CEA is pleased to provide its members with the following services:
Labor Relations – CEA guides members in their day-to-day labor relations. The staff and active members, with years of experience in labor relations, deal with contract negotiations, arbitrations, jurisdictional disputes and administration of collective bargaining agreements.
CEA negotiates labor contracts with 14 trades in northeast Ohio, including Bricklayers #5, Carpenters District Council, Cement Masons #404, Glaziers #181, Iron Workers #17, Laborers #310, Laborers #758, Millwrights #1871, Operating Engineers #18 (District 1), Pile Drivers #1871, Plasterers #80, Sheet Metal Workers #33 (Vermilion), Tapers #6 and Tile Layers #36. Members may choose or refuse assignment of collective bargaining at least sixty (60) days before negotiations begin.
Affiliated organizations hold regular meetings to provide members with labor guidance, to anticipate problems and take preventative measures.
Marketing Information – CEA advertises and promotes members to owners and developers seeking quality contractors for their construction needs. Membership rosters are distributed throughout northeast Ohio to those who use our contractors’ services. Also, those company members with web site addresses are hyperlinked through CEA’s web site.
Wage Rate Information – CEA can obtain information on industry market conditions throughout the U.S. enabling members to compete for contracts in other parts of the country. The staff provides members with wage and working condition information nationwide. Union wage rates are available for any county in any state for CEA members at no cost.
An Ohio Construction Industry Wage Rate Handbook is available to all members and has become a wage and fringe benefit reference guide. Our Wage Rate Handbook is now on our new web site. CEA members have access anytime using a special password distributed to members only.
Intra-Industry Liaison – Through contacts with organizations across the nation, the staff works with national, regional, state and local construction associations, chambers of commerce, architectural, engineering and building societies to improve the industry.
Legal Services - CEA retains the services of a prominent Cleveland law firm with years of experience in all phases of the industry. These legal services guide the association through the maze of laws and legislation affecting the industry.
Solicitation Guidance – CEA information and guidance helps members distinguish between worthy legitimate organizations and dubious illegal solicitations.
Construction Industry Service Program (CISP) – The Construction Employers Association has administered the Construction Industry Service Program (CISP) since 1967. CISP serves the industry in northeast Ohio through its many educational, training, crime prevention and safety programs designed to increase skills, abilities and safety awareness.
Safety and Health Awareness – The association stresses the importance of prevention and avoidance of costly job injuries. Our safety and education specialists keep members abreast of changing government regulations. We visit job sites, when invited, to check for potential safety and health violations, provide all required government posters, offer assistance at hearings when members are cited by OSHA inspectors and develop safety training programs.
CISP also provides the following classes available to contributors: OSHA 10-hour Construction Outreach Program, OSHA 30-hour Construction Outreach Program, OSHA 16-hour Passport Training, OSHA 500 Basic Instructor Class, Electrical Safety Seminar, Preventing Crane Failures Seminar, Substance Abuse Training, First Aid/CPR Classes and more!
CISP carries the safety message to a contractor’s shop or job site with the "Operation Safe Site" van. Our safety-training specialists will conduct a training program and/or job site inspection. Over 250 modern videotapes are available to train employees on specific safety topics.
Construction Education - CISP’s educational programs keep members informed of changes, methods and techniques in the industry. Classes, symposiums and seminars on a wide range of business management subjects are scheduled regularly.
Manpower and Training – CEA members and staff serve on several joint apprenticeship committees which recruit and provide training for the construction crafts persons of the future.
Immigration Assistance – Association members have benefited from CEA’s assistance in complying with I-9 Immigration requirements.
Fringe Benefit Funds – CEA members and affiliated association members are selected by their peers to serve as Management Trustees on several fringe benefit trust funds.
Listings in CEA’s Classified Membership Directory is given to owners, developers, architects, engineers and construction managers. Emphasis is placed to seek contractors who are association members.
A Substance Abuse Program has been established with the Cleveland Building and Construction Trades through collective bargaining. Signatory Employers and the Unions are committed to protecting the health and safety of individual employees, their co-workers and the public at large from the hazards caused by the misuse of drugs and alcohol on the job.
