules restricting it cost owners and taxpayers real money. Use it. But the same research tells every regulator that a third of your workers' hours cross classification lines. The contractors who win are the ones whose records prove which hour went where.

If you want your timekeeping, certified payrolls, and craft-qualification records pressure- tested before your next prevailing wage audit or federal bid, we are ready to help. Reach out anytime.

Matt Austin
Matt Austin Labor Law
614.843.3041 |
matt@mattaustinlaborlaw.com

City of Columbus Construction Announcement

Fri, 11 Sep 2026 12:31:53 GMT

The purpose of this announcement is to increase awareness amongst bidder potential bidders of the upcoming Home Road Water Plant (HRWP) project that the City of Columbus is planning to construct. An informational session will be held to update potential bidders on the project. The session will be hosted on GoTo Webinar on September 14, 2026 from 2-3 pm EST.

Please see the project website (https://cbuswater.com/home-road-water-plant/) for additional information. The registration link for the session can be found on the website and is provided below:

Home Road Water Plant
Contractor Information Meeting
September 14, 2026, 2pm - 3pm ET

Project Delivery, Schedule, and Budget Update for Potential Contractors

Delivery of the HRWP is in two separate contracts. The Site Preparation Contract was bid and awarded in 2024. The Water Plant Contract advertised in February 2026 with a bid opening of August 26, 2026. No bids were received and therefore the City of Columbus plans to deliver the Water Plant project using a Construction Manager at Risk (CMAR). The session will focus on the Water Plant Project. Information on the two HRWP contracts is provided below:

Site Preparation Contract

Status
- NTP Feb 2025
- Substantial completion July 2028
- Contract amount: $107,600,000
Scope
- Grading at 138kV substation
- Construction of 138kV substation
- Duct bank from substation to HRWP electrical manhole
- Site clearing, tree removal
- Existing utility, pavement and building demolition
- Bedrock removal
- Widening Dublin Road for dedicated turn lanes for access to HRWP
Sediment, erosion control, storm sewers

Water Plant Contract

Status – subject to change
- Issue CMAR Request for Qualifications (RFQ): October 18, 2026
- Short list and Issue Request for Proposals (RFP): December 15, 2026
Scope
- Duct bank between HRWP electrical manhole and HRWP Primary Electrical Building
- Procurement/installation of diesel generators
- Procurement/installation of main switchgear at HRWP
- Procurement/installation of high service pump station switchgear at HRWP
- Procurement/installation of unit substations at HRWP
- Intake in O’Shaughnessy Reservoir
- Raw water pump station
- Intake/pump station in North Cell of Merchant Road Quarry
- Residuals disposal in the South Cell of Merchant Road Quarry
- All water plant facilities not constructed under the early electrical and site packages (e.g., administration/maintenance building, treatment structures/buildings, clearwells. high service pump station, etc.)

IBEW “Job Blitz” Targets Columbus

Wed, 09 Sep 2026 13:14:56 GMT

SPECIAL REPORT · LABOR RELATIONS

IBEW “Job Blitz” Targets Columbus

Job Sites: What Merit-
Shop Contractors Need to Know

Bottom line for employers: The IBEW is bringing organizers from across its six-state Fourth District to Columbus this month to canvass active job sites, hand your electricians a flyer, and offer them same-day placement with a union contractor. The plumbers and pipefitters (UA) and the Ohio State Building Trades are watching to see whether it works before doing the same. This is a recruiting raid on your workforce first and an organizing campaign second. Organizers standing on the public right-of-way at your gate cannot be stopped. Organizers on the site itself can be removed only by whoever controls the property, and your own employees keep the right to talk union on their breaks. The leaflet is not the real risk. A foreman’s reaction to it is.

What we know about the Columbus blitz

The plan surfaced on September 3, when Dorsey Hager, Executive Secretary-Treasurer of the Columbus/Central Ohio Building & Construction Trades Council, described it on the America’s Work Force Union Podcast. In his words, the IBEW is “coming to Columbus and doing a huge, what they’re calling job blitz, where they’re going to have organizers from all over the Fourth District hitting job sites, blanketing, leafletting, flyering a lot of those folks that are working on those job sites and letting them know that there’s immediate opportunities if they want to come and join the unions.” The leafleting will be followed by “an all-day session with contractors and union reps” where workers “can come, have any of their questions answered … and they’ll be able to place them directly with a contractor.”

Hager added that “if this goes good, I know the UA is thinking about copying the concept,” and that he has “already been in initial conversations with President Bobby Cole and Executive Secretary Mark Douglas and the State Building Trades to do this on a council-wide level.”

What has not been published: dates, participating locals, headcount, or target sites. As of September 7, IBEW Local 683’s website and September calendar show nothing about a blitz, and no Columbus news outlet has covered it. Hager said he would give an update on his next monthly segment, which puts the next public word in early October. Assume the blitz is happening in the meantime and that you will not get advance notice.

One data point worth watching. On Thursday, September 3, a union-side recruiter promoted a “hiring event” in Reynoldsburg: 14 IBEW signatory contractors in one room from 3 to 8 p.m., advertised starting pay of $41–$46 an hour plus benefits, free food and a free pair of Klein pliers for anyone with proof of three years’ experience, and “no commitment — show up, compare your options, and find out exactly what your experience is worth.” The Ohio AFL-CIO shared it. Nobody has officially tied that event to the blitz, but it is exactly the format Hager described, and it tells you the pitch your people will hear.

How a job blitz works: the IBEW playbook

A job blitz is not new. What is new is the scale and the money behind it. The IBEW reports it added more than 34,000 members in 2026, its largest one-year gain in over 50 years, to reach roughly 908,000, with a stated goal of one million members before 2030. Locals 683 (Columbus inside) and 1105 (Newark, which covers New Albany) are described by the Building Trades as two of the fastest-growing IBEW locals in North America. Central Ohio building-trades hours have gone from about 4 million a year a decade ago to more than 18 million in 2025, with roughly 40 percent of those hours on data centers. The union halls cannot fill the calls. Your journeymen are the supply.

