ACT Ohio promotes responsible contracting policies, wage and safety protections for Ohio construction workers, and workforce development through paid, tuition-free apprenticeship training across Ohio. Each of these initiatives delivers real economic benefit and return-on-investment for public and private developers, as well as tax benefits to local communities and the working families who power our state’s economy.
Among the policies, regulations and programs that ACT Ohio asks legislators to carefully and thoughtfully consider when forming policies, bills and laws are the following:
Prevailing Wage Law:
State legislators must protect Ohio’s Prevailing Wage Law because it provides skilled construction-trades crafts workers with fair wages and benefits – which helps build a strong workforce of committed and well-trained construction workers who spend their dollars locally. Therefore, legislators must keep the state’s Prevailing Wage Law applicable on all publicly funded construction, set a fair and reasonable cost threshold at which Prevailing Wage is applied on a project – and reinstate it in school construction. To learn more, click here.
Apprenticeship and Training:
By championing laws that support construction-worker training, state legislators can help ensure each and every state construction worker is qualified and certified to do the vital work of building our state while also being safe on jobsites. By passing legislation that helps regulate training, legislators can promote the implementation and success of certified apprenticeship programs for new construction workers and upgrade training for journeyworkers, provided in state-of-the-art training facilities at no cost to the workers or tax-payers. To learn more, click here.
Industry Regulations:
Laws guaranteeing that all construction professionals adhere to strict industry standards – such as building codes, safety rules and training benchmarks – helps build a strong construction industry and produce better construction products. These laws also need to make provisions that regulations are properly followed and strictly enforced, helping put construction professionals on a level playing field in which unscrupulous, unqualified and non-responsible contractors, developers and design-builders are unable to compete. To learn more, click here.
Workplace Safety:
Legislators are key allies in providing the means to properly train construction workers to be safe and adhere to OSHA standards, which not only helps protect lives on a construction site but also helps ensure construction projects are completed without costly delays. Therefore, legislators have a duty to pass laws that require construction-training programs to properly address safety training and health issues of construction workers. To learn more, click here.
Drug-Free Workforce:
Legislators must protect, enhance and enforce the state’s drug-free workplace policies, while supporting stringent testing standards through legislation – because a Drug-Free Workforce promotes safety on the construction site and helps construction projects get completed properly and on schedule. Through the Ohio Department of Administrative Services, the Drug-Free Workplace Services Program administers Ohio’s Drug-Free Workplace Program, including state and federal testing programs – a program that should be consistently applied and promoted throughout the construction industry. To learn more, click here.