Disaster Assistance – Several CEA members with special interest in the welfare of the northeast Ohio community have volunteered to provide construction assistance if a man-made or a natural disaster should occur. CEA members who agreed to participate were recognized by the Cuyahoga County Commissioners for their cooperative spirit to help others.
Supervisory Training Programs are arranged in cooperation with local colleges and universities for the advanced education of construction industry workers. Classes include: blueprint reading, supervisory techniques, construction procedures, construction documents, introduction to managing a construction company, planning and scheduling, construction estimating, construction accounting, etc.
Greater Legislative Involvement in matters affecting members, including: tort reform, drug-free work place, maintaining prevailing wage, retainage, construction and demolition debris, CAT tax, and political campaigns. Construction Employers - PAC Fund and hiring a lobbyist have greatly enhanced CEA’s position in Cleveland and Columbus.
Cleveland’s Office of Equal Opportunity – The Construction Employers Association is an active participant in the Fannie M. Lewis Cleveland Resident Employment Law, along with the Cleveland Building Trades Council, Cleveland City Council and the Cleveland Mayor’s Office. The Resident Employment Law intends to accomplish the purpose of increasing and maximizing employment of City residents by requiring a minimum percentage of employee work time on City construction projects to be performed by City residents and low income City residents. CEA assisted in drafting the law and has a permanent seat on the five-person Residency Construction Advisory Committee.
A Scholarship Program is available to help offset expenses for college students studying construction related subjects, engineering, architecture or technology. Established in 1990, CISP awards $5,000 in scholarships each year to talented students who meet scholarship requirements. Click here for the 2009 guidelines and application.
Crime Prevention Program – As part of the Crime Prevention Program, posters and decals are provided to members to help deter crime and theft on the job sites. Reward posters up to $5,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those caught stealing or vandalizing are available to contractors.
Safety Incentive Program (SIP) - The Northeast Ohio Construction Contractors, Trade Associations and the Building and Construction Trades Unions joined hands in 1993 to create the Northeastern Ohio Construction Labor-Management Safety Incentive Program (SIP).
The Safety Incentive Program rewards union tradespersons for working safely on the job site with quarterly prizes, as well as a new pick-up truck as the annual Grand Prize. Fourteen trades participate in the Safety Incentive Program representing over 15,000 union crafts persons and 1,200 contractors.
Celebrating fourteen years of labor-management cooperation in 2007, over $475,000 in prizes has been awarded to crafts persons working safely.
In addition, contractors are eligible to earn recognition awards for their efforts to provide a safe place of employment through the Contractor Safety Award Program. Contractors participating in the Contractor Safety Award Program have their company’s safety and health efforts evaluated including accident and OSHA history, as well as efforts to prevent accidents from happening and providing a safe and healthy work environment.
CEA Partnership with OSHA and Cleveland Building Trades – The Construction Employers Association and the Construction Industry Service Program have joined together with other organizations in Northeast Ohio to create the new “ELITE” partnership.
Working as partners, the Northeast Ohio Union Construction Industry, along with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), have a common mission and goal: to achieve measurable, meaningful improvements in construction worker safety. Through continuous communication, sharing of information, recognition, and performance evaluation, the Partners aim to assist contractors in meeting the goal.
This unique partnership is a three step partnership that recognizes programs being utilized within the industry and tries to coordinate those activities into one system
- The One Hard Hat Level provides information and communication through the existing Alliance between OSHA and the Construction Safety Council of Northeast Ohio (CSCNEO).
- The Two Hard Hat Level recognizes those contractors that can meet certain benchmarks and demonstrate performance above the minimums through qualification for the Contractor Safety Award through the Safety Incentive Program of Northeast Ohio (SIP).
- The Three Hard Hat Level is the “ELITE” partnership with OSHA, which identifies those contractors as being the best of the best.
Click here for an overview and here for the complete agreement.
Social Events – Complimentary or discounted tickets are available to attend social events such as the Annual Clambake, Golf Invitational, Anniversary Celebrations, Annual Walleye Fishing Contest, Cleveland Indians Behind-the-Fence Picnic and the Lake County Captains Game and Picnic. In addition, other social functions are scheduled to provide fun, fellowship and business opportunities with other contractors. You are able to entertain your clients, guests and employees at our social events in a very relaxed and informal atmosphere.