Published: June 30, 2010
Tags: ABC, American Subcontractors Association of Wisconsin, Associated Builders and Contractors of Wisconsin, Beiriger, bid, debarment, Department of Administration, Department of Workforce Development, DWD, Mark Saunders, Mielke, rule, suspension, Wisconsin Department of Transportation, WisDOT
By Paul Snyder
Industry associations are withholding support for proposed contractor debarment rules until the state can prove it will not unfairly prevent companies from bidding on jobs.
The threat of debarment is a useful tool for the Wisconsin Department of Administration to make sure contractors play by state rules, said John Mielke, vice president of the [...]
Published: June 8, 2010
Tags: ABC, AGC, apprentices, Associated Builders and Contractors of Wisconsin, Associated General Contractors of Wisconsin, Boullion, Department of Workforce Development, DWD, hiring, Iron Workers Local 383, John Schmitt, journeymen, Local 383, Mielke, Pete Stern, Wisconsin Laborers District Council
By Paul Snyder
Contractors working on state projects should have a choice between hiring apprentices and journeymen, according to construction groups asking the state to ease its employment rules.
“We want to see apprenticeship standards used as encouragement; not a hammer,” said Jim Boullion, government affairs director for the Associated General Contractors of Wisconsin.
The AGC, he said, [...]
Published: May 26, 2010
Tags: ABC, Associated Builders and Contractors of Wisconsin, blog, Hot Topics, Mielke, prevailing wage, Snyder
By Paul Snyder
staff writer
I cannot say I was surprised Tuesday when I got word from John Mielke that the Associated Builders and Contractors of Wisconsin Inc. would not pursue further legal recourse against the state’s new prevailing wage law.
Published: May 11, 2010
Tags: Binkowski, Board of Estimates, Bruce Murphy, Cieslewicz, common council, Dane County Regional Transit Authority, Dick Wagner, Edgewater Hotel, high-speed rail, Madison, Mark Clear, Mielke, Monona Terrace, Plan Commission, Planning Division, Rail, train, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Urban Land Interests, Wisconsin Associated Builders and Contractors, Wisconsin Department of Transportation, WisDOT
By Darryl Enriquez
If Madison Mayor Dave Cieslewicz’s goal for breaking ground on the proposed Monona Terrace high-speed rail depot is to be met, officials must avoid lengthy policy debates that have prolonged or threatened other projects, local contractors and others say.
Observers who have watched Madison government and advocacy groups grind projects such as the proposed [...]
Published: May 5, 2010
Tags: ABC, AGC, Associated Builders and Contractors of Wisconsin, Associated General Contractors of Wisconsin, Boullion, Department of Commerce, general contractor, Kaltenbrun, Kaltenbrun Bros. Roofing Co., Mielke, penalty, Quast, registration, subcontractor
By Darryl Enriquez
Longtime roofing contractor Leo Kaltenbrun of Sheboygan is skeptical of proposed penalties as high as $2,000 for generals and subs that fail to register with the state before going on a work site.
When Kaltenbrun, 90, founded Sheboygan-based Kaltenbrun Bros. Roofing Co. Inc. in 1946, a contractor preparing for a job simply went to [...]
Published: April 20, 2010
Tags: Assembly, Associated Builders and Contractors of Wisconsin, Burnham, Burnham Excavating, cranes, DeBeck, excavators, graders, grinders, licensing, Madison, Mielke, milling machines, Occupational Health & Safety Administration, osha, Parisi, planers, Reynolds Transfer & Storage, scrapers, Senate, shouldering machines, Speedway Sand & Gravel, Whitmore, Wisconsin Legislature
Comments: 1
By Paul Snyder
Rhode Island contractor David Burnham has worked with heavy equipment for 45 years without an accident.
The owner of Sauderstown, R.I.-based Burnham Excavating Inc. will not attribute his safety record entirely to his state-mandated operating license, but he refuses to downplay its importance.
“When you have a licensing system, you know everyone’s working from the [...]
Published: April 12, 2010
Tags: AGC, amendment, Associated Builders and Contractors of Wisconsin Inc., Boycks, Honadel, ironworkers, Jorgensen, licensure, Mielke, Milroy, Reihl, Wisconsin Builders Association, Wisconsin State Council of Carpenters
By Paul Snyder
State lawmakers Monday introduced an amendment to a bill requiring licensure of ironworkers in Wisconsin, but the changes are not enough to win over the bill’s opponents.
“In my first read of it, it looks like they tried to meet concerns of some of the other labor unions,” said Mark Reihl, executive director of [...]
Published: April 7, 2010
Tags: Associated Builders and Contractors of Wisconsin, Associated General Contractors of Wisconsin, Dawes Rigging & Crane Rental, F.J.A. Christiansen Roofing, International Union of Operating Engineers, McGowan, Mielke, Milwaukee, National Commission for the Certification of Crane Operators, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, osha, Parisi, Ryan Harrison
Comments: 1
By Paul Snyder
Construction industry representatives Wednesday pounded on a state bill that would add to upcoming federal certification requirements for crane operators.
The bill, sponsored by state Rep. Joe Parisi, D-Madison, would require a state license for crane operators working on public works projects with prevailing wages. The operators would need one of the following to [...]
Published: March 26, 2010
Tags: ABC, Associated Builders and Contractors of Wisconsin, Dahms, Dane County Circuit Court, Dipko, DWD, Halverson Bros., Mielke, prevailing wage, spreadsheet, Thimm, Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development, Wondra Construction
Comments: 2
By Paul Snyder
Construction companies in Wisconsin are not convinced a revised prevailing wage reporting spreadsheet from the state will make their jobs any easier.
The Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development has pared down what had been a 50-field spreadsheet to 34 fields, but Roger Thimm, controller of Iron Ridge-based Wondra Construction Inc., said the reporting will [...]
Published: March 12, 2010
Tags: Assembly Committee on Labor, Assembly Committee on Workforce Development, Associated Builders & Contractors of Wisconsin, bill, Mary Williams, Mielke, prevailing wage, repeal, reporting, Sinicki, state budget, Toles
Comments: 2
By Paul Snyder
Political resistance and timing could spoil the construction industry’s chance to speak out on a bill that would repeal the state’s new prevailing wage law.
“If we’re just looking at repealing all the work we did last year to get this into the budget, I don’t know that I’m going to hold a hearing,” [...]
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