ABC President and CEO Michael Bellaman sent President-elect Trump a letter urging him to guarantee government neutrality in federal construction contracting on January 4. The letter urged President-elect Trump to rescind President Obama’s Executive Order 13502, which encourages federal agencies to require project labor agreements (PLAs) on federal contracts to build projects of $25 million or more on a case-by-case basis, and replace it with the executive orders 13202 and 13208, which prohibit PLAs from being required on federal and federally assisted construction projects.

Beginning Jan. 1, 2017, the minimum wage for workers on covered federal contracts and service contracts will increase to $10.20 per hour from $10.15 per hour in 2016. The increase is dictated by the Oct. 7, 2014, U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division final rule that implemented Executive Order 13658.

On April 12, ABC submitted comments in response to the U.S. Department (DOL) of Labor Wage and Hour Division’s proposed rule on establishing paid sick leave for federal contractors. The proposed rule  requires certain federal contractors to offer employees up to seven days of paid sick leave annually, including paid leave for family care. The paid sick leave required by the proposal is in addition to a contractor’s obligations under the Service Contract Act (SCA) and Davis-Bacon Act (DBA). Therefore, a contractor may not receive credit toward its prevailing wage or fringe benefit obligation under the SCA and DBA for paid sick leave provided in satisfaction of the

At a Labor Day rally before union members in Boston on Sept. 7, President Obama unveiled a new executive order requiring federal contractors to offer employees up to seven days of paid sick leave.

ABC Aug. 26 submitted comments urging the withdrawal of the Federal Acquisition Regulatory (FAR) Council’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) and the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Notice of Proposed Guidance (NPG) implementing President Obama’s “Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces” Executive Order 13673, commonly referred to as the blacklisting proposal.

Republican leaders of three congressional committees sent a letter July 15 to the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), the Federal Acquisition Regulatory (FAR) Council, and other Obama administration officials, requesting that the proposed guidance and regulations for the Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces Executive Order 13673 (known as the Blacklisting EO) be withdrawn. This letter was sent a few days after the DOL and the FAR Council announced a two-week extension of the notice and comment period for the Blacklisting proposal to August 11.  

ABC members have more time to respond to a proposal implementing President Obama’s Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces Executive Order 13673, known as the “blacklisting” EO, signed July 31, 2014. The public comment deadline for a proposed rulemaking issued May 28, by the Federal Acquisition Regulatory (FAR) Council and proposed guidance by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) implementing the blacklisting EO has been extended from July 27 to August 11.

The U.S. House of Representatives passed the Department of Defense (DoD) Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2016 (H.R. 2685) June 11 without an ABC-opposed provision that would unfairly harm federal contractors and increase costs to taxpayers and the federal government.

The U.S. House of Representatives passed the Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2016 (H.R. 2578) June 3 and the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act for Fiscal year 2016 (H.R. 2577) June 9 without either problematic, ABC-opposed amendments that would unfairly harm federal contractors and increase costs to taxpayers and the federal government.

The Federal Acquisition Regulatory (FAR) Council released a proposed rule and the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued proposed guidance May 27, as directed by President Obama’s July 31, 2014, sweeping “blacklisting” Executive Order 13673 targeting the federal contracting community.