The blitz model the Fourth District is bringing to Columbus has a track record:

Ohio, October 2025. The Fourth District ran an “IBEW Job Blitz in Ohio” with seven teams drawn from locals including 129 (Lorain) and 306 (Akron). By the union’s own count the teams visited 78 job sites across three jurisdictions in one week and held four “top-down” conversations with contractor owners.
Dallas–Fort Worth, March 29–April 2, 2026. Eighty-three organizers and volunteers from five IBEW districts leafleted non-union job sites and knocked on the doors of licensed journeymen. Applications were taken on smartphones on the spot. The week ended with a job fair at the Local 20 hall: about 500 applicants, color-coded badges by classification, contractors hiring by scanning a QR code, and nearly 100 wiremen hired that night. Local 20 added 440 members in April, the most in its history for a single month.
Baltimore, June 2026. The Fourth District staged a blitz during its Progress Meeting with roughly 115 participants from all of its locals, including three International Vice Presidents and IBEW President Kenneth Cooper. The stated goal: “get on as many of these job sites as we can, make as many contacts as we can, leave good impressions on the non-union electricians.” The IBEW’s takeaway for its locals was blunt: “build a plan, bring members together, and conduct a blitz in your own jurisdiction.”
The older template. IBEW organizers described the Florida model in 2008 the same way: “make unannounced visits to jobsites, find the electricians, hand out fliers, and then quickly leave,” then invite everyone to a hotel-ballroom “industry night” with signatory contractors. The Fifth District’s 2015 “Industry Night Blitz” across Louisiana and Alabama used GPSrouted site lists and visited 156 non-union shops.

Two tracks, run at the same time. “Bottom-up” means recruiting your electricians directly into the hall with a wage sheet and a job. “Top-down” means visiting you, the owner, and pitching a signatory agreement so you can keep your crew and get access to the hall. Blitz teams do both. If an organizer asks for a meeting with ownership, that is the top-down call. Organizers use a mobile app (Action Builder) to map every active job in the jurisdiction and log every contact, so assume they already know where your crews are.

The UA version. The United Association runs a formal national blitz program with the Mechanical Contractors Association. MCAA’s own description: “you will visit jobsites, supply houses, gas stations, offices of non-union contractors, and other areas that are frequented by non-union mechanical and plumbing employees.” Week-long blitzes bring in organizers from around the country to saturate a market, with the local following up on leads for months. The 2026 calendar ends in Des Moines (October 4–9); 2027 stops are Houston, San Diego, Milwaukee, and Philadelphia. No Ohio blitz is on the national UA schedule. A Columbus effort would be a Local 189 initiative, and Hager says it is being considered.

Scheduled locations and trades: confirmed vs. not

Here is the current picture. Nothing in the “Not yet published” column has been announced by any union; we will update this report when it is.

The law: can they leaflet your job site?

Short answer: from the street, yes. On the site, only if whoever controls the property lets them. Here is how the rules break down.

1. The public right-of-way belongs to them

A public sidewalk, the shoulder of a public road, or the public approach to your gate is not yours to police. Organizers may stand there, hand out flyers, and talk to anyone who stops. The only limits are ordinary traffic, obstruction, and safety ordinances. Most blitz leafleting happens at shift start and lunch at exactly these spots, because the union knows it.

2. Private property: no right of access, but the exclusion must come from the right party

Non-employee union organizers have no statutory right to enter private property to reach your workers. The Supreme Court settled that: access is required only where employees are so isolated (the classic example is a remote logging camp) that the union has no reasonable way to reach them. A Columbus job site with a gate, a parking area, and workers who go home every night does not qualify.

The catch is who does the excluding. Under the Board’s property-interest rule, an employer may eject organizers only if it holds a property right under state law that allows it to exclude people. The owner has that right. A general contractor with control of the site usually has it by contract. A subcontractor with nothing more than a license to perform its scope of work generally does not, and a sub that throws organizers off a site it does not control commits an unfair labor practice. Before the blitz arrives, know for each active project who controls the property and what that party’s policy on solicitors is.

3. Enforce it consistently

If organizers are excluded, the rule has to be applied evenly. Letting charities, food trucks, and vendors on site does not open the door to the union, but letting other advocacy or organizational groups solicit while barring the IBEW does. A property holder that excludes the union also cannot single it out for different treatment than it gives any other outside group doing the same kind of activity.

4. Ohio trespass law is available, with limits

Ohio criminal trespass is a fourth-degree misdemeanor. It reaches someone who enters or stays on land without privilege, enters a fenced or posted site, or fails to leave after being told to. The federal courts have held that a property owner’s state-law trespass remedies survive when a union enters private property. Two practical limits: the demand to leave must come from the party with the property right, and Columbus-area police routinely treat a peaceful organizer on a construction site as a civil matter and decline to remove anyone. Post and fence the site, give actual notice, and document it. Do not expect a squad car to solve the problem.

5. Leafleting is not picketing, and the picketing rules will not help you

Handing out flyers is treated as speech, not coercion. The Supreme Court held that peaceful handbilling directed at a neutral does not violate the secondary boycott provisions of the Act, and the Board has since held that stationary banners and inflatable rats are not picketing either. The rules you may have heard about for shared construction sites, the Moore Dry Dock standards, reserved gates, and the 30-day cap on recognitional picketing in Section 8(b)(7)(C), all regulate picketing. A job blitz is a leafleting operation. Those rules matter only if the campaign escalates to a picket line, and if it does, a properly posted and policed reserved-gate system is your first move. Call us before the signs go up, not after.

The law: can they talk to your workers?

1. Off the site, without limit

Nothing in federal or Ohio law prevents a union from offering your employee a job. Organizers may call, text, visit homes, message on social media, and work the supply house, the gas station, and the lunch truck. A non-compete or non-solicit agreement you have with an employee does not bind the union. And a handshake “no-poach” understanding among competing contractors is an antitrust problem for you, not protection from the hall.

2. On the site: the fence line is theirs, the inside is the property holder’s

Organizers may talk to your crews from the public side of the fence all day. Inside the fence, the same property-interest rules described above apply. Even where the owner or GC excludes organizers, the exclusion does not stop your own workers from walking out to the gate on a break.

3. Your own employees keep their rights on your site

Your employees may talk about the union with each other on non-working time (breaks, lunch, before and after shift) anywhere on the site, including work areas. They may hand out literature on non-working time in non-working areas. You may ban distribution in active work areas at all times, and you may require that all solicitation take place on non-working time. Two drafting rules: say “working time,” never “working hours” or “company time,” and apply the rule to every subject, not just unions. Work rules are still judged under Stericycle (2023), which asks whether an employee could read the rule as chilling union activity. The General Counsel has asked the Board to scrap that test, but until it does, draft to it.

