Employee Free Choice Act  

OUR REPRESENTATIVES IN WASHINGTON D.C. NEED TO HEAR FROM YOU regarding the Employee Free Choice Act. The vote is going to be happening in the near future. The vote is going to be very close. Please write your representative and senators with your thoughts today.  No excuses!  It is easy to do via the AGCA Legislative Action Center. Click here.

AGCA’s Advocacy Team is also working to repeal excessive 3% withholdings on Government contracts. Again, you need to voice your opinion with the Nebraska delegation in Washington D.C. Click here.

On December 5, 2008 the IRS published the rules for implementing the 3% withholding on government contracts. To read more on this click here.

New Bills Introduced by Legislature

Contractor Data Base and Contractor Registration

CONTRACTOR DATA BASE AND CONTRACTOR REGISTRATION is now required. Just in case some of you are spending time assisting (or educating) your subs and vendors with this we have located three links together in the bottom left hand corner of www.agcnebuiders.com There is the link to the Department of Revenue’s Contractor Data Base; a link to the application form to register and pay the $40.00 to the Department of Labor and a reprint of the FAQ on both.  Hopefully, this will help you in helping your subs/vendors.

Ron Petsch, Program Chairperson, Construction Technology has requested your help to update and validate the curriculum included in the associate degree program.  He is asking experienced construction industry personnel to help verify the validity of the curriculum.  For the details click here. 

BUILDING CHAPTER CALENDAR OF EVENTS - click here. There are 28 people registered for the Commercial Blueprint Reading class in Kearney starting on Friday. The LEED-AP Test Prep Course is scheduled to start on January 28th in Lincoln. There are 17 registered as of today. There is room for 4-5 more. Email Jean if you are interested in more information.

The last STP Course of the season will start February 2nd. Deadline to register is this Friday. The registration form is on the Calendar of Events.

The Information/Registration information will be out next week for the Chuck VanderKooi Seminars in Scottsbluff on February 26th & 27th.

Fall Protection Seminar, January 23rd in Omaha, is sponsored by the American Society of Safety Engineers. Click here for registration information.

Green Advantage Practitioner Certification Training, February 6th in Omaha, is sponsored by the Flatwater Chapter, the Green Initiative and AGC Building Chapter is a co-sponsor. For registration information click here. 

NASA Safety Reporting Reminder

Information about the 2008 National AGC Safety Awards was mailed in December to the key contact person at each member firm. The deadline to return the information to the Building Chapter Office is January 16th.

The Building Chapter has two complete sets of 2009 CWS Tickets available. Set 1 is for seats O-13/seats 23 & 24. Set 2 is for seats O-24 seats 27 & 28. Each set of two tickets will be $534.00. These will be available to purchase based on who contacts Jean by email first. The tickets must be paid for by the end of January. 

A Few National Items of Interest

Webinar - The Employee Free Choice Act: What You Need to Know Now

Join AGC for an important 90-minute webinar on The (So-Called) Employee Free Choice Act: What You Need to Know, on Thursday, January 15, 2009 at 1:00 pm EST. The webinar will cover the myths and facts surrounding this bill, which is the AFL-CIO’s top priority, as well as explain how this bill could affect your chapter or company and what you should do now to prepare.
 
Topics include:

Make sure your members are aware of this important opportunity.

Click here to register.

Price: $79 Members   
Note: Jean has registered to participate and will provide an executive summary of the E-Verify requirements on federal contracts is coming soon - Click here for a reprint of the article in the 12-23-08 AGCA News & Views. (Just in case you missed it over the Holidays)  

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