State weatherization program appears to be moving forward

By Cy Ryan

Thursday, Aug. 27, 2009 | 6:38 p.m.

CARSON CITY – For more than three weeks, organized labor has been battling state government over the spending of $10.2 million in federal stimulus funds to weatherize homes in Nevada.

But there appears to be a truce – at least temporarily.

Danny Thompson, executive director of the Nevada AFL-CIO, says it has agreed to hold in abeyance its suit against the state Housing Division after it received a letter from the state Attorney General’s office that a 2009 law will be followed.

The housing division Thursday sent proposed contracts to five nonprofit organizations – two of them in Clark County – to sign. Help of Southern Nevada in Las Vegas is to receive $7.1 million and Neighborhood Services of Henderson will get $1.1 million under the program.

Charles Horsey, administrator of the housing division, said “substantial progress has been made by all parties.” These nonprofits organizations must agree to all the provisions in the Senate bill, if possible, he said.

One of the sticking points is that the contractors that do the weatherization work must hire 50 percent of their workers trained by apprenticeship programs.

Horsey and Dianne Cornwall, director of the state Department of Business and Industry, say these apprenticeship programs have not been established so far and no workers have been trained under them.

Cornwall, however, said the contractors hired by these nonprofit organizations can ask for a waiver from the state Department of Employment Training and Rehabilitation to the 50 percent requirement.

Thompson said there are plenty of unemployed worker who have gone through the apprentice programs who are looking for jobs. These people have been trained to the highest standard and “they are unemployed,” he said.

These workers should be hired, he said.

The proposed contracts require the contractors to pay the prevailing wage and to offer health insurance.

Cornwall said the waivers will be available Monday.

And state Labor Commissioner Michael Tanchek Thursday released updated prevailing wage rates for weatherization projects financed by federal stimulus money. He said he has melded the state and the federal prevailing wage rates to be paid.

In Clark County, the prevailing wage for weatherization workers or for door and window replacement workers will be $15 an hour. For air conditioning, furnace and heating installation work, the wage will be $39.23 an hour. For an electrician working on these weatherization projects, the prevailing wage will be $54.76 an hour.

The prevailing wage for a carpenter in Clark County working on the weatherization of homes is set at $15.34 an hour. And a plumber will receive $28 an hour.

“By harmonizing the state prevailing wages with the Davis-Bacon rates, contractors working on these projects would only have to deal with one rate for each classification instead of trying to figure whether the state or federal rate applied,” Tanchek said.

This removes another roadblock in the state’s effort to award the contracts.

Horsey said he expects to get the signed contracts returned from the nonprofits quickly.

Thompson said the AFL-CIO received a letter from the attorney general’s office that “outlines Housing’s intention to follow the law as indicated by Senate Bill 152. For that reason, we will not pursue the enforcement of the restraining order unless there is reason to do so as we move forward.”

Cornwall said the union suit was “premature and baseless.” And she called Thompson’s interpretation of the attorney general’s letter “a bunch of bunk.”

Chief Deputy Attorney General Christine Guerci-Nyhus told Andrew J. Kahn, attorney for the Nevada AFL-CIO, that the housing division is “requiring their sub grantees to comply with Senate 152.” She said the suit by the AFL-CIO delays getting this $10.2 million to help low income families weatherize their homes.

Guerci-Nyhus said the nonprofit agencies that receive the money must “ensure that at least 50 percent of the employees hired by their contractor to weatherize homes are comprised of workers who have been certified through the nonprofit training collaborative, or if there are not available a sufficient number of such trained workers, employ those who have been trained through an apprentice program that is registered and approved by the state Apprenticeship Council…”

Since there the nonprofit collaborative has not been established, it will permit contractors to hire workers who have been trained through other apprentice programs. And this eliminates a major item in the dispute between the state and union.

Guerci-Nyhus said the contractors must offer health insurance coverage but are not required to provide it to the workers.

These weatherization projects to help low income families will include home insulation, installing energy efficient windows and putting in efficient air conditioners in Southern Nevada that has been hit by extremely hot weather this month.