4. Salts: they can apply, and you can only say no for neutral reasons

A blitz can also plant organizers on your payroll. A paid union organizer who applies for a job is an “employee” under the Act, and refusing to hire someone because of union affiliation is unlawful. The good news is that the employer-side protections remain in place: the Board must prove a salt was a genuine applicant and to prove how long he would actually have stayed before it can award backpay, and General Counsel Memo 25-08 (July 2025) tells the Regions to enforce those requirements. Hire on your written criteria, document them, apply them to everyone, and run every new hire through E-Verify as Ohio’s construction E-Verify law (H.B. 246, effective March 20, 2026) now requires.

What you can and cannot do when the flyers show up

Every serious unfair labor practice charge that comes out of a blitz starts with a supervisor who was surprised. The rules are simple. Brief every foreman and superintendent on them this week.

You can

Tell your employees what you think. Section 8(c) protects your opinion, your facts, and your arguments, as long as they contain no threat and no promise.
Give them the comparison. Wage rate, health plan, retirement, overtime, steady work, and what actually happens to a ten-year non-union journeyman who signs up: hall dues, initiation fees, the referral list, and whether his experience is credited or he starts over. The IBEW is advertising $41–$46 an hour. Know your number against theirs before they ask.
Hold voluntary meetings, announced in advance, with a clear statement that attendance is optional and no one will be penalized for leaving. Mandatory “captive audience” meetings on unionization remain unlawful under the Board’s Amazon decision (November 2024). The General Counsel has asked the new Board to overrule it and the Eleventh Circuit is reviewing it, but nothing has changed yet. Keep meetings voluntary.
Enforce a lawful, consistently applied no-distribution rule in active work areas.
Call the owner or GC and ask them to enforce their own solicitation policy.
Document actual misconduct (blocking a gate, entering a fenced area after notice, safety violations) after it happens, with a written record of the specific reason.

You cannot

Surveil. Do not photograph or video organizers or employees at the gate (F.W. Woolworth, 1993). Do not park a supervisor at the fence to watch who takes a flyer. Supervisors may observe open activity in places they would normally be, and nothing more.
Promise. A raise, a bonus, or a new truck offered to keep someone from going to the hall is an unlawful promise of benefit. Wage adjustments you had already planned should go forward on their planned schedule, with documentation showing they were planned.
Interrogate. “What did they say to you?” and “Are you thinking about it?” are the two questions that turn a flyer into a charge. Do not ask who took one. Do not survey employees about union support. A lawful poll requires secret-ballot safeguards that almost never fit a job site.
Threaten. No talk of layoffs, lost jobs, closing, or “we’ll never sign” as a consequence of union support.

The real defense is economic. The blitz works on people who feel underpaid or underappreciated and have three or more years of experience. If your journeymen are well below the union scale, a foreman’s speech will not hold them. Know your turnover risk.

If the blitz turns into a card campaign

A recruiting blitz can become an organizing campaign at your company if the top-down pitch fails and enough of your crew signs cards. Under the Board’s Cemex decision (2023), an employer that receives a demand for recognition based on signed cards has roughly two weeks to file its own election petition, and unfair labor practices during the campaign can result in a bargaining order without an election. Two things have changed in Ohio’s favor. First, the Sixth Circuit, which covers Ohio, held in Brown-Forman Corp. v. NLRB (March 6, 2026) that Cemex cannot support a bargaining order. Second, the Board now has a 3–1 Republican majority as of August 7, 2026, and General Counsel Crystal Carey’s August 26 memo asks it to overrule Cemex, Stericycle, Amazon, and the rest of the Biden-era decisions. None have been overruled yet. Until they are, a card demand still requires a fast, correct response, and a traditional bargaining order for serious misconduct remains available. If anyone hands you a demand letter, call us the same day.

What to do this week

Map your sites. For every active project: who holds the property (owner or GC), what its solicitation policy says, where the gates are, and where the public right-of-way ends. Ask the GC in writing what it will do when organizers arrive.
Brief the field. Fifteen minutes with every foreman and superintendent on the can/cannot list above. The script for the gate is one sentence: “Take the flyer if you want, be polite, don’t argue, and let the office know they were here.”
Check your handbook. Confirm your solicitation and distribution rule uses “working time,” covers all subjects, and is actually enforced. Fix it now, not after the flyers arrive.
Build the comparison sheet. Total compensation, employee by employee, against the IBEW inside scale and package. Decide now whether any planned adjustments go forward, and document that they were planned.
Tighten hiring. Written criteria, applied to everyone, with E-Verify on every hire. That is your defense to a salting charge.
Do not overreact. No police calls unless you control the property and have given notice. No cameras. No questions. A blitz is designed to provoke a mistake; the leaflet itself does nothing.
Call us at the first flyer. We will want to see it, know which site, and know what was said.

If you want to pressure-test your site access plan, your solicitation rule, or your supervisor talking points before the organizers arrive, we are ready to help. Reach out anytime.

Matt Austin · Matt Austin Labor Law
614.843.3041
matt@mattaustinlaborlaw.com

This report is for general information only and is not legal advice. Reading it does not create an attorneyclient relationship. For advice on a specific situation, contact Matt Austin Labor Law.

ABC Supports EEOC’s Proposal to Rescind EEO-1 Reporting Requirements

Fri, 04 Sep 2026 14:56:14 GMT

On Aug. 24, ABC submitted comments in support of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s July 21 proposed rule to rescind and remove the requirements for the filing of the EEO-1 reports, and the recordkeeping and record preservation requirements related to this report. The EEOC estimates that 110,000 employers will be affected by the proposed deregulatory action.

ABC remains firmly committed to the principles of equal employment opportunity and preventing unlawful discrimination in the workplace. ABC supports policies and programs that meaningfully advance these important objectives while ensuring that employers are not subjected to unnecessary, duplicative or unduly burdensome requirements.

Currently, private employers with 100 or more employees, as well as certain federal contractors with 50 or more employees that meet applicable criteria, are required to submit an annual EEO-1 report to the EEOC. Covered employers are required to collect and report annually on the racial, ethnic and sex demographics of their workforces. Significantly, the reporting requirement applies to covered employers regardless of whether they have ever been accused of violating Title VII or have ever been the subject of a charge of discrimination filed with the EEOC.

