This November 11, we honor the brave men and women who have served our nation, including many of our members. We thank you for your service. Please join BTEA Northeast in our Salute to Service initiatives.

CarePacks Donation Drive

• Tuesday, November 11 from 11:00 AM - 1:00 PM
• CarePacks will be collecting NEW products for upcoming care package building. Items can include individual personal care products, granola bars, playing cards, paperback books, and much more. Handmade cards are encouraged.
• Drop Off: The Donahue Family, 31 Woodland Drive, S. Weymouth, MA
• Please contact Rick Donahue for more information

CarePacks Holiday Care Package Building

• Saturday, November 15 from 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM
• Location: 104 Pond Street, Weymouth, MA
• We will pack holiday-themed care packages for our servicemen and women. Last year, we helped pack over 300 boxes at this event.
• Please reach out to Jeanne (jtempesta@btea.com) to register.

Helmets to Hardhats

• Helmets to Hardhats is a national nonprofit program that connects transitioning active-duty military service members, Veterans, National Guard and Reservists with skilled training and quality career opportunities in the union construction industry. Through their efforts more than 1,100 veterans have entered our union programs!
• Please consider joining us and donating to support their efforts: DONATE HERE

There will be a Helmets to Hardhats press event at the State House on Monday, November 17 from 11:00 AM - 1:00 PM. Please email Jenn (jenn@btea.com) if you are interested in attending.

EDUCATION & EVENTS

SPOTLIGHT

November 19 | 8:00 AM | Omni Seaport

Procurement & Preconstruction

This panel-based discussion explores the intersection of preconstruction, estimating, and purchasing—and the crucial role that trade partners play in adding value before the bid is awarded. Topics include: value engineering, early bid packages, site logistics, means and methods, and more. A Q&A session will follow the presentation to foster discussion and insight.

Joe Kelly - Moderator & Code Consultant at Mass Construction Consultants

Greg Garvin - Vice President & Director of Global Purchasing at Gilbane

Allan Fiddes - Vice President Preconstruction at Lee Kennedy Company

Josh Bilotta - Director of Operations and Preconstruction at Walsh Brothers

NEWS

Federal Shut Down Updates

The Federal Government shut down has officially become the longest ever, surpassing 35 days with more than 14 failed votes. Though lawmakers have said in recent days that bipartisan negotiations are gaining steam, no deal has emerged yet. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-South Dakota said he’s "optimistic" that the government shutdown could come to an end this week and that lawmakers are "getting close to an off-ramp."

A bipartisan group of House lawmakers released a tentative framework for a potential deal that would extend expiring the health insurance subsidies that have been at the center of the shutdown debate. The legislation would extend the tax credits, which will sunset at the end of the year, for two years and include guardrails to prevent fraud. It's still unclear if the Senate will support this revised framework.

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Reminder: MA Pay Transparency Law Effective 10/29/25

MA's pay transparency law will require employers with 25 or more MA employees to disclose wage ranges in all job postings to job applicants and current employees upon request as of October 29, 2025.

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Judge Dimisses Challenge by Plumbers Association Regarding Health Coverage for Certain Types of Leave

A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit against the state law that requires employees to ensure their unionized workers retain health insurance when they take family or medical leaves stating that the association did not tender a concrete or specific case.

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Two Market Reports Suggest a Turnaround in Boston's Office Market

Demand for office space, which has been suppressed for five years, jumped 85% in the third quarter from the second quarter. Top third-quarter leases were led by Hasbro’s commitment to 265K SF in the Seaport, a 200K SF renewal by BNY in the Financial District, and 130K SF signed by KKR at International Place.

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Health Insurance Companies Take a Tougher Stand Against Health Care Providers

Insurance companies and healthcare providers are both facing rapidly rising prices and are pointing to each other to limit cost increases. BCBS and UMass Memorial Health negotiations have been ongoing and BCBS says it offered UMass an annualized increase in reimbursements of 3.58%. UMass, according to BCBS, asked for 6.7%. Patients have been notified that their current healthcare providers might soon be dropped from the network. The deadline for negotiations is Dec. 31.

