LANSING – One of the most potentially lucrative building markets in Michigan – new school construction and renovation – is getting wider attention from building trades unions and their contractors.

Last November , we explained how the union-backed West Michigan Construction Alliance hired a full-time representative to pitch the concept of “responsible contracting” to local school districts that are on course to sponsor major construction projects.

Two other building trades councils in Michigan have since hired similar advocates. And on Jan. 22, a number of building trades union reps and contractors attended a seminar held by the Michigan Association for Responsible Contracting (MARC), which explained the financial, legal, technical and moral aspects of promoting a responsible contracting policy.

“I believe that responsible contracting will be one of the building blocks that building trades unions in Michigan and other states use to take back their market,” said John Beck, associate professor, Michigan State University School of Labor and Industrial Relations, who moderated the event.

And that potential market is huge. Whenever we conduct our informal survey of construction activity in Michigan at the beginning of each year, school work is invariably mentioned as a major source of employment for the trades. The National Education Association estimates that in addition to the billions of dollars in ongoing Michigan school work, there is an additional $9.9 billion in building renovation that needs to be done.

Formed last year by a coalition of union labor and management groups, the nonprofit Michigan Association for Responsible Contracting is an advocate for urging local school districts to take greater care when it comes to hiring construction contractors to work on school buildings.

Too often, local school board members – with scant construction knowledge – make decisions about multi-million dollar building projects without any policy in place for hiring a qualified contractor. School districts have reams of rules concerning educational standards and dress codes, but only one, Muskegon, has formally approved a policy on hiring responsible contractors.

At the seminar, attendees learned that the MARC is seeking to hire former/retired school district employees who have knowledge of school construction, so they can promote responsible contracting and speak the language of the board of education trustees and administrators. The advocates’ salaries would be paid for by unions, building trades councils and union contractor groups.

The first of those hires is Ed Haynor, who retired from the Newaygo County Intermediate School District after running its school-to-work program. He now works for the West Michigan Construction Alliance, talking to school administrators and school board trustees who are in the beginning process of a building or renovation project. Haynor worked with the Muskegon School District in getting its responsible contractor policy adopted.

Getting more school districts on board “will pave the way for future work,” Haynor said. School board trustees are notorious copycats when it comes to adopting new policies and the MARC is working with the Michigan Association of School Boards to develop a boilerplate policy that school districts around the state can adopt.

“There are more than 600 school districts in Michigan, so there are a lot of people we need to talk to,” said Dick Brunvand, executive director of the Michigan Chapter of the Associated General Contractors. “We want to raise the bar. If you hire quality workers who do quality work, you’ll have quality schools. We need to educate people who are making the decisions.”

Also on board with the MARC are the Greater Michigan Plumbing & Mechanical Contractors Association, the National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA) Michigan chapter, the Great Lakes Construction Alliance, and the Michigan State Building and Construction Trades Council.

Brunvand said there is a tendency for school officials to ask the MARC “what’s in it for you,” but he said it’s important to “stay on-message,” like any good politician. That message means not promoting responsible contracting as a union vs. nonunion contractor issue and that having such a policy in place simply helps local school districts to weed out bad eggs in the construction contracting community. And to point out that the lowest bid isn’t always the best bid.

With more than 600 local and intermediate school districts around the state, approaching all school districts that have construction activity on the horizon may prove difficult, especially in the absence of professional advocates for responsible contracting. So the job is usually left to building trades officers or trained union members, who need to have their act together before approaching a school board or administrators, said responsible contracting advocates.

Organizers said threats, unsubstantiated statements, and lack of knowledge by presenters will only hurt the cause of responsible contracting.

“Professional presenters talk the same language as the school people, and that gives them instant credibility,” said Pat Mancino, a public relations professional who helped put together responsible contracting DVDs and other promotional materials for school officials.

Hugh Coward, a business representative for Iron Workers Local 340 in Battle Creek, has been involved in six responsible contracting presentations.

“My message is that you have to get to a school district early,” Coward said. “If you wait until the job shows up on the Dodge Report, you’re going to be too late. And if you get members involved, you have to be careful to go in like a professional.”

Mike Crawford, executive director of the NECA-Michigan Chapter, said approaching a school district and pledging help before it goes to the voters to approve a bond issue for construction can be helpful. He said two out of every three school bond issues fail, but labor and contractors can help themselves by pledging resources to help assure passage of the bond issue.

He said the issues of using local workers, following state guidelines and emphasizing the construction of quality schools and having a policy in place to help assure that takes place are all important to any local school board.

“When you put those issues before the public, responsible contracting is a very powerful message,” Crawford said.

Having a responsible contracting program in place offers school districts a checklist of “critical factors” to consider before hiring a construction contractor:

Some of those factors include:

• Experience.
• References. Experience of past clients is a good barometer of future performance.
• A warranty covering labor and materials.
• Financial condition of the company. A good financial rating means stability on thejob.
• Safety and accident record. Construction professionals with a good safety record are most productive.
• The resume of supervisory personnel. They should have pertinent experience and adequate education and training for the project.
• Insurance and surety bonding. Construction professionals must show proof of adequate and relevant insurance coverage and must prove their compliance with workers’ compensation statutes.
• Use of a training local workforce. Use of local workers should be an attractive goal for school boards, since local workers pay taxes to the school district.
• Prevailing wage. Since state money is nearly always used on school projects because of bonding issues, payment of prevailing wage is nearly always a state mandate. Paying prevailing wage also assures that fairly paid craftworkers toil on the project, and that contractors bid on projects based on management practices, not by paying substandard wages.
• Employee health insurance and pension benefits. Construction companies demonstrate a commitment to the community by paying these benefits.
• Proper classification of employees and workforce source. Construction contractors who hire workers from help wanted ads or unemployment agencies might not be getting a workforce with sufficient competence.
• Hiring of workers who have graduated from of U.S. Department of Labor-approved apprenticeship program. School districts should know the value of a good education.
• Licensed workers. State law establishes licensing requirements for electrical, mechanical, plumbing, boiler and elevator workers. All responsible contractors should easily be able to provide documented proof of licensing and certification.
• Civil lawsuits/arbitration history. It is desirable for a school board to hire contractors with a “clean” legal history, and to use that history as a basis for disqualifying that contractor.