ABC agrees with the EEOC that collecting, maintaining and reporting the EEO-1 data places significant burdens on employers across the board—most of whom have never faced, and may never face, an allegation of discrimination. In its comments, ABC highlighted the significant time and resources employers devote to complying with the EEO-1 reporting requirements, noting that these burdens can be particularly significant for smaller employers. The EEOC found that, “based upon an estimate of 110,000 filers submitting reports, the EEOC estimates these filers (i.e., single-establishment employers and multiestablishment employers) will submit a total of 2,235,938 reports annually resulting in 5,238,467 aggregate burden hours annually.”

ABC also raised concerns regarding the potential disclosure of the confidential EEO-1 report’s information. The release of sensitive EEO-1 information to third parties could have serious and lasting consequences for employers, including reputational harm. Accordingly, ABC supports the EEOC’s decision to rescind this data collection and reduce the potential disclosure and misuse of sensitive employer information.

Finally, while ABC is pleased the EEOC proposes to rescind the EEO-1 reporting requirement, many employers will still be required to report demographic workforce data under existing state and/or local reporting requirements. For example, California, Illinois and Massachusetts currently require employers to report workforce demographic information and/or compensation data. And Colorado recently enacted legislation that is similar to the federal EEO-1 reporting requirement, which will go into effect on July 1, 2027. Employers required to collect demographic information under state and/or local laws should have the ability to tailor their collections and recordkeeping to what is required and not be subject to the threat of EEOC enforcement.

For more information on the proposed changes, and how they will affect reporting requirements, read Littler’s analysis.

Trump Administration Unfortunately Continues to Defend Biden-Era Davis-Bacon Rule

Fri, 04 Sep 2026 14:55:35 GMT

Associated Builders and Contractors today issued a statement in response to the U.S. Department of Labor informing a federal court that it has determined not to engage in any additional rulemaking to repeal or further revise former President Joe Biden’s controversial 2023 final rule, Updating the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts Regulations. The DOL previously agreed not to oppose entry of a final judgment vacating three provisions of the 2023 rule, but additional challenges to the rule remain pending in a suit filed by ABC in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas.

“Despite President Trump’s stated goals of unwinding excessive regulation, ensuring careful stewardship of taxpayer dollars and uplifting the small businesses that employ our nation’s workers, his administration has again doubled down on the regulatory overreach of former President Biden,” said Kristen Swearingen, ABC vice president of government affairs. “It is disappointing that the DOL has declined to issue proposed rules to broadly restore the Reagan reforms to the survey process and make other much-needed changes to the regulations.

“These rules place unnecessary administrative burdens on contractors, limit usage of innovative, effective, multiskilling approaches that benefit both workers and employers, hamper small business participation in federal contracting and arbitrarily increase costs for taxpayers,” said Swearingen. “Unfortunately, this mirrors the Trump administration’s misguided decision to continue the Biden administration’s government-mandated project labor agreements policy, which has led to federal procurement delays affecting dozens of projects, billions of dollars of federal spending and thousands of jobs.

“Not only are these decisions bad policy—they are bad politics,” said Swearingen. “Recent polling shows the merit shop construction workers harmed by these policies are a critical part of the coalition that elected President Trump.

“ABC will continue its challenge against this antiquated regulation as we fight to defend the merit shop, taxpayers and free enterprise,” said Swearingen. “ABC has moved for summary judgment in the federal district court seeking to set aside a considerably greater portion of the Biden rule.”

The Davis-Bacon Act and related regulations require contractors and subcontractors that perform work on federal and federally funded construction projects to pay a government-determined prevailing wage and benefit rate. Learn more at abc.org/davisbacon.

ABC Report: 36% of Contractor Members Utilize Drones on Jobsites

Thu, 27 Aug 2026 16:31:00 GMT

Associated Builders and Contractors today released the findings of its Drone Usage report, a survey ABC conducted of its contractor members in May 2026. Notably, 36.1% of ABC contractor member respondents reported that they fly drones.

Other report findings include:

Drones are most often used for site progress monitoring (80.8%), marketing and media (77.5%) and inspections and mapping (50%).
Investment levels in drones vary widely, but 62% report investing between $1,000 and $10,000.
DJI manufacturers the overwhelming majority of ABC contractor members’ primary drones (97.1%).
The biggest challenges in adopting drone technology include regulatory and compliance issues (53.5%), training and staffing (43.4%) and limited use cases (37.4%).
Nearly 75% of contractors surveyed are commercial contractors.

“In the ever-evolving construction technology landscape, drones are transforming how contractors monitor site progress, enhance branding efforts and conduct inspections with unprecedented efficiency,” said Matt Abeles, ABC vice president of construction technology and innovation.

“This ABC report details how ABC contractor members are embracing this innovation, yet regulatory hurdles and training challenges still limit broader adoption,” said Abeles. “ABC urges contractors to continue exploring the full potential of drone technology on their jobsites and calls on lawmakers to streamline compliance so employers can leverage these tools to build safer, healthier and more efficient jobsites.”

ABC creates the conditions for construction companies to innovate, differentiate, attract and educate top talent to win and deliver work safely, ethically and profitably for the betterment of the communities in which they work.

Visit abc.org/dronerport to read the full report.

Merit Shop Apprenticeship Program Enrollment Up 60%, Growing Faster Than Unions

Thu, 27 Aug 2026 16:30:21 GMT

Nonunion apprenticeship programs and participants were responsible for the vast majority of growth in construction registered apprenticeship programs, or RAPs, over the past five years, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of U.S. Department of Labor data.

“The DOL data show that ABC and merit shop contractors are leading the industry in growing both registered apprenticeship programs and innovative new workforce development pipelines,” said Kristen Swearingen, ABC vice president of government affairs. “ABC supports the DOL building on its success by streamlining and simplifying apprenticeship regulations while providing incentives for better RAP performance, which will attract new sponsors and employers to the system. This is vital to providing access to these high-quality, earn-and-learn opportunities to more Americans and meeting the important goal of 1 million new active apprentices set forth by President Donald Trump.”

ABC’s analysis of the data demonstrates that the merit shop is the sector most responsible for increasing access to registered apprenticeships in fiscal years 2020-2025:

In 2025, 93% of the construction industry’s RAPs were nonunion providers.
Participants in nonunion RAPs increased by 60% from 2020 to 2025, compared to just 21% for union programs.
The number of nonunion RAPs has grown by 18% since 2020, compared to a 1.5% decrease in union-affiliated RAPs.
Completers of nonunion RAPs increased by 47% from 2020 to 2025, compared to 19% for union programs.
In 2025, 31% of all construction industry RAP participants were in nonunion programs.

