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ODOT Assumes All Testing For Work Site Traffic Supervisors OCA, ATSSA, Laborers Certification No Longer Accepted! All WTS Prequalification To Comply With Plan Note Published 7/20/2018
Despite comments and concerns expressed by OCA and its contractors, ODOT has moved forward with their new prequalification requirements for Worksite Traffic Supervisors. In accordance with the new requirements, OCA, ATSSA and the Ohio Laborers Training Center courses and testing will no longer be accepted by ODOT! ODOT will now conduct all testing for work zone traffic supervisors. ODOT offered no grandfathering for currently valid certifications issued by either OCA, ATSSA, or the Ohio Laborers Training Center. The new ODOT requirements are effective for all projects let after July 20, 2018.
ODOT provided the following information and guidance to OCA and requested that we distribute it to our membership. Please review the information carefully and follow the directions to ensure that your work zone traffic supervisors are properly prequalified in accordance with ODOT’s new requirements! If your Work Site Traffic Supervisors have taken OCA’s or ATSSA’s course within the past 5 years, they should meet the prerequisites for taking the new ODOT testing. Click here to read more.
Operating Engineers Benefit Funds Delinquencies
Recently, several OCA members have been audited by the Ohio Operating Engineers Benefit Funds, resulting in alleged delinquencies for contributions. It appears to OCA that some of the alleged delinquencies may be for work that falls outside the scope of the Ohio Highway Heavy Construction Agreement by and between OCA and Operating Engineers Local 18. If that is the case, contributions for such work would not be due and therefore not included in any alleged delinquency calculation. If your company has recently undergone an audit by the Ohio Operating Engineers Benefit Funds office which has resulted in an alleged delinquency for contributions, we ask that you please immediately contact Mark Potnick in the OCA office for assistance.
Four Union Pension Funds Ask to Reduce Benefits
Four union pension funds covering various industries asked to reduce what they pay in benefits to workers and retirees. The multiemployer plans submitted their applications to the U.S. Treasury in late June, according to notices in the Federal Register July 24. Local 807 Labor-Management Pension Plan, which covers local Teamsters union workers, had a total of 4,541 participants as of the end of plan year 2016, its latest annual filing shows.
Another plan covering Teamster workers, Mid-Jersey Trucking Industry and Local No. 701 Pension, had 1,871 participants. The Southwest Ohio Regional Council of Carpenters Pension Plan had 5,501 participants as of end of 2016, and the Toledo Roofers Local No. 134 Pension Plan had 473 participants. It’s uncommon to see four notices on benefits reduction at the same time. A multiemployer pension plan is created through an agreement between two or more employers and a union, usually in the same or related industries.
The Multiemployer Pension Reform Act of 2014 allows a multiemployer plan that is projected to go insolvent to reduce pension benefits payable to participants and beneficiaries if certain conditions are met. To reduce benefits, the plan sponsor is required to submit an application to the Secretary of the Treasury. The applications are approved or denied in consultation with the federal pension insurer, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, and the Department of Labor.
As of June 13, 27 multiemployer plans had requested benefit cuts, only five of which have received approval, according to the Treasury website. About 130 of the multiemployer plans that PBGC insures, covering over 1.3 million participants, have declared that they will face insolvency over the next 20 years. The notices ask that interested parties submit comments on the applications within 45 days. Treasury has up to 225 days to approve or deny an application, and, if an application is approved, 30 days to administer a vote on the proposed benefit reductions.
House Panel Fields Workforce Development Ideas
Examples of registered apprenticeship programs and other workforce development concepts peppered a July 25 House Education and the Workforce Committee forum intended to drum up potential legislative action. “It’s about advocating and educating and really championing employer engagement,” said Danielle Frazier, chief operating officer of Charlotte Works, a workforce development agency in Charlotte, N.C. “That’s one that we are always looking for employers to know the value of their workforce system and for them to understand exactly who we are and how we can serve and how we can provide customized solutions to meet their talent needs.” Frazier was one of more than two dozen education and workforce development advocates scheduled to speak at the committee’s first annual bipartisan innovation forum and showcase. Some of the panelists touted the importance of bolstering the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act grants used for training and other programs to help youth and adults gain access to jobs. There were discussions about broadening apprenticeships to nontraditional careers such as health care. Some also mentioned the need to foster more relationships between schools and companies, in addition to nurturing careers before and during high school. That included highlighting how officials in South Carolina are providing skilled workers for the state’s burgeoning manufacturing sector with names such as Volvo, BMW, and Boeing Co. “It’s the idea of going into high schools at ages 16 and 17 and creating demand-driven apprenticeships programs that many of these kids are enrolled dual at one of our technical colleges and complete their apprenticeship program with Boeing or Michelin with as much as 27 hours toward an associate degree,” said Brad Neese, associate vice president of economic development at Apprenticeship Carolina in Columbia, S.C. “These innovators are on the front lines and can help us as we look for ways to continue to lower unemployment and equip Americans with access to the opportunities they need to build the lives they want for themselves,” committee Chairwoman Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) said. Click here to read more.
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