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July 6, 2018 | NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
BUILDING COMMUNITY
Crackdown on illegal
contractors finds 82 violators Ironworker Shopmen #516’s Montgomery
helped build a bridge in Panama
in Oregon and Washington
The effort is part of a nation-
wide construction enforcement
campaign.
Surprise sweeps for unregis-
tered contractors in Oregon
and Washington last month re-
sulted in 82 citations in three
days.
Inspectors with the Oregon
Construction Contractor Board
(CCB) and Washington State
Department of Labor & Indus-
tries (L&I) discovered the vio-
lations during unannounced
visits to 636 construction sites
throughout both states from
June 12 to 14.
Inspectors conducted the
contractor compliance sweeps
as part of a national effort co-
ordinated by the National As-
sociation of State Contractor
Licensing
Agencies
(NASCLA) to highlight the is-
sue of illegal contracting in
construction and to track down
violators. The coordinated ef-
fort also involved sweeps in
Arizona, California, Florida,
Mississippi, Nevada, Rhode
Island, Texas and Utah.
NASCLA reported a total of
779 contractors that were
found non-compliant with
state licensing requirements.
Administrative citations,
criminal notices, legal actions,
additional investigations, and
more have been issued by the
respective state contractor li-
censing agencies.
Most states require con-
struction contractors to register
with a specific state agency to
confirm that they have a busi-
ness license, insurance and
bond — requirements that pro-
vide some financial protection
in case a project goes wrong.
In Oregon, the CCB con-
centrated its investigators at
job sites along the northern
Oregon Coast from Newport
to Astoria. The largest number
of 32 alleged violations in-
volved people working on
home improvement projects
without a CCB contractor li-
cense, including contractors
that hired unlicensed subcon-
tractors or worked on homes
built prior to 1978 without the
required Lead-Based Paint
Renovation license. The CCB
is now sending notices of in-
tent to issue civil penalties to
those suspected of violations.
Additionally, CCB shared
the information about sus-
pected instances of employers
“paying under the table” with
state revenue and employment
departments to ensure employ-
ers are reporting payroll and
paying taxes.
In Washington, L&I inspec-
tors held surprise sweeps in
Clark, Kitsap and Pierce coun-
ties, Mercer Island and Belle-
vue in King County; Spokane,
Spokane Valley, Cheney, and
Medical Lake areas in Eastern
Washington.
Inspectors checked 636 ac-
tive construction sites and
1,522 contractors, plumbers
and electricians. They issued
48 citations to unregistered
contractors and unlicensed
electricians and plumbers. In-
spectors also checked whether
contractors were following
other L&I requirements. The
sweeps resulted in 53 contrac-
tors being referred to the work-
ers’ compensation audit pro-
gram, 63 to collections, and
one to the L&I Division of Oc-
cupational Safety & Health.
“While most contractors are
following the rules, our recent
sweeps show that there are
some out there who are break-
ing the law. Hiring unregis-
tered contractors puts your
project dreams and your dol-
lars at risk,” Dean Simpson,
L&I’s contractor compliance
chief said in a press release.
Consumers in Washington
can check whether contractors
are registered at ProtectMy-
Home.net.
Oregon consumers can ver-
ify contractor licenses at
www.oregon.gov/ccb. Contrac-
tors and consumers can report
unlicensed contractors and
other illegal activity on the
CCB’s website or by calling
503-934-2246.
NOTICE: A reminder that the NW Labor Press will
publish only one issue in August — the special Labor Day
edition on Aug. 24. If your local needs to update a meeting
notice prior to that date, please do so in the July 20 edition.
Patrick Montgomery and his employer,
Fought & Co., are recognized at Labor
Appreciation night banquet.
