The U.S. Department of Labor has launched the Mega Construction Project Program (MCCP) to encourage equal opportunity for workers on federally funded construction projects valued at $35 million or more and lasting for more than one year.
“The newly launched Mega Construction Project Program will focus on some of the nation’s most important infrastructure projects to provide equal opportunity to all workers by removing barriers that have historically prevented our construction trades from tapping the full talent that exists in communities that have been underrepresented,” Jenny Yang, Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) director, said in the DOL press release issued March 14.
For the initial group of "Megaprojects," the OFCCP will partner with the General Services Administration (GSA) and the Department of Transportation (DOT) to provide free compliance assistance to contractors and subcontractors, according to the release,"to strengthen recruitment, hiring, and fair employment practices, with a particular focus on getting more underrepresented communities, including women, into the construction workforce."
The program will engage worker advocates, community-based organizations and local recruitment sources to fully utilize the local workforce to find the talent needed for each project, the release reports.
The Biden-Harris administration’s infrastructure investments include plans to build the middle class "from the bottom up and middle out," by supporting equal employment opportunities in the construction trades, according to the release. The MCCP is part of the administration's historic investments made in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and aims to recruit, hire, and retain all available talent to advance the success of infrastructure projects nationwide, the release states.
The Department of Commerce (DOC) announced that companies seeking more than $150 million in direct funding from the CHIPS Incentives Program must provide access to childcare that reflects the childcare needs of their workers in communities where they plan to build, to better meet the childcare needs of women in semiconductor manufacturing and construction workforces, the release reports.
OFCCP plans to designate more Megaprojects in the future, possibly including projects funded by the DOC through the CHIPS and Science Act, and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law projects funded by the Department of Energy (DOE) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), according to the release.
"Megaprojects are a key tool that help create entry into good, family-sustaining careers for underrepresented workers, like women, who are more likely to be concentrated in low-wage work," the DOC states in the release. "By providing women with access to good-paying construction jobs and helping to create equitable workplaces where they can advance, the Mega Construction Project Program will help close gender and racial wage gaps."
