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Thursday, March 19 | 8:00 AM | Burlington Marriott
Managing Conflict, Solving Problems, and Reducing Legal Risk in Hiring and Firing
Join us for a session led by AIM HR focused on effectively managing conflicts and problems in the workplace, as well, as tools to hire, manage and separate from employees while reducing risk and emphasizing proper documentation and compliance with MA and federal employment laws.
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Monday, March 23 - Tuesday, March 24 | 8:00 AM | Burlington Marriott
Developing Your Leadership Potential
Please join Dale Carnegie for their world-renowned course focused on key leadership themes with tangible action items to better understand, develop and capitalize on your leadership competencies. This course is highly interactive with a significant amount of training packed into two-days to ensure you leave feeling confident and empowered.
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Thursday, March 26 | 8:00 AM | Westin Waltham
Crisis Communication
This course equips leaders and teams with practical strategies to protect organizational credibility when it matters most. Through real-world examples, mock interviews, and proven communication techniques, participants will learn how to respond quickly, manage employees and media and safeguard their company’s standing in the public eye.
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Thursday, April 2 | 11:30 AM | Venezia, Boston
BTEA Women's Group: Celebrating Women in Construction
Please join our accomplished panelists for a leadership discussion and Q&A.
- Amy Cannistraro, J.C. Cannistraro Project Manager
- Angie Simon, Co-Founder/President of HMSE, SMACNA National Past President
- Usha Wood, Saugus Construction President
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Thank You, Jeanne Tempesta!
It is with great admiration and appreciation that we thank Jeanne for her twelve years of dedicated service to BTEA and our affiliate associations. As many can attest, Jeanne was the friendliest voice members heard when calling in and always arrived at every event with a smile. Her attention to detail and quick wit made her a favorite among members and colleagues alike. Jeanne has announced her retirement, effective February 27, and we encourage you to join us in wishing her all the best in this next chapter!
WISH JEANNE WELL
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Welcome, Jack Connolly
Please join us in welcoming Jack Connolly, Association Manager, to the BTEA team. Jack attended Brown University where he served as a football team captain and was a First Team All-Ivy League honoree. Following graduation, Jack was part of the New England Patriots before joining our team. Jack will primarily support Tom Gunning in labor relations and CBA/membership management.
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Save the Date: 6th Annual BTEA Recovery Week
BTEA's 6th Annual Building Trades Recovery Week will begin on Monday, April 27 and conclude on Friday, May 1.
Join us as we unite to combat substance use disorder (SUD), advance suicide prevention efforts, and promote meaningful recovery and mental health resources across the union building trades community. From Opening Night to specialized trainings for contractor members and additional engagement opportunities, there are many ways to get involved.
More details and a full schedule of events will be shared in the coming weeks. We look forward to your participation in this important initiative.
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Ironworkers District Council of New England LMCT Sponsors Outside the Fame
New England District Council President Mike Hess and Tom Gunning discussed substance use disorder in the construction industry on a recent episode of NESN's Outside the Fame featuring Kevin Stevens. Mike and Tom shared the many ways our industry is trying to support our brothers and sisters in the fight against substance use disorder and mental health challenges.
WATCH THE EPISODE HERE
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Industry News
The International Association of Bridge, Structural, Ornamental and Reinforcing Iron Workers (IW) announced that general president Eric Dean has retired. Former general secretary Kevin Bryenton replaces him, bringing nearly 40 years of experience as an ironworker to the role. READ MORE
Robert Butler has assumed the position of Region 1 International Representative for the SMART-Union. Russell Bartash has been named as the Northeast Regional Council of SMART President and Rob Maloney as Financial Secretary/Treasurer.
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Gateway Tunnel Work to Resume After Trump DOT Ordered to Release Funds
Construction on the nation’s largest infrastructure projects can resume after a court ordered the Trump administration to release funding. On Feb. 18, NY AG Letitia James announced the U.S. DOT released nearly $130M in funding for the $16B Gateway tunnel project in an ongoing lawsuit.
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DOL Announces $145M in Funding to Support Performance-Based Registered Apprenticeship Expansion
The initiative, which represents the most significant investment taken to date in response to President Trump’s directive to meet and exceed 1M active apprentices nationwide, is built on a pay-for-performance model. The department will award up to five cooperative agreements for a four-year period of performance focusing on the expansion of newly developed Registered Apprenticeships, as well as the growth of existing programs across industries. The program will also place an emphasis on incentivizing industries with a well-established Registered Apprenticeship program infrastructure.
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ERISA Settlements Provided $68 per Plaintiff in 2025
Individual plan participants entangled in 401(k) excessive-fee and investment-underperformance lawsuits had a median recovery of just $67.79 in 2025, even as law firms representing plaintiffs averaged $1.59 million per case in fees. According to the Davis & Harman analysis, attorneys’ fees consumed an average of 33% of each settlement.
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Work Zone Fatalities up 30% over 12 Years, CPWR Says
Fatal crashes in construction work zones increased more than 30% from 2012 to 2023, with 568 deaths in 514 crashes last year, according to a report from the Center for Construction Research and Training. Although overall transportation-related deaths and injuries have remained steady, the fatality rate has decreased to 2.1 per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers. Specialty trade contractors accounted for most of the incidents, with Texas and Florida reporting the highest numbers of deaths.
