This advice was contained in a recent issue of Cockshaw's Construction Labor News+Opinion.

The monthly publication cited the Associated Builders and Contractors of America (ABC) as an example of how marketing and promotion can be a valuable tool.

Due to a finely tuned marketing plan, ABC has convinced many in the trade and general press that they have a comprehensive training program on a national scale.

The truth of the matter is that the ABC training commitment pales in comparison to the programming and expenditures of the signatory construction sector.

The funding for the National Center for Construction Education and Research (NCCER), ABC's national training center, and ABC's local training efforts, is but a drop in the bucket compared to the union sector's annual training commitment of $370 million.

These facts offer a vivid illustration of why Cockshaw's advice to union construction is to get going on campaigns to improve image and promote strengths.

That is what the Laborers-Employers Cooperation and Education Trust (LECET) is all about. Wisconsin LECET has been promoting the "positives" of union construction since 1991. On a national level, the Laborers International Union of North America (LIUNA) has been operating the labor-management marketing effort for more than a decade.

Just in this issue of the Wisconsin LECET News there are a number of stories about our promotion efforts.

These efforts and many more that you will read about in the coming months and years, will demonstrate that Wisconsin LECET, labor and management working together, has already taken the advice in Cockshaw's.

A program that helps recruit, prepare and employ women and minority workers into highway construction jobs will be expanded through a $300,000 grant provided by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) to the Wisconsin Department of Transportation's Office of Disadvantaged Business Enterprise Programs.

Governor Thompson said the grant will allow the Transportation Alliance for New Solutions Program (TrANS) to contract with community organizations to identify and place up to 125 individuals into highway construction careers, leading them into a skilled trade.

The statewide recruiting program will be expanded immediately beginning in the south central and southwest part of the state. There will be a special focus on recruiting disadvantaged populations including Native Americans and Hmong.

The program has been operating in southeast Wisconsin through a contract with the YWCA of Greater Milwaukee, including Esperanza Unida, the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Milwaukee and the Milwaukee Area American Indian Manpower Council as subcontractors.

Laborers Local 113 in Milwaukee, the Wisconsin Laborers District Council and the Wisconsin Laborers Skill Improvement Fund have been instrumental in providing services to the program that have insured its success. An extensive skills training program at the Wisconsin Laborers Training Center is a crucial first step in the TrANS Program.

Counties that will benefit immediately from the FHWA grant include: Columbia, Dane, Dodge, Grant, Green, Iowa, Jefferson, Lafayette, Rock and Sauk. Other areas in the state will join the program as contracts are established in 1999.

Classes for 1999 are filling up fast, so if you want employees to attend training or if you want to schedule satellite courses at your place of business, you should do so right away. Applications for classes must be verified by the local laborers union office.

To get a copy of The Trainer contact your local laborers union, the Wisconsin Laborers Training Center (WLTC) (800-275-6939) or Wisconsin LECET (800-782-4634).

Those 1999 rates were just announced after the Department of Workforce Development (DWD) compiled all the information, released preliminary rates and went through a 30-day correction cycle for contractors that reported.

So why is Wisconsin LECET talking about the next survey already?

Because, we plan on upgrading the Prevail 1.1 Windows Program, developed to assist contractors with the survey, yet this winter. We will also start visiting key companies while the snow flies to encourage an even better response next time around.

From July 1, 1997 through June 30, 1998, almost 1100 contractors received downward adjustments in workers compensation premiums. The average discount was 10%.

For employers to qualify for the program, 50% of total payroll must be in eligible contracting classifications. More than 80 separate worker classifications are included. There are no experience rating modification requirements.

If you meet these qualifications, you can apply for credits to decrease your workers compensation premiums for any workers in eligible classifications that are paid more than an average hourly wage of $16.50/hour.

The Wisconsin Contractors Premium Adjustment Program should help high wage employers be more competitive in workers comp costs.

If you would like a description of the program and a sample worksheet showing how to calculate the premium adjustment, call Wisconsin LECET at (800) 782-4634.

The additional information will allow WAFC investigators to more closely monitor projects subject to the Wisconsin Prevailing Wage Law. With more projects coming on line in Wisconsin and only four investigators to cover the entire state, the additional assistance will prove absolutely necessary.

Two recent cases illustrate the need for the WAFC and increased monitoring of public construction projects.

ECES Services, Inc. of Mequon recently shut down operations. ECES has won about $4.5 million in sewer contracts in the City of Milwaukee over the last two years. ECES was not filing wage reports on some employees and other employees were listed as living in target areas for employment when they, in fact, lived outside the impact area. As a result of wage complaints filed with the City of Milwaukee, money had been withheld from ECES contracts. Early detection and close monitoring will limit the loss in this case. WAFC has been closely involved with the ECES case.

In another case, a Portage electrical contractor, Krouscup Electric Co., was ordered to pay a $96,000 fine and over $58,000 in wages and benefits to employees for violating federal wage and benefit laws. The company pleaded guilty and admitted lying to the U. S. Department of Labor and the Department of the Army while working at the Badger Army Ammunition Plant near Baraboo, Wisconsin.

In the past, the committee has met with owners of potential construction projects in the area, participated in economic development efforts, run advertising campaigns and erected billboards promoting labor-management cooperation.

Although the standard does not impose major new requirements, it makes a number of previous requirements for the use of respirators more specific and increases the burden for employers to develop and use written respirator programs.

The new OSHA standard recognizes the fact that construction workers have been using respirators more often. This use includes not only hazardous waste and asbestos jobs, but also exposure to toxic chemicals and dust and confined space work.

Employers are now required to develop a written program that outlines procedures for selecting, fitting, cleaning and maintaining respirators.