Elizabeth McPherson's blog

Representatives from Construction Citizen attended an extraordinary Workforce Development Meeting at Marek Brothers Systems, Inc. on January 12, 2011.  The meeting was opened by Katrina Kersch, Marek’s corporate workforce director, and facilitated by Jim Kollaer.  Participants included 24 other key leaders from Marek’s Houston Division of their workforce development program who gathered that day to define goals to be met by the year 2015 as well as to determine specific action plans and goals for 2011.  Kollaer was hired as an outside consultant to facilitate the meeting and to help the group specify exactly what each goal meant and to understand the items on which the group did not have unanimity once those statements were clearly defined.  

The political protests and related violence over the past few weeks in Egypt have not surprisingly impeded progress on construction projects in that country.  Many international companies have evacuated their employees to their home countries, while local firms have closed offices and asked their staff to remain at home.  Prior to the unrest, those in the industry were looking forward to a successful year as the government had promised to fund several large infrastructure projects and construction projects in general were on the increase.

Engineering News-Record (ENR.com) reported today on the situation after talking with representatives from several firms with ongoing projects there. [node:read-more:link]

In an article posted by The Huffington Post earlier this month, columnist Afton Branche writes about wage theft and other abuse which day laborers endure far too often at the hands of unscrupulous employers.  The article was inspired by the release this month of a study prepared by the Immigrants’ Rights/International Human Rights Clinic at the Seton Hall Law School Center for Social Justice in Newark.

Titled All Work and No Pay: Day Laborers, Wage Theft, and Workplace Justice in New Jersey, the study’s findings are based on interviews with day laborers found at pick-up lots across the state of New Jersey.  The study points out that wage theft [node:read-more:link]

Mike Holland, Division President for Marek Brothers Systems Houston, shared his thoughts with me prior to a goal-setting meeting earlier this month about workforce planning.  Marek is one of the companies investing in their workforce development in order to provide the highest quality to their clients today and also to be ready when the construction industry recovers.

At Marek, workforce development planning has always been part of an annual process, but on Jan 12 they held a meeting which Holland described as an evolution of that process with the key stakeholders in Marek’s Houston office workforce development group gathered together to establish goals for the upcoming year.  Key stakeholders are Marek employees with a “stake” in a dedicated effort to improve the quality of the company’s workforce.  The group includes Katrina Kersch, Marek’s corporate workforce director, and other workforce development staff specific to the Houston office, superintendents, and key foreman and coaches who must support the program out on the job sites.  These are leaders who understand what Marek is endeavoring through training and workforce development.  Looking for solutions not only from their own job perspectives, but also in recognizing the problems and needs of those in other job descriptions, they show their commitment to creating one of the most qualified teams in the industry.   [node:read-more:link]

In a January 19th Houston Chronicle article entitled, Working: A plea for fair play, L.M. Sixel discusses how due to the economy, many construction companies are resorting to misclassifying their workers as 1099 or independent contractors instead of employees in order to get out of paying payroll taxes and benefits.

Marek Brothers Systems, a Houston-based commercial interior construction firm, rightfully classifies its 2,000 workers as employees, which, according to the article, means "Marek pays the employer's half of Social Security taxes, pays unemployment insurance taxes, and provides employees a 401(k) plan and subsidized health insurance." [node:read-more:link]

In spite of the recession, luxury retailers continue to market to the wealthy who visit Las Vegas from all over the world each year.  Vegas is the home of the famous Caesars Palace Forum Shops, which had the highest sales per square foot in 2009 of any shopping mall in the US, according to an article in the Los Angeles Times, as well as the Esplanade at Wynn Las Vegas, the Shoppes at the Palazzo and others who brought in world class luxury brands previously not available in Sin City.  Crystals at CityCenter, one of the newest players in the high-end retail game, has upped the ante by incorporating architectural design as a key element to attracting discerning shoppers.  The Times article says of Crystals:

“With its dramatic, jutting ceiling planes and gleaming curved surfaces, Crystals aims to appeal to the shopper who is more interested in art and architecture than a Fall of Atlantis fountain show.”   [node:read-more:link]

Steel construction on One World Trade Center, formerly called the Freedom Tower, reached the 52nd floor just before Christmas last month, marking the half-way point toward structural completion of the 104-floor tower in New York.  The 16 acre World Trade Center complex will be the site of a transportation hub and several other buildings, including a performing arts center, office and retail space and a memorial and museum to remember those who lost their lives in the September 11 terrorist attacks on the original World Trade Center towers nine years ago.  

Cyndi Mergele, Senior Manager at Padgett, Stratemann & Co., L.L.P. in San Antonio, wrote an interesting article for the Construction News, a newspaper focusing on the construction industry in Texas.  Titled Misclassifying workers may prove costly for contractors, the article talks about the growing trend of both federal and state agencies to step up enforcement of misclassification laws to retrieve owed taxes and wages as well as penalties which can be doubled if the employer is found to have purposefully committed misclassification of employees as independent contractors.

Until recently, there has been less focus on misclassification in Texas than in other parts of the country, 

As the year winds down and we prepare to take on 2011, many of us will take a moment or two to reflect on where we are and perhaps even commit to a few changes to propel us closer to where we want to be.  Tony Schwartz, co-author of The Way We’re Working Isn’t Working, wrote a blog a few months ago for Harvard Business Review with some suggestions for anyone who wants to be “excellent” at something.  Schwartz writes:

“If you want to be really good at something, it's going to involve relentlessly pushing past your comfort zone, along with frustration, struggle, setbacks and failures. That's true as long as you want to continue to improve, or even maintain a high level of excellence. The reward is that being really good at something you've earned through your own hard work can be immensely satisfying.”

He suggests six keys effective in achieving your goals:

1.    Pursue what you love.
2.    Do the hardest work first.  

Interfaith Worker Justice declared November 18, 2010 a National Day of Action Against Wage Theft, and helped organize actions in 50 cities across the United States.  Interfaith Worker Justice Executive Director Kim Bobo spoke at the rally and press event held in Washington, D.C.  She talked about the various events occurring that day around the country, including the Justice Bus in Houston which we wrote about earlier.  Other actions included a Jazz Funeral in New Orleans where participants celebrated the death of wage theft, mayoral proclamations in Grand Rapids and Miami, and the announcement of a new partnership between the Denver community and the Department of Labor.   [node:read-more:link]