POSTPONED--Current Events in Labor Relations

         

and our February event sponsor, Ashbaugh Beal

 
Please join CFMA to learn about the current state of Labor Relations in the State of Washington and the Puget Sound. Our presenters, Sonja Forster & Andrew Ledbetter from the Associated General Contractors of Washington, will provide some background on Master Labor Agreements and the AGC’s historic role as a partner in crafting Labor Agreements around the Northwest. They will cover recent issues that AGC is working on, including recent legislative changes in Olympia that affect the calculation of prevailing wages. At Issue for contractors is a line in the bill that states that where two CBAs exist for the same trade in the same county, the higher one will be prevailed. This opens the door for CBAs that represent only a small fraction of the overall hours worked to be prevailed over CBAs, such as those negotiated by AGC, that represent the vast majority of the industry.

The second part of our program will cover the basics of what are PLAs (Project Labor Agreements) and CWAs (Community Workforce Agreements). The presentation will have some examples of these types of agreements and go over some of the jurisdictions where these are currently in effect. This topic will also cover the ongoing unfair labor practices charge that the AGC has filed with the NLRB against 17 local unions. The charge stems from a Community Workforce Agreement (CWA) the unions negotiated with the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) as a part of the bid specifications for the recently awarded SR-520 Montlake to Lake Washington Interchange and Bridge Replacement Project.

Andrew Ledbetter supports AGC’s Labor Committee as the Director of Labor Relations. Andrew has been with the Association for 6 years following his work in construction with roles in QC and Safety. At the AGC Andrew facilitates contract negotiations and manages trustee positions on joint labor management trust funds while also performing contract administration duties for the 5 basic crafts. Andrew holds a Bachelor’s degree in Occupational Health from Central Washington University and a Master’s degree in Human Resources from Penn State.  

Sonja Forster is in her third year as the AGC of Washington Seattle District Manager. Sonja provides AGC services to members in King County, and covers local government affairs for the region including the Port of Seattle and Sound Transit. Sonja is also an appointee to the Priority Hire Advisory Committees of  King County and the City of Seattle, and serves as a trustee on the AGC Health Benefit Trust for the Alaska and Washington Chapters. Sonja graduated from the University of Washington with a degree in Economics. She lives in NW Seattle with her two boys aged 14 and 9.

Check-in and Registration is from 7:15 am - 8:00 am
Event Presentation will run at 8:00 am - 9:00 am with Breakfast service

One hour of Non-technical CPE credit will be offered.