We are pleased to let you know that the next DMCC Annual Meeting has been scheduled for Tuesday, March 11^th from 3:00-5:00PM. The meeting will be held at the Master Builders of Iowa headquarters (ELEVATE Business and Events Center) at 4100 Westown Parkway, West Des Moines, IA. 

DMCC members and all signatory contractors in Central Iowa are invited to attend. 

PLEASE RSVP BY CLICKING HERE

U.S. President Donald Trump has fired two Democratic officials at the National Labor Relations Board, a major shakeup that will bring hundreds of cases accusing companies of unlawful labor practices to a standstill and paves the way for Republican control of the agency.

Trump removed NLRB Member Gwynne Wilcox and General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo, both appointees of Democratic former President Joe Biden, from their posts late on Monday, according to an agency spokesman, who said no reason was given.

The firing of Abruzzo, who in her role as general counsel acted as a prosecutor, was expected. But the removal of Wilcox, whose term was not set to end until August 2028, is unprecedented and may violate federal labor law.

Wilcox, the first Black woman to serve on the agency's five-member board, said in a statement that she would pursue "all legal avenues" to challenge her firing.

The White House did not respond to requests for comment.

The board already had two vacancies, so the removal of Wilcox leaves it without a quorum of three members to issue decisions even in routine cases. The board reviews rulings by in-house judges in cases brought by the general counsel. Until it does, those orders cannot be enforced.

Hundreds of cases are pending before the board, including ones involving Amazon.com, Tesla, Walmart, Apple, and dozens against Starbucks as it faces a nationwide union campaign.

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The NLRB enforces workers' rights to organize, advocate for better working conditions, and join or dissolve unions. Federal labor law does not allow workers to sue for violations in court, so the board is often their only recourse.

Once board members are confirmed, federal law allows them to be removed only for "neglect of duty or malfeasance in office." About two dozen companies, including Amazon and Elon Musk's SpaceX, have filed lawsuits since last year challenging those protections and claiming the president should have the power to fire NLRB members at will. The companies also argue the NLRB's in-house enforcement procedures are unconstitutional.

Musk, whose companies have been involved in several labor board cases, is a top adviser to Trump and is leading a commission aimed at cutting government spending and eliminating many federal regulations.

Together, the firings signal a sharp turn away from the policies and legal theories embraced by the board during the Biden administration that riled business groups and were widely seen as favoring unions.

Abruzzo's office had convinced Wilcox and other board members to create a new path for unions to represent workers, to ban mandatory meetings to discourage unionizing, and to expand the type of worker conduct protected by federal labor law.

Abruzzo had also been critical of the companies that have filed lawsuits challenging the NLRB's structure, accusing them of pushing meritless legal theories to distract from their violations of workers' rights.

On Tuesday, Abruzzo in a statement said the labor board's efforts to empower workers in recent years would have a lasting impact. If the agency lost effectiveness, she said, "I expect that workers with assistance from their advocates will take matters into their own hands."

The NLRB, which was created in 1935, is designed to be independent from the White House. Its members' terms are staggered, which means that control of the board typically does not change hands until a year or two after a new president takes office.

Even before firing Wilcox, Trump had an opportunity to quickly cement Republican control at the labor board, with two existing vacancies to fill. Trump has not said who he plans to nominate to the board or to replace Abruzzo as general counsel.

Unions and Democrats on Tuesday criticized Trump for firing the officials and bringing the board's work to a halt. Representative Robert Scott, the top Democrat on a U.S. House labor committee, said the removal of Wilcox not only violated federal labor law but also her due process rights under the U.S. Constitution.

"Without Member Wilcox ... the Board cannot issue decisions to hold union-busting companies accountable, further stymieing justice for workers fighting for better conditions," he said.

Some Republicans praised Trump's firing of Abruzzo.

"Under Abruzzo's leadership, the Board weaponized its authority against American workers, opening them up to intimidation, coercion, and forced unionization," Republican Senator Bill Cassidy said in a statement.

Construction executives will be watching how President Donald Trump’s second administration plans to handle certain industry challenges that have plagued progress for some time.

To support construction growth, the Associated General Contractors of America recently outlined five key recommendations for the Trump administration during a construction outlook webinar on Jan 8. They are:

Chip away at workforce shortages

Results from AGC’s annual outlook survey continue to highlight the industry’s workforce issues.

To address these gaps, AGC emphasized the need for new temporary work visa programs tailored to the construction industry.