ABC estimates that, in fiscal year 2025, the construction industry’s federal and state RAPs had about 324,000 apprentice participants and yielded 40,000 completers.* ABC put the construction industry workforce shortage at 349,000 in 2026, reflecting the need for an all-of-the-above approach to workforce development that incorporates registered apprenticeship as an important tool.

“ABC champions registered apprenticeships as a key solution in construction workforce development,” said Swearingen. “ABC’s 67 chapters educate craft, safety and management professionals using innovative and flexible learning models like just-in-time task training, competency-based progression and work-based learning, in addition to more than 450 federal and state RAPs in more than 20 different occupations across America.”

*Note that eight states did not report complete RAP data to the DOL, so ABC’s figure incorporates rough estimates to account for missing state data.

Construction Materials Prices Flat in July, Up 7.4% From a Year Ago

Thu, 20 Aug 2026 19:11:28 GMT

Overall construction and nonresidential input prices both increased 0.1% in July compared to the previous month, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Producer Price Index data released today.

Overall construction input prices are 7.4% higher than one year ago, while nonresidential construction input prices are 7.2% higher. Prices decreased in 2 of the 3 energy subcategories last month. Crude petroleum prices decreased 11.9%, and unprocessed energy materials decreased 7.4%. Natural gas prices were up 10.4% in July.

“Construction input prices were virtually unchanged in July, but that relatively tame behavior can be traced to the dip in fuel prices that occurred at the start of the month,” said ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu. “Diesel fuel prices, for instance, surged more than $0.50 per gallon from the week prices were measured for the index through the end of July. Given the subsequent rebound in oil prices and ongoing increases in certain materials prices, such as lumber and iron and steel, materials prices will almost certainly continue to climb in the months to come.

“Materials prices remained up more than 7% on a year-over-year basis in July,” said Basu. “Despite this significant annual increase and the prospect of ongoing inflation, contractors on net expect their profit margins to expand over the next six months, according to ABC’s Construction Confidence Index.”

ABC Emerging Leaders Program

Thu, 20 Aug 2026 19:10:59 GMT

ABC National is excited to announce the launch of the ABC Emerging Leaders Program, a new national leadership development experience for emerging leaders from across the association.

The program will bring together a cohort of up to 30 participants for a year-long experience that includes professional development, networking, collaboration with peers from across the country and opportunities to engage with ABC national volunteer leadership. Participation is open to employees of member companies who demonstrate leadership potential and a commitment to becoming more actively involved in the association.

Rather than following a traditional classroom model, participants will take an active role in shaping their own leadership experience. Upon acceptance into the program, participants will be assigned to subcommittees responsible for planning and developing the program’s content for a dedicated track at ABC Leadership Institute 2027.

Nomination and Application Timeline

Sept. 1, 2026: Nominations Open

ABC Central Ohio may nominate one (1) candidate for consideration. If you are interested in submitting a person for this nomination, please contact Barton Hacker at bhacker@centralohioabc.org. The ABC Central Ohio nominee will be required to submit a program application to ABC National.

Oct. 15, 2026: Nomination and Application Deadline

After the application period closes, the National Selection Committee will conduct a comprehensive review of all eligible applications. The Selection Committee consists of members of the ABC Membership Development Committee, chapter staff and ABC national staff. Using a consistent scoring methodology and established selection criteria, the committee will evaluate each applicant's demonstrated leadership potential, commitment to the association, professional experience, chapter engagement and application responses.

Early November 2026: Participants Notified

The committee's recommendations will determine the final cohort, and applicants will be notified once the selection process has concluded.

Participant Commitment

Participants selected for the program will be expected to attend virtual meetings throughout the year and ABC Leadership Institute in 2027. Participants are responsible for the registration fee and all associated travel, lodging and other expenses related to attending Leadership Institute. Additional information regarding program expectations and event details will be shared with the selected cohort.

This is an exciting opportunity to invest in emerging leaders while strengthening connections across the association.

Please save the dates and begin identifying a potential nominee from your company. We look forward to sharing additional information and opening the application process in September.

Nonresidential Construction Maintains Hiring Momentum in July

Thu, 13 Aug 2026 13:20:15 GMT

The construction industry added 22,000 jobs on net in July, 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 increased by 82,000 jobs, an increase of 1.0%.

Nonresidential construction employment grew by 20,000 positions, with gains in all three subcategories. Nonresidential specialty trade added the most jobs, increasing by 15,400 positions. Nonresidential building and heavy and civil engineering added 4,200 and 400 jobs, respectively, in July.

The construction unemployment rate was 3.7% in July. Unemployment across all industries decreased to 4.1% and is 0.2 percentage points lower than one year ago.

“Nonresidential construction employment continued to expand at a healthy pace in July as the data center investment boom fuels ongoing demand for specialty trade contractors,” said ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu. “Given recent construction spending data and upbeat contractor sentiment, as measured by ABC’s Construction Confidence Index, this is not particularly surprising.

“Construction industry employment, however, is far from the most salient aspect of July’s jobs report,” said Basu. “Rather, the unexpected loss of economywide jobs in July—the first since February—and massive downward revisions to the prior two months of growth signal emerging labor market weakness. If this soft labor market persists, it will benefit the construction industry in the form of lower borrowing costs. Indeed, treasury yields fell sharply following the release of the July jobs numbers.”

Visit abc.org/economics for the Construction Backlog Indicator and Construction Confidence Index, plus analysis of spending, employment, job openings and the Producer Price Index.

Associated Builders and Contractors is a national construction industry trade association established in 1950 with 67 chapters and 24,000 members. Founded on the merit shop philosophy, ABC helps members offer a robust employee value proposition, develop people, win work and deliver that work safely, ethically and profitably for the betterment of the communities in which ABC and its members work. Visit us at abc.org.

ABC Applauds Confirmation of Macy and Prouty to NLRB

Thu, 13 Aug 2026 13:19:19 GMT

Associated Builders and Contractors today commended the U.S. Senate for confirming James Macy and David Prouty to serve on the National Labor Relations Board by a vote of 51-47, restoring the board's quorum and ensuring it can continue carrying out its important responsibilities on behalf of America's workers and employers.

