Merit shop group lists safety,
training as new year's top priorities

Association continues keeping
union tactics at arm's length

By Candace Doyle
Editor

Ask John Mielke about upcoming labor issues for 2001 and he'll quickly point out that labor is not synonymous with union.

"We look at labor issues as different from union issues," said the director of government affairs for Associated Builders and Contractors of Wisconsin.

"Union issues, in my mind, are more narrow."

He will also quickly point out that the association for merit contractors is not the antithesis of the union movement.

"Many people think ABC is the opposite of unions," Mielke said. "That's really not our position."

Having said that, Mielke said there are two key labor issues that ABC will concentrate on next year: training and safety. He said ABC would continue to handle training through School-to-Work programs.

"We've got School-to-Work programs in western Wisconsin and central Wisconsin and in Dane County," he said.

ABC also has 1,400 people participating in 15 separate apprenticeship training programs in 13 different trades.

"That makes ABC of Wisconsin's apprenticeship program the largest one in the country," Mielke said.

That effort will continue, as will journeyman and management training programs. The journeyman programs include instruction on topics such as reading blueprints and leadership training, while management programs focus on skills needed at the middle- and upper-management levels.

"For the first four months of 2000," Mielke said, "we had 50 management training programs across the state. That's more aggressive for us than normal. It addresses the worker shortage. I don't think it'll solve the worker shortage, but with the effort at the legislative level, the composite will have a positive effect."

A 31-member Joint Legislative Council committee on the labor shortage was formed in October and met for the first time last month. Four members of the construction industry were named to the panel.

A safe step

Besides those efforts, Mielke said ABC this year moved forward with its STEP benchmark program. On March 15, 2000, ABC of Wisconsin and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration signed the STEP agreement aimed at promoting safety in the industry.

Contractors can advance in the STEP program, from bronze through platinum, by exemplifying high safety standards.

"ABC members who receive platinum level are exempt from programmed OSHA inspections for 12 months," Mielke said. "And they will not be issued citations for less than serious violations."

This is the first time in the state's history that OSHA signed a partnership agreement with a trade association, and Mielke said it's significant because it's a reversal of the historic relationship between OSHA and the industry.

"We think back to the old time when the industry was at arm's length from OSHA and not open to dealing with OSHA," he said.

Union watch

While safety and training will continue to be high priorities for the association, Mielke said union issues loom large too. And like the unions themselves, ABC is interested in organizing, although its focus is different.

Mielke said ABC is concerned about unions' use of salting, which he said has less to do with organizing than applying economic pressure to nonunion shops to put them out of business.

"I think there has been a change in how unions are trying to organize companies," he said.

In the past, he said, unions were organized after the rank-and-file held elections; tactics like salting, though, target owners, regardless of what the workers want.

"It's a change from bottom-up to top-down organizing," Mielke said. "Labor activists use coercive tactics to force employers to become union and bypass the election. That marks the difference. That's what salting does. We think salting abuse should be illegal."

Mielke defined salting abuse as "filing unfair, frivolous lawsuits" against a contractor "to inflict financial pain to the employer."

He said one contractor had 30 unfair labor charges filed against him - all unfounded. But the contractor still had to fight the charges and pay for that fight.

"It doesn't cost the salt anything to file the complaint," he said. "That's what we're opposed to. There's no disincentive to filing frivolous complaints. The issue's abuse of the system."

Mielke said ABC urges its members to "get their house in order" and avoid conduct that subjects them to a lawsuit. The purpose, he said, is not to avoid hiring a union worker but to avoid unnecessary legal costs.

ABC of Wisconsin, Mielke said, is backing two pieces of federal legislation - the Truth in Employment Act (H.R. 1441) and the Fair Access to Indemnity and Reimbursement Act (H.R. 1987) - that deal with the matter.

The Truth in Employment Act would amend the National Labor Relations Act to make it clear that an employer is not required to hire anyone who seeks a job to promote interests unrelated to those of the employer. The FAIR Act would amend the National Labor Relations Act and Occupational Safety and Health Act so a small employer or union could recoup attorney fees and expenses spent defending against an unworthy action.

"I don't know the prospects of either one," said Mielke.

And the ABC again wants to propose a PLA ban for public projects.

"We have it again on our legislative agenda to prohibit project labor agreements," he said. "In today's political climate, that's a tough sell."

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