Good Afternoon, As you know, we’ve been sending emails quite regularly whenever we get a new piece of information which we feel you will need to know. Additionally, we are fielding many questions via email, text, and phone calls. In order to help you access some of this information more efficiently and in order to benefit from questions others have already asked, we’ve decided to create this blog.
Each entry will be labeled according to subject and date so it will be easier to navigate over time. Keep in mind however that as new information comes out, we may have entries that contradict previous entries on the same subject. When this happens, I’ll make note of it in the new entry. I likely will not have time to go back and issue a correction on an old one however.
Additionally, for some topics such as the Family First Act, we will be issuing information which is speculative. Yes the Act has been passed into law, however a great deal of the information we have is piecemeal and speculative. We do have a link posted on here for the initial summary of the law, but for example, here is what we have from NECA National on the subject at this time.
Managers and Field Staff, NECA national is working on guidance on the new COVID-19 legislation, as well as targeted guidance directed toward the organized construction industry in this developing pandemic environment. We have engaged Faegre Drinker, a national law firm with labor, construction and government affairs expertise, to assist with this effort. We realize the need for speed, but we are also keenly aware of our obligation to provide true and accurate information to our chapters and members. The environment is fluid, and anything that we put out will be subject to change or adjustment and may be amplified or clarified through the question and answer process. Keep an eye out for distributions and alerts, as many questions will be disposed of with this material. Please feel free to continue to pass your questions through myself, Geary, Jef, and/or Ryan, and we will work to process them with all due speed.
I hope you are all staying safe, and close to your loved ones (but not too close!).
Thanks, Kevin Tighe
12:15 PM UPDATE
See what I mean about trying to keep up with things? The Governor just issued the stay at home order for the State of Indiana. As of right now, the page linking to his executive order isn’t working so we don’t know what the exact language is for construction exemptions.
I’m going to post this now and update as I get more information.
Thank you all and stay safe.
Update 1:18 PM
We’ve finally been able to get to the Governor’s Executive Stay At Home Order
As per Subsection 11 of Executive Order 20-08, Essential Infrastructure, which specifically designates construction as an essential infrastructure (including, but not limited to, construction required in response to this public health emergency, hospital construction, construction of long-term care facilities, public works construction, school construction, essential business construction, and housing constructing) are exempt from the order. I will also tell you that the Local Union’s are receiving a LOT of phone calls from members saying that they will likely not be willing to work in this environment. Please expect issues manning jobs from this point forward. I do have a specific request for guidance (in addition to the Force Majeure guidance already provided) on how to address these matters with existing contracts and project schedules. As soon as I get this guidance, I will do another post.