Masonry Magazine September 1970 Page. 34
Construction Industry Gets Ford Grant
The Ford Foundation has granted funds to Harvard University for a continuing study of construction industry problems in cooperation with the Construction Industry Foundation.
The study will cover the bid-pricing system, manpower planning, collective bargaining methods and proposals for their reform, and factors affecting productivity in construction, according to Dr. John T. Dunlop, who will be in charge of the research work.
Dr. Dunlop is Professor of Political Economy at Harvard and Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. He is also a member of the Construction Industry Collective Bargaining Commission and the National Commission on Productivity. In the past, he was the chairman of both the Construction Industry Joint Conference and the Appeals Board for the Settlement of Jurisdictional Disputes in Construction.
Dr. D. Quinn Mills, Assistant Professor of Economics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Research Associate at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, will be associate director of the project. He serves as a consultant to the U.S. Department of Labor.
Dr. Dunlop said the objectives of the project will be to:
1. Conduct research, with the intent of exploring changes in private and public construction policies.
2. Cooperate with various organizations to put recommended changes into effect.
3. Train students in the economics of construction. He said that he anticipates that students associated with the project might later work for public agencies, labor unions, contractor associations or private construction firms, or accept university teaching posts.
Dr. Dunlop gave this explanation of the four principal areas of research:
1. Bidding practices an analysis of the bid-pricing system and its implication for construction costs in an inflationary economy. All phases of bidding will be studied, including the consequences of contract award to the lowest bidder, bonding requirements, bid shopping, bid peddling, single contracts vs. separate contracts, and bidding qualifications.
2. Manpower planning the extension of techniques of manpower projection and planning by local areas. The object will be to reduce the pervasive under-utilization of labor, which often involves simultaneous shortages and unemployment in different crafts and areas.
3. Collective bargaining an analysis of the present geographical scope and structure which apparently contribute to inflation and industrial strife. A rigorous inquiry into the significance of the many current suggestions for reform is badly needed.
4. Productivity exploration of the aspects of industry practice that affect productivity. These aspects include the complex relationship between labor union and contractor objectives and the introduction of technical changes, and the adoption, amendment, and enforcement of building codes.
Inter-disciplinary seminars will be conducted at least once a month, with speakers, and participants from outside the academic community, Dr. Dunlop explained. Many speakers and participants will be selected by the Construction Industry Foundation.
Philadelphia Plan Runs Ahead of Required 1st-year Goals: Hodgson
Employment of minorities in construction trades on current projects covered by the Philadelphia Plan is running ahead of the required first-year goals. Labor Secretary J. D. Hodgson said recently.
Mr. Hodgson reported that 41 minority group members comprised 22.7 percent of the 180 persons actually at work in five mechanical trades on 25 projects covered by the plan as of September 4.
This fact was turned up in on-site reviews conducted by the Labor Department over two weeks to validate contractors regular reports which indicate the percentage and number of hours worked by minorities. The reviews verified data from the employer reports.
Though the covered crafts traditionally are only a small segment of the total work force on construction sites, they are the five high-paying mechanical crafts from which minorities have been largely excluded in the past.
When the Philadelphia Plan was unveiled, it was reported that minority workers make up less than 2 percent of the six construction crafts unions now covered by the plan.
The great majority of the workers on projects reviewed were in crafts not covered by the plan. These other crafts traditionally have had much larger minority representation than the mechanical crafts.
The year-old Philadelphia Plan requires all bidders on Federally-involved construction projects exceeding $500,000 to submit affirmative action plans setting goals and timetables for utilizing minorities.
The following is a status report on employment of minority workers for five of the six crafts covered by the plan as of September 4, date of the last on-site survey:
-Iron workers: total number, 70; minorities, 21 (30%)
-Steamfitters: total number, 8; minorities, 2 (25%)
-Sheetmetal workers: total number, 13; minorities, 2 (15.3%)
-Electricians: total number, 48; minorities, 12 (25%)
-Plumbers and Pipefitters: total number, 21; minorities, 4 (9.7%)
Not any elevator construction workers the sixth trade covered by the equal employment opportunity plan-have been involved in the 25 on-going projects surveyed by the government.
The first-year goals of the trades are: iron workers, 5% to 9%, plumbers and pipefitters, 5% to 8%; steamfitters, 5% to 8%; sheetmetal workers, 4% to 8%; electrical workers, 4% to 8%, and elevator construction workers, 4% to 8%.
Sound Movie Available
A New England Precast Building System, a 12-minute color-sound movie newly produced by the Portland Cement Association, is now available.
The film tells of the production of precast concrete units and their erection into residential buildings for all income levels. The system has proven itself in the building of some 2,000 units since 1964. About 3,000 more units are now under construction or in planning.
The system has been an important part of the construction business in Boston and throughout New England, and now is generating interest in other parts of the county.
The film shows how the open-end module used with a variety of exteriors provides good looking buildings while offering savings in on-site labor and building time.
Copies of the film are available at a rental fee of $5 per week. Contact: the Audio-Visual Section, Portland Cement Association. Old Orchard Road, Skokie, III. 60076.
NO NOSE FOR NEWS
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masonry
September, 1970