News

Federal Judge Imposes Injunction Against DOL’s Controversial Overtime Rule:

ABC praises the U.S. District Court for the Eastern Districtof Texas for issuing a preliminary injunction blocking the U.S. DOL’sburdensome and costly overtime final rule. Prior to the injunction the rule was scheduled to go into effect onDecember 1st and would have doubled the current minimum salarythreshold for employees that are exempt from overtime pay and would automaticallyincrease every three years.  Construction contractors are pleased that the court hasstepped in to provide relief from another overreaching and burdensomeregulation from the Obama administration’s Labor Department.  The rule would have taken workplace flexibilityaway from employers and may have required some employers to consider switching certainemployees from salaried to hourly positions. Additionally, the rule would have had a significant impact on commercialand industrial construction projects “since many of them last longer than threeyears” and are carefully planned to stay on time ... Read the rest of entry »

Associated Builders and Contractors Congratulates President-elect Trump

WASHINGTON, D.C., Nov. 9– Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) today released the following statement on the election of Donald Trump as president of the United States.“Associated Builders and Contractors congratulates President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President-elect Mike Pence and looks forward to working with this administration to craft policies rooted in free enterprise that will encourage open competition and result in greater business investment and more construction jobs,” said ABC President and CEO Michael Bellaman. “With his background in real estate and development, Trump is very familiar with the obstacles to economic growth ABC members face, including our broken regulatory system, the increasingly difficult challenge of finding affordable health care coverage for employees, a growing shortage of appropriately skilled labor and the highest effective tax rate of any industry. We are hopeful that Trump will select judicial nominees that respect the traditional princi ... Read the rest of entry »

Associated Builders and Contractors Applauds Court Injunction Against (Blacklisting) Rule

The judge of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, issued a preliminary injunction late Monday night against the Fair Pay and Safe Work Places Rule which has been dubbed the (Blacklisting) Rule.   ABC is pleased the court ruled that the Obama Administration cannot order private businesses to publicly disclose mere accusations of labor law violations that have not been fully adjudicated. By issuing this decision, the court has maintained the first amendment rights of government contractors and protected them and tax payers from the poorly crafted Blacklisting Rule.  In her decision, the judge said that the groups that initiated this lawsuit earlier this month-including the ABC-had properly demonstrated immediate ongoing injury to their members if the rule is allowed to take effect. Before Mondays action halting the new regulation, the Department of Labor had planned to start its roll out of the executive order today. ABC was represented by Maury Baskin ABC&r ... Read the rest of entry »

Governor Haslam, State Rep. Eddie Smith and ABC of Greater TN join ABC to highlight Careers in Construction Month

Knoxville, Tenn., October 14- ABC of Greater Tennessee, Governor Haslam, and State Representative Eddie Smith joined together today to highlight Careers in Construction Month. "The Construction trade industry nationwide is facing about a 1.1 million shortage of the workforce," said State Representative Eddie Smith, "so today we are here to highlight some of the things happening in Knoxville. The construction trades industry needs your help." Construction has provided fulfilling, family-supporting careers for American workers for generations. However, industry growth, an aging workforce and a lack of emphasis on the lucrative construction career track in our schools has contributed to a shortage of skilled workers in the industry. This shortage is projected to reach 1.1 million skilled workers over the next decade, according to the Construction Labor Market Analyzer. That's why ABC of Greater Tennessee has committed over the next year to work with our area schools on promoting the trades within our lo ... Read the rest of entry »