“The National Labor Relations Board plays a vital role in ensuring timely and consistent application of federal labor law,” said Kristen Swearingen, ABC vice president of government affairs. “The Senate's confirmation of James Macy and David Prouty restores the board's quorum and provides greater certainty for employers and employees alike. A fully functioning NLRB is essential to reducing the growing case backlog and ensuring labor disputes are resolved in a timely and predictable manner.”

ABC joined the Coalition for a Democratic Workplace and other employer organizations in supporting the nominees and urging the Senate to act before the board lost its quorum. Without a quorum, the NLRB would have been unable to issue decisions, creating additional uncertainty for the construction industry and the broader employer community.

ABC looks forward to working with the reconstituted board to promote balanced labor policies that protect employee rights, provide certainty for employers and support a fair and competitive labor environment for the merit shop construction industry.

ABC Urges US Senate to Confirm Sonderling as Labor Secretary

Thu, 06 Aug 2026 17:37:04 GMT

Associated Builders and Contractors today commended members of the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee for advancing the nomination of Acting Secretary of Labor Keith Sonderling to serve as secretary of the U.S. Department of Labor.

“Keith Sonderling is uniquely qualified to serve as secretary of labor, with the experience, credentials and proven record of leadership needed to head the department,” said Kristen Swearingen, ABC vice president of government affairs. “As deputy secretary, Sonderling has advanced policies that strengthen the American workforce, expand workforce development opportunities and address harmful Biden-era regulations that restrict worker freedom. His leadership has helped restore a regulatory environment that empowers workers and job creators.”

Earlier this month, the ABC-led Coalition for a Democratic Workplace sent a letter signed by 53 employer organizations urging the Senate HELP Committee to quickly advance Keith Sonderling's nomination.

ABC encourages the full Senate to swiftly confirm Sonderling so he can continue advancing policies that promote economic growth, protect worker choice and ensure employers have the tools they need to recruit, train and retain the next generation of skilled craft professionals.

Every State Had a Construction Unemployment Rate Below 10% in June

Thu, 06 Aug 2026 17:36:34 GMT

The national June not seasonally adjusted construction unemployment rate was 4.7%, a 1.3% increase from June 2025, according to a state-by-state analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data released today by Associated Builders and Contractors. The analysis found that every state had a construction unemployment rate below 10% and all but three states (Connecticut, New Jersey and Rhode Island) had a rate below 7%.

National NSA payroll construction employment was 59,000 higher than in June 2025, its 14th straight month of year-over-year increases below 100,000. Seasonally adjusted payroll construction employment was 8.3 million, or 9.5% above its pre-pandemic peak of 7.6 million.

Estimated state construction unemployment rates were lower than their pre-pandemic (February 2020) level in 34 states. As of June 2026, 17 states had lower construction unemployment rates compared to June 2019, 32 states had higher rates and one (Louisiana) had the same rate.

“The on-again, off-again active hostilities against Iran have injected more than the usual volatility in energy prices. Overall, energy prices are significantly higher than a year ago, which is having a negative impact on the construction industry. Moreover, increased insurance premiums, rising labor costs, shortages of skilled labor and elevated interest rates all continue to be impediments to construction activity,” said Bernard Markstein, president and chief economist of Markstein Advisors, who conducted the analysis for ABC. “Meanwhile, the imposition of tariffs—both in place and proposed—on building materials is creating an additional headache for the industry, further reducing willingness to undertake new construction projects and driving up the cost of many current projects.”

Recent Month-to-Month Fluctuations

In June, the national NSA construction unemployment rate rose 0.6% from May. Among the states, 11 had lower rates, 38 posted higher rates and one (Oklahoma) had the same estimated construction unemployment rates as in May.

The Top States

The six states with the lowest estimated NSA construction unemployment rates for June were:

Alaska, 1.4%
Wyoming, 1.6%
New Hampshire, 1.9%
Oklahoma, 2.4%
Colorado and Indiana (tie), 2.5%

Alaska had its lowest June NSA estimated construction unemployment rate on record at 1.4%. The state also had the third-largest year-over-year decrease (down 0.3%) and monthly decline (down 0.7%). Wyoming had the largest year-over-year reduction (down 0.7%) and the second-largest monthly decrease (down 0.8%).

The Bottom States

The six states with the highest NSA construction unemployment rates in June were:

Illinois and Minnesota (tie), 6.8%
New Mexico, 6.9%
Rhode Island, 8.5%
New Jersey, 8.9%
Connecticut, 9.9%

New Mexico had the largest drop in its rate from May among the states, down 1.8%.

Click here to view graphs of U.S. and state overall unemployment rates (Tab 1) and construction unemployment rates (Tab 2) showing the impact of the pandemic, including a graphing tool that creates a chart for multiple states. To better understand the basis for calculating unemployment rates and what they measure, check out the Background on State Construction Unemployment Rates.

Construction Backlog Indicator Slips, Contractors Remain Confident in June

Thu, 23 Jul 2026 12:23:00 GMT

Associated Builders and Contractors reported today that its Construction Backlog Indicator fell to 8.8 months in June, according to an ABC member survey conducted June 22 to July 8. The reading is down 0.3 months from May but up 0.1 months from June 2025.

View ABC's Construction Backlog Indicator and Construction Confidence Index for June. View the full Construction Backlog Indicator and Construction Confidence Index data series.

Only the Middle States region experienced backlog growth on a monthly basis in June. In the Northeast region, backlog contracted sharply in June and is down by over a month from a year ago.

ABC’s Construction Confidence Index readings for sales and staffing levels increased in June, while the reading for profit margins inched lower. The readings for all three components remain above the threshold of 50, indicating expectations for growth over the next six months.

“While backlog declined in June, it’s still longer than any point from September 2023 to April 2026,” said ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu. “This strength is the result of continued booming data center construction. The 13% of ABC members under contract to work on data centers have significantly higher backlog (11.0 months) than the 87% that are not (8.5 months). This trend is noticeable headwind for smaller contractors—just 8% of contractors with less than $100 million in annual revenues have data center work under contract, well below the 41% share of contractors with greater than $100 million in annual revenues.

“The effect of rising input prices may be weighing on contractor profitability,” said Basu. “Contractor confidence regarding profit margins fell to a seven-month low in June, though expectations remain above the prevailing level from the second half of 2025.”