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Everett's Exiting Mayor Signs One Final Hotel, Rail Deal
The deal with the operator of the Encore Boston Harbor casino and hotel charts a path for the construction of two new, non-gaming hotels as well as a commuter-rail stop on the Newburyport/Rockport line.
The hotels would be located on Wynn-owned land across from the casino in Everett, along Lower Broadway and near where the Kraft Group is planning to construct a new soccer stadium.
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171 Apartments Pitched for Another Office Conversion
Mahoney Development filed a proposal to convert a 193K SF office building at 50 Congress St. into 171 apartments. The project would be the second-largest office-to-residential conversion in Boston to-date. The developer plans to include 20% affordability and roughly 6.7K SF of ground-floor retail.
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HYM, My City at Peace to rebuild Carney Hospital
HYM and partner My City at Peace are planning to transform the 12-acre site into a mixed-use, healthcare-anchored neighborhood in Dorchester that would include a care facility, senior and rental housing, retail and education space.
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New England Development Redesigns Bunker Hill Mall Project
After a four-year hiatus, New England Development submitted a redesign of its plans for 240 apartments at Charlestown’s Bunker Hill Mall property. The height of the building was reduced from 85 to 70 feet, or 6 stories. The proposed 195,000 SF project is the first phase of a potential larger redevelopment of the 6-acre property. Completion of the first phase now is scheduled for 2028.
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Saks Global Closes Neiman Marcus at Copley Place
An exact date for the closure of the store has not been announced. Simon said it plans to begin its exterior remodeling this year and will have phased openings in the space through 2028. Simon called the replacement a “landmark redevelopment.”
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Developers Argue for Rejected P3 Project
In January, Boston Chief of Planning Kairos Shen announced the development team's designation would not be renewed after two extensions and no development in sight. The city now is considering a $700M Madison Park vocational high school for the site but that was met with significant pushback from the developers and local leaders who say it goes against the intended economic development goals.
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Hamilton Company Files a Proposed Zoning Amendment
Before it can formally pitch the project, The Hamilton Company is asking Somerville to change the zoning for a site in Union Square, a step the developer says is necessary to pursue two six-story mixed-use buildings with nearly 200 homes. Hamilton says the types of uses for the zoning permits, such as lab and office space, no longer make financial sense.
| | Employers Want Insurers Added to Trump's Drug Transparencey Rule | | |
Employer groups and consumer advocates are urging the DOL to include health insurance companies in a proposal that would require transparency in profits by pharmacy benefit managers and affiliated brokers. The rule would require PBMs and brokers to disclose all expected compensation to health plan sponsors, and would grant employers additional audit authorities and insights into medical claims.
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| | Glass Repair Shop Can't Slip Pension Bull Using Bankruptcy Quirk | | |
Florida Glass can’t use a “quirk” in bankruptcy law to avoid paying more than $1.5M in withdrawal liability to a multiemployer pension fund, the Fourth Circuit ruled.
The dispute centered on how to characterize a proof of claim submitted to Florida Glass of Tampa Bay Inc.'s bankruptcy proceedings by the International Painters & Allied Trades Industry Pension Fund. Florida Glass said this filing was a formal notice and demand under federal pension law that started the clock running on the pension fund’s deadline to sue—making the fund’s eventual lawsuit untimely but the US Court of Appeals ultimately disagreed.
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| | EBSA Updates National Enforcement Projects for 2026 | | |
The changes to the national enforcement projects, the most significant EBSA has made in recent years, highlight where EBSA will focus its enforcement resources, including:
- Cybersecurity
- Barriers to mental health and substance use disorder benefits
- Protecting benefit distributions
- Retirement asset management
- Surprise billing
- Criminal abuse of contributory benefit plans
READ MORE
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Shawmut announced it has launched a data center division, to be led by Joel Nickel, in an effort to double revenue to $5B.
- MA Officials are asking developers to provide proposals by February 27 for a 25-acre stretch of Fall River waterfront, after the state removed Route 79 Highway.
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Nonresidential construction planning slipped 6.3% month to month in January due to weaker commercial and institutional activity, essentially erasing a gain from the end of 2025.
- Private companies added just 22K positions for January. The total was less than the downwardly revised 37K increase in December and below the consensus forecast for 45K.
- At the end of 2025, prices for materials most exposed to tariffs, including copper wire and cable, jumped 22% YOY.
- The last of five federal court hearings for large, under-construction offshore wind energy projects that challenged a Dec. 22 Trump administration work-stop order received a decision that revokes the construction suspension for New York's 924-MW Sunrise Wind project.
- The DOL announced the 2026 National Apprenticeship Week will take place from April 26 to May 2, marking the nationwide celebration’s move to spring.
- Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division announced it has recovered more than $259M in back wages for nearly 177K employees nationwide – an average of $1,465 per worker – in fiscal year 2025.
- MA lost more than 33K residents in the 12 months ending July 1, 2025 with many biotech leaders calling on MA to remove the millionaires' tax as they believe it is deterring entrepreneurs and leaders.
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