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Despite Bubble Fears, Big Tech Data Center Spending is Accelerating Faster than Ever

The combined projected spending for the four major hyper-scalers in 2025 is approaching $400B — tens of billions of dollars above what they predicted just months ago — and is expected to increase meaningfully in 2026. Over the next two years, Amazon and Microsoft plan to double their data center footprints.

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PROJECTS & PROPOSALS

Design Commission Wants Changes to Landsdowne Block

BCDC pressed WS Development for changes to its 250K SF office and retail space that would replace the Landsdowne Street Parking Garage, highlighting the challenges many have voiced of working with the BCDC. The project is the first phase of the Fenway Corners project, which comprises 13 parcels totaling 5.3 acres surrounding Fenway Park.

New Balance Expands $35M Brighton Purchase

New Balance’s property development arm has paid $35M for a 3-acre site next to its Boston Landing property in Brighton. The vacant site is permitted for a 409K SF life sciences building, though it isn’t clear if plans are still in place for that use.

BPDA Approves 790K Charlestown Development

Trinity Financial is the designated developer for the city-owned parking lots in Charlestown that will be developed as a mixed-income housing complex in stages, totaling 705 units. The 790K SF project will include new public recreation space in the form of a 46K SF community center, along with a 14K SF early childhood education center. 

Suffolk Outlines Changes to Newmarket Campus

Suffolk Construction began permitting this week with the BPDA to renovate portions of its Roxbury Headquarters in an effort to provide new amenities for employees and enhance overall security after demolishing five buildings on its property recently.

LEGISLATION

OSHA Plan Saps Enforcement Power for Dangerous Jobs

OSHA plans to exclude hazards that are “inherent and inseparable from the core nature” of a job from coverage under its general duty clause, effectively limiting use of the agency’s broad enforcement tool to hold employers liable for workplace injuries and deaths. States are pushing the Trump administration to change course on narrowing use of a catch-all federal workplace-safety oversight tool.

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CA Passes Private Works Change Order Fair Payment Act

CA recently passed the Private Works Change Order Fair Payment Act (SB 440), which requires owners on private projects to respond to change order requests within 30 days, pay undisputed amounts within 60 days, and allows contractors to suspend work if payment is delayed. MA has similar protections under the Prompt Payment Act, though it only applies to private projects over $3M, meaning many smaller and mid-sized projects are not covered.

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NLRB Primed to Move Quickly When Quorum Restored

The NLRB is set to start issuing decisions as soon as the Senate confirms a pair of nominees who would give the board the minimum number needed to resolve cases. Former Republican NLRB Chair Marvin Kaplan's expectations for the NLRB’s speedy return to productivity comes as good news to the workers, employers, and unions who’ve seen their cases idle over the nine months the board has been unable to rule.

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FAST FACTS

• All four of Boston's incumbent at-large city councilors are on track to hold their seats after this week's election, leaving a mayor-friendly council intact for the start of Mayor Wu's second term.

• Boston's ZBA unanimously approved rezoning, which would allow buildings of up to 700 feet in some areas if the buildings are primarily residential. Mayor Wu is expected to sign the measure into law.

• LeftField, a Boston firm involved in the building of Moderna's new Cambridge headquarters, has been acquired by Cumming Group.

• Michigan has created a Mass Timber Program as part of a construction adoption push, incentivizing contractors with reimbursements up to $75,000.



• Northeastern and Harvard have spent $2M+ on lobbying to-date in 2025.

• David Keeling has been confirmed as OSHA's Assistant Secretary.

• New analysis from Payscale Inc. projects an average pay raise of 3.5% in 2026, down from a record-high 6% in 2022.

• The percentage of women in the labor force with a child under 5 fell to 77% in August 2025, from a high near 80% in 2023.

• Construction counted 188,000 open jobs, a drop of about 38% both month-to-month and year over year. In August, 2.2% of all construction jobs went unfilled, the lowest in almost ten years and a major dip from 3.5% the month prior.

• Among 11 major metro areas tracked, only four had lower rates of in-office workers than Boston. They are San Francisco, Chicago, Denver and Los Angeles. The national average is down 26.3% from the same month in 2019 — roughly 10 percentage points better than Boston’s average.

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