Note: The reference months for the Construction Backlog Indicator and Construction Confidence Index data series were revised on May 12, 2020, to better reflect the survey period. CBI quantifies the previous month's work under contract based on the latest financials available, while CCI measures contractors' outlook for the next six months. View the methodology for both indicators.

ABC Applauds DOD's Suspension of CMMC Requirements, Urges Contractors to Provide Feedback

Thu, 23 Jul 2026 12:22:27 GMT

On July 13, the U.S. Department of Defense removed its Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification Program Phase II requirements, originally scheduled to go into effect Nov. 10.

Under the announcement, the department will temporality suspend the Phase II requirement for third-party CMMC assessments and will instead allow contractors to continue using Level 1 and 2 self-assessments while a comprehensive review of the program is conducted.

Additionally, the DOD published a Request for Information regarding CMMC. The purpose of the RFI is to obtain direct feedback from contractors to inform the newly established CMMC Reform Task Force during its review. Responses to the RFI are due by 12 p.m. ET on Aug. 14. ABC urges contractors to utilize this opportunity to provide feedback on challenges and opportunities associated with CMMC.

Department officials said the decision is intended to reduce unnecessary compliance costs, preserve competition and ensure innovative companies can continue supporting national defense.

ABC has consistently advocated for cybersecurity requirements that strengthen national security without creating unnecessary barriers for qualified contractors, including through comments on the first and second stages of rulemaking establishing CMMC.

For many merit shop construction firms performing work for the DOD and other federal agencies, particularly small businesses, the costs, administrative burden and limited availability of third-party assessors threatened to discourage participation in federal contracting opportunities.

ABC appreciates the Trump administration’s commitment to engaging industry during the review process and looks forward to working with policymakers to support cybersecurity initiatives that both protect sensitive information and preserve a strong, competitive and innovative construction workforce serving America’s defense needs.

ABC of Ohio Endorses Jon Husted for United States Senate

Thu, 16 Jul 2026 13:19:22 GMT

The Associated Builders and Contractors of Ohio (ABC of Ohio) today
announced its endorsement of Jon Husted for United States Senate.

ABC of Ohio represents nearly 800 Merit Shop construction contractors and related firms across the state. Our members compete on quality, skill, and safety to build Ohio's essential infrastructure, including schools, hospitals, data centers, and commercial developments that support communities statewide. We are committed to fostering a fair, open, and accountable construction environment that drives economic growth without unnecessary burdens on taxpayers or businesses.

Senator Husted understands the detrimental impact of exclusionary policies, such as project labor agreements (PLAs), that exclude Merit Shop contractors and raise costs for Ohio taxpayers. He likewise understands the devastating impact that legislation introducing government-mandated arbitration during collective bargaining, with its new and unprecedented federal arbitrators, would have on businesses throughout Ohio and across the country.

ABC of Ohio is proud to support Jon Husted's election to the United States Senate because of his strong record of promoting pro-business policies, minimizing government mandates, and advancing policies that allow Ohio taxpayers to keep more of their hard-earned money. Throughout his career, Husted has promoted sound, commonsense solutions to our state's challenges from serving as Speaker of the Ohio House to Secretary of State, Lieutenant Governor and now as U.S. Senator.

Jon Howard, Chairman of ABC of Ohio, issued the following statement: "As the architect of TechCred, Jon Husted brings a unique understanding of the challenges facing Ohio's workforce. From his leadership in state government to the United States Senate, Husted has consistently demonstrated innovative, practical approaches to solving complex problems — which is why ABC of Ohio enthusiastically supports Jon Husted for U.S. Senate!"

Nonresidential Construction Retains Hiring Momentum in June Jobs Report

Thu, 09 Jul 2026 12:24:06 GMT

The construction industry added 11,000 jobs on net in June, 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 expanded by 64,000 jobs, an increase of 0.8%.

Nonresidential construction employment increased by 19,900 positions, with gains in all three subcategories. Nonresidential specialty traded added the most jobs, increasing by 14,100 net positions. Nonresidential building and heavy and civil engineering added 3,200 and 2,600 jobs, respectively, in June.

The construction unemployment rate was 4.7% in June. Unemployment across all industries dropped to 4.2% and is 0.1 percentage point higher than one year ago.

“Today’s jobs report was full of positive signs for the nonresidential side of the industry,” said ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu. “The nonresidential segment continued to add jobs in June and has grown several times faster than the economywide average over the past 12 months.

“At the same time, the supply of labor appears adequate to fuel ongoing hiring,” said Basu. “The industry’s unemployment rate rose to 4.7%, higher than in any June since 2021, and that slack took some pressure off of wage escalation. Average hourly earnings for nonmanagerial construction workers rose at the slowest pace since last September. With ABC contractors signaling ongoing hiring intentions, according toABC’s Construction Confidence Index, it appears likely that the industry will continue to expand its employment base over the coming months.”

Visit abc.org/economics for the Construction Backlog Indicator and Construction Confidence Index, plus analysis of spending, employment, job openings and the Producer Price Index.

Construction Backlog Surges in May, Contractor Confidence Slips

Thu, 25 Jun 2026 20:01:01 GMT

Associated Builders and Contractors reported today that its Construction Backlog Indicator rose to 9.1 months in May, according to an ABC member survey conducted May 20 to June 3. The reading is up 0.3 months from April and 0.7 months from May 2025.

View ABC's Construction Backlog Indicator and Construction Confidence Index for May. View the full Construction Backlog Indicator and Construction Confidence Index data series.

Backlog for the month increased in every region except for the South. Despite the monthly movement, the South remains the region with the longest backlog and the largest year-over-year increase in backlog.

ABC’s Construction Confidence Index readings for sales, profit margins and staffing levels fell in May. The readings for all three components remain above the threshold of 50, indicating expectations for growth over the next six months.

“Backlog rose to a nearly three-year high in May,” said ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu. “This increase largely reflects the massive data center investments taking place across the nation, as the 14% of ABC members under contract to work on data centers continue to have much higher backlog (11.6 months) than those that are not (8.6 months). The way this boom is disproportionately benefiting larger contractors helps to explain why contractor confidence slipped in May even as backlog continued to climb.”