“In the short term, we are urging the new administration to work with Congress to establish new programs for temporary work visas that are dedicated to the construction industry,” said Ken Simonson, AGC chief economist, during the webinar. “This will allow firms a way to provide lawful workers so they can keep pace with important economic development projects like improving infrastructure and building new manufacturing and semiconductor facilities.”

In Kansas City, large scale-projects including data centers and Panasonic’s $4 billion EV battery facility illustrate the scale of these labor challenges, said webinar panelist Andy Heitmann, vice president of operations at New York City-based Turner Construction.

“We do have a lot of labor pressure, not only for the frontline trade worker, but as well as professional staff,” said Heitmann. “For example, on a project here, we had about 4,000 workers going through the gate to work on a project, six days a week. [Of those workers,] we had about 40% travelers, and when I say travelers, that’s 48 of the 50 states. We have workers coming from all over.”

The situation in Florida reflects similar challenges, compounded by a lack of skilled labor, said panelist Rex Kirby, president and CEO of Verdex Construction, a West Palm Beach, Florida-based general contractor.

“We have a great labor force, a hard-working labor force, but it’s a very unskilled labor force, so it takes a lot more supervision on our part to get the work done,” said Kirby. “Then there’s definitely some fear because we do have a largely immigrant workforce. They’ll ask our teams in the field frequently like, ‘Hey, are they going to try to send me home?’ And of course, we’re saying no.”

AGC also called for increased investment in post-secondary and high school construction training programs through the Stronger Workforce for America Act and the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act.

“The attraction of people coming into our industry is getting better, but we are so far behind,” said Heitmann. “I think we have a long way to go.”

Avoid tariffs

Tariffs remain a significant worry for contractors, particularly with Trump’s pledges on the topic, said Jeffrey Shoaf, AGC’s chief executive officer, during the webinar.

“The new conversation by the incoming administration about tariffs has really got people worried about what that does to critical elements of construction projects in the U.S.,” said Shoaf. “We’re going to make sure the administration knows what those are to try and mitigate the impact of tariffs on contractors around the country.”

Across-the-board tariffs could further strain the supply chain, particularly for specialty equipment and electrical gear, said panelist Norbert Schulz, vice president of marketing and business development at Filanc, an Escondido, California-based general contractor.

“There are numerous types of specialty treatment equipment, pumps, valves and the like, that do come from overseas that would be subject to tariffs,” said Schulz. “And they tend to be the highest-dollar-value ticket items as far as equipment goes on our work.”

Heitmann echoed those worries.

“The megaprojects have the electrical work that Norbert was referring to. I’ve got 500 air handlers on one project alone,” said Heitmann. “Quite frankly, pricing is elevated because there’s a lot of work going on.”

Accelerate permitting

AGC called on the administration to address permitting delays that stall critical projects.

“The good news is the incoming president has the authority he needs to rapidly accelerate federal reviews,” said Simonson. “If President Trump moves quickly to streamline the permitting process, many delayed projects should see a rapid start to construction.”

The Project Stress Index, a measure of construction projects that have been paused, abandoned or have a delayed bid date, fell 7.4% in December. However, that figure still remains 5.6% above 2021 levels, according to Cincinnati-based ConstructConnect. On-hold projects also ticked up 6.2% in December, according to the data.

Broaden participation on federal projects

The organization also called for revoking President Joe Biden’s executive order mandating project labor agreements for federal projects exceeding $35 million. The group argued that this measure restricts two-thirds of the construction workforce from participating in federally funded projects.

“President Trump should take immediate steps to remove limits on who can work on federal construction projects,” said Simonson. “The measure severely [undermines] the nation’s capacity to build.”

Support infrastructure projects

Infrastructure investment remains a critical area of focus for contractors, with optimism about future projects, said Shoaf.

“There’s a lot of talk about cutting spending, but it doesn’t seem to be in the infrastructure space,” said Shoaf. “The Biden administration put a lot of money into infrastructure, the Trump administration four years ago put a lot of money into infrastructure. I don’t see that changing now and neither do the contractors. They see that as an area where there’s projects in the pipeline and there’s more good news to come.”

For example, Florida has seen a surge in infrastructure and public-sector projects, said Kirby.

“There’s a lot of public sector work out there now, and actually a lot of school work and school renovation work because of the age of some of the schools throughout the state,” said Kirby. “They’re now starting to go back and put money into bringing those up to not only security measures but also just putting in some maintenance into those facilities.”