Patrick Montgomery, an appren-
tice with Ironworkers Shop-
men’s Local 516 employed at
Fought & Company, volun-
teered to travel to El Macho,
Panama, March 16-30, to help
build a pedestrian bridge under
a program organized by Bridges
to Prosperity. B2P is a U.S. non-
profit that partners with local
governments around the world
to connect impoverished rural
populations with urban facilities
and resources.
Montgomery was part of a 9-
person team that spent two
weeks erecting a suspension
bridge so people and animals in
the area could cross the river
during rainy season and have
safe, year-round access to edu-
cation, health care, and markets.
They slept in tents and worked
with villagers who were willing
to help. Montgomery was the
only tradesperson in the group.
The others were department of
transportation engineers.
Montgomery brought a box
of union T-shirts with him to
give to villagers who helped
build the footbridge.
“On the first day, two vil-
lagers showed up to help, and I
gave them each a T-shirt,” he
said. “The next day, 25 villagers
showed up. I gave away all my
T-shirts.”
Montgomery, a 15-year
member of Local 516, recently
completed a mechanic appren-
ticeship. A mechanic is Fought’s
Patrick Montgomery (right), a member of Ironworkers Shopmen’s Local 516
workers with a villager from El Macho, Panama, building a pedestrian bridge
across a river that prohibits travel when it rains.
version of a fitter or assembler
and is the highest achievable
level as a fabricator. Mont-
gomery’s job is to fabricate high
rise components and bridge
girders at the company’s facility
in Clackamas, then complete as-
sembly checks before tearing it
down for shipment.
“I just love what I do,”
Montgomery told the Labor
Press.
“Patrick takes tremendous
pride in his work ethic and was
very excited, and grateful for the
Bridges to Prosperity opportu-
nity,” said Fought president
Steve Fugate. “He was a great
ambassador for the industry.”
Montgomery called the expe-
rience “very rewarding,” and
hopes his story will generate
more interest among signatory
shops with Local 516.
“I came back totally humbled.
We don’t know how good we
have it here,” he said. “If I get
asked to do it again, I’ll go in a
heartbeat.”
Fought’s and Montgomery’s
participation in the Bridges to
Prosperity program spurred Phil
Casciato, business manager of
Local 516, to nominate them
both for Labor Appreciation and
Recognition Night awards.
This was Fought’s first ven-
ture with B2P, but Fugate says it
won’t be their last. “The value
of what these bridges bring to
these communities is unmeasur-
able,” he said.
Editor’s Note: Since its found-
ing in 2001, Bridges to Prosper-
ity has connected nearly 1 mil-
lion people, and built over 250
footbridges, and expanded to 18
countries across Southeast Asia,
Africa and Central and South
America.
How to get single parents into the trades: Childcare
It’s boom time in the building
trades. For anyone ready to
work hard, family-wage union
construction jobs are available
— but first you have to get in.
That’s what pre-apprentice-
ship training programs are for:
They help people get into the
building trades, especially
women and minority candi-
dates who haven’t historically
had opportunities or connec-
tions in the industry. Their pro-
grams are free, but they’re also
unpaid, which means candi-
dates have to have a way to
support themselves during a
training that lasts five to 11
weeks, depending on the pro-
gram. Single parents have an
extra barrier: paying for child
care during that time.
What if there were help to
overcome that hurdle?
There is, now, thanks to La-
bor’s Community Service
Agency (LCSA), a union-
sponsored charitable organiza-
tion.
With a $40,000 grant from
the Oregon Bureau of Labor
and Industries and donations
from local unionists, LCSA
has just launched the Pre-Ap-
prenticeship Childcare Initia-
tive, a pilot project to provide
child care stipends to low-in-
come single parents who want
to enroll in pre-apprenticeship
programs. This summer, the
first four recipients will enroll
in programs at Oregon
Tradeswomen Inc., Pacific
Northwest Carpenters Insti-
tute, Portland Youth Builders,
and Constructing Hope.
If the pilot succeeds, LCSA
director Eryn Byram hopes to
establish it an ongoing pro-
gram.