Are contractors who pay their employees cash or who misclassify their workers as “subcontractors” for the purpose of avoiding taxes, worker compensation insurance cutting into your business?
I just returned from a few days in the hot Arizona desert where I met with lath, plaster and drywall
contractors from across America.
The meeting was well attended despite the so-called “down-turn” in the economy,
and everyone was cautiously optimistic for a change.
As
the director of a national training program for plasterers, I help develop and
implement training criteria and curriculum materials for young people just
entering the trade. So, nothing gives me greater pleasure than to witness young
men and women, who’ve got a few years under their belt, excelling at the
craft-especially in a down economy!
In the last few weeks, I’ve been invited to or heard about a dozen or more of my friends’ and relatives’ kids graduating from high school. And eventually the subject of what “college” they are attending ends up driving the conversation.
The battle cry of the GOP during the last presidential election has now come back to haunt us all as we watch the “mousse” roll ashore along the southern coastline (that’s what they official call the muck that washes ashore when oil and seawater mix).
After the shouting “against” and the cheers “for” the recent passage of healthcare reform dies down, we must eventually get down to recognizing it’s no longer just a debate to argue over, it’s the Law of the Land and must be compiled with. So what does it mean for those of us who make our living in the wall and ceiling industry?
As I listened to President Obama’s State of the Union Address and his bold meeting with the Republican Caucus a few days later, I found myself silently thinking, “Jobs, jobs, jobs. We need more jobs.” I sounded like the folks who chanted “Drill” “Drill” “Drill” at the Republican Convention.
I was recently confronted by someone who believes this whole “global warming” thing is just a big lie. They said that we shouldn’t waste any time, effort or tax dollars on reducing our carbon footprint because “CO² is nothing but plant food …”
When I first began to learn how to plaster, if someone would have told me then that it would one day become necessary for me to learn to speak Italian, I would have chuckled and turned away.