Prevailing-Wage Rollbacks to Watch — One Federal, One in Ohio

Thu, 25 Jun 2026 20:00:23 GMT

Davis-Bacon Repeal Act (H.R. 8602 / S. companion) · Ohio HB 513

Two new bills — one in Congress, one in Columbus — would roll back prevailing-wage requirements on publicly funded construction. Neither has near-term momentum, but together they signal the direction the current majorities want to take, and both matter to any client bidding federal, infrastructure, or Ohio public work. Here's what each does and why it's worth tracking.

Federal — Davis-Bacon Repeal Act

Introduced May 2026 by Rep. Eric Burlison (R-MO) in the House (H.R. 8602) and Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) in the Senate, the bill would repeal the Davis-Bacon Act — the 1931 law requiring contractors on federal construction contracts over $2,000 to pay locally prevailing wages and fringe benefits. The CBO has scored repeal at roughly $17.8 billion in federal savings over a decade; the Senate version carries several Republican cosponsors.

Management upside: Repeal would remove the prevailing-wage floor and the associated certified-payroll (WH-347) compliance burden — which DOL recently made more onerous, with penalties now $13,508 per violation. That's a clear win for open-shop and merit-shop contractors and would erode the union wage advantage on federal jobs.

Reality check: This is realistically a messaging bill with little near-term momentum — introduced, no committee action yet, long odds of passage. But it's ideologically aligned with the administration's deregulatory posture and worth tracking for companies that bid federal or infrastructure work.

Ohio — House Bill 513

Introduced by Reps. Beth Lear (R-Galena) and Meredith Craig (R-Smithville), HB 513 would end the state prevailing-wage mandate on public improvements and make it a local option. It does not abolish prevailing wage outright — instead, local governments, special districts, and state colleges could choose whether to apply it, and the bill raises the project threshold that triggers coverage. The bill sits in the House Commerce and Labor Committee awaiting a first hearing.

Why it matters: For contractors bidding Ohio public work, a local-option regime would create a patchwork — some jurisdictions keeping prevailing wage, others dropping it — changing how you price and staff public bids. Still early stage with no near-term action expected, but squarely relevant to your public-work pipeline.

Bottom line

Neither bill is moving yet — no immediate compliance change. Keep paying prevailing wage and filing certified payroll as required.
If you bid federal or Ohio public work, flag both for tracking; a shift in either would directly affect bid pricing, labor cost, and your competitive position against union shops.
We'll alert you if either advances to committee or a floor vote — reach out if you want to model the cost impact of a repeal on your project mix now.

Provided by Matt Austin Labor Law for general informational purposes; reflects pending-legislation status as of June 8, 2026. Not legal advice and

does not create an attorney-client relationship. Status can change rapidly — contact us to discuss how this affects your organization.

matt@mattaustinlaborlaw.com · mattaustinlaborlaw.com

Meta, ABC Form Partnership to Launch Academy to Train and Create Jobs for Construction Craft Professionals

Thu, 11 Jun 2026 16:50:23 GMT

Meta Platforms Inc. and Associated Builders and Contractors today announced a partnership to educate and provide construction-ready career pathways for thousands of data center construction technicians kicking off in Indiana, Louisiana, Ohio and Texas as a meaningful step toward meeting the growing demand for data centers workers nationwide. America’s Workforce Academy is a $115 million investment in the next generation of construction professionals that includes a five-week training program and a job offer from contractors working on Meta projects at the conclusion of the program.

Once an online application process is complete, scholarships, travel, housing and stipends for living expenses are granted to qualified job seekers. They will then participate in career readiness and safety training followed by five weeks of hands-on education, which includes core training and craft training.

“America’s Workforce Academy is a transformational endeavor creating incredible construction-ready careers. ABC is proud to work with Meta, CBRE and academy community partners to welcome all who want to build their career dreams as a professional in construction,” said Michael Bellaman, ABC president and CEO. “As an industry leader, ABC believes in creating opportunities for all on a level playing field and is ready to meet the industry’s needs and help individuals achieve their career dreams. ABC is honored to partner with Meta to expand the pipeline of data center construction workers.

“This new program is an innovative talent solution that is a critical part of addressing the construction industry’s ongoing workforce shortage and creates an accelerated, new-entrant strategy for job seekers,” said Bellaman. “Utilizing ABC’s existing, proven, nationwide educational ecosystem, these programs will be launched at ABC chapter training centers in key markets like Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Columbus, Ohio; Indianapolis and Houston. This new, national partnership will help train the next generation of craft professionals from entry points such as high school graduates, veterans and more.”

“The AI revolution is bringing change but also historic opportunities,” said Meta President and Vice-Chairman Dina Powell McCormick. “Skilled workers electrified rural America one pole at a time. They manned the factories that built the arsenal that won World War II. Now a new generation will pour the foundations and lay the fiber that secures American strength in this new age.”

The American Workforce Academy partnership will:

Build a Sustainable Talent Pipeline: establishes scalable, repeatable workforce development models that align industry, training providers and workforce systems to meet ongoing demand.
Deliver Accelerated, Job-Ready Training: provides standardized, industry-aligned training that equips participants with the skills, safety knowledge and jobsite readiness needed to contribute quickly and effectively.
Ensure Safety and Productivity From Day One: prepares participants to meet industry and project-specific safety standards and contribute productively on the jobsite from the outset.

“The sustained demand for data center construction technicians means the industry needs an all-of-the-above approach to address this shortage and grow the construction talent pool,” said Bellaman. “This important new partnership reaffirms that the construction industry offers careers of choice in today's complex job market. These new entrants may be beginning their careers on data center projects but by learning multiple competencies, are starting a life-long career in construction with near limitless possibilities.”

ABC member contractors are building the people who build America’s critical infrastructure by investing in flexible, competency-based and market-driven education methodologies to cultivate their long-term skill sets, creating a brighter future for their workers and their families. They deliver long-lasting projects and employ multicraft professionals who go home safe, healthy and fulfilled every day. ABC and its members are working to recruit, educate and upskill the nation’s future construction workforce with a network of more than 800 apprenticeship, craft, safety and management education programs—including 450 government-registered apprenticeship programs—across 20 different occupations.

“Thanks to the crucial, established team members of ABC’s vast network, which includes the National Center for Construction Education and Research, ABC’s 67 chapters, ABC strategic partners and ABC business partners, as well as ABC’s Tech Alliance, we are ready to deliver this transformational construction career readiness program across the country,” said Bellaman.

If you want to help build America’s future, apply to America’s Workforce Academy today.