The departments of Homeland Security and Labor recently released a new H-2B visa rule authorizing 35,000 supplemental temporary work visas for hiring through Sept. 30. As of May 18, employers can begin petitioning for the visas. The supplemental allocation includes 23,500 visas for returning workers who received an H-2B visa in the previous three fiscal years. Another 11,500 are designated for nationals of El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Haiti, to address irregular migration from those countries.

On May 11, ABC, as a steering committee member of the Partnership to Protect Workplace Opportunity, as well as 92 other organizations, sent a letter to Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh urging him to abandon or at least postpone issuing the U.S. Department of Labor’s announced proposed rulemaking altering overtime regulations under the Fair Labor Standards Act. Read PPWO’s press release on the letter.

On May 17, ABC, as a steering committee member of the Construction Industry Safety Coalition, submitted comments to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration voicing compliance and cost concerns on the proposed rule on Powered Industrial Trucks Design Standard Update. While CISC memb

ABC highlighted its achievements in recruiting diverse audiences to careers in construction nationwide and outlined goals championing inclusion, diversity and equity in a letter to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission for a May 17 hearing on race, sex and national origin discrimination in construction.

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act delivers $550 billion of funding to improve our nation’s infrastructure, and the construction industry stands ready to deliver on the law’s promised revitalization of America’s roads, schools, bridges, utilities, and transportation systems.

ABC sent out an action alert for ABC members to urge their members of Congress to remove unnecessary, job-killing provisions in the US Innovation and Competition Act/America COMPETES Act bills.

ABC recently surveyed contractor members regarding Davis-Bacon Act prevailing wage regulations, and the results clearly demonstrate that ABC members oppose Davis-Bacon Act regulations and have serious concerns about the sweeping changes recently proposed by the U.S. Department of Labor.

On May 9, ABC and the Coalition for a Democratic Workplace sent a letter to the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee to voice concerns with the current tension between federal anti-discrimination laws and federal labor relations laws as implemented by the National Labor Relations Board and its general counsel.

The U.S. Department of Transportation recently published a proposal to waive “Buy America” requirements for construction materials used on DOT projects for 180 days and requested public comments with a deadline of May 13.

With the May 17 deadline for public comments on the Department of Labor’s proposed changes to Davis-Bacon and Related Acts prevailing wage regulations fast approaching, ABC urges interested members to consider submitting comments on these sweeping changes to federal contracting rules.