Firms are boosting pay and benefits, adding new training programs and adopting new technologies to cope, but labor shortages threaten broader economic growth as officials outline federal measures to help with the skilled labor shortage. 

A federal judge in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania has awarded $1,047,399 in lost wages and punitive damages to two former employees of a Montgomeryville, Pennsylvania, manufacturer after a jury found the company and its owner fired them in retaliation for their participation in a federal safety investigation. Details here. 

Alloy steel pipe prices are seeing some upward pressure from rising nickel prices; however, carbon steel pipe prices remain flat due to weakness in demand from the upstream oil and gas sector and excess inventory level. Details here. 

To help address worker shortages, ICUEE 2019-The Demo Expowill host a special careers day at the show for hundreds of high school students to see the many rewarding industry careers available. Details here. 

North America's Building Trades Unions' President Sean McGarvey issued the following statement marking the end of the formal comment period on the Department of Labor’s (DOL’s) proposed rule to dramatically alter the nation's apprenticeship system with a new proposal known as Industry Recognized Apprenticeship Programs (IRAPs):

Skanska has merged its Polish and Czech/Slovak construction operations into one business unit—Skanska Central Europe. Michal Jurka, the business unit president (BUP) of Czech and Slovak construction operations, becomes BUP of the unit, effective September 1, 2019. Details here.