Colorado Cracks Down on Wage Theft:
In a new report, the Colorado Fiscal Institute found that overall, Colorado workers lost nearly $730 million to wage theft. Colorado itself lost nearly $45 million in tax revenue, funds used to build our schools, roads and maintain other public services. According to the report, Latino and women workers are more likely to be victims of wage theft. Wage theft is most likely to occur in construction, retail or hospitality. Last year alone, 440,000 low-wage Coloradans were victims of wage theft.
“In the carpentry trade, it’s rampant,” says Jordan Jones with the Southwest Mountain States Regional Council of Carpenters.
Right now, Colorado is awaiting the passage of Bill SB22-161 that would create a workers protection unit to investigate companies engaging in continuous wage theft.
Check out the full story here!
Career Connection’s Students Are Finalists in 37th Annual Design Build Competition:
Last week, two SWMS Career’s Connection’s schools were announced as the finalists in this year’s 37th annual Design Build Competition! Students from Montecito High School in Ramona, California and Fontana High School in Fontana, California stood out among 1,000 students and over 50 groups.
At the event last month, 200 high school and college kids from all over Southern California took part in the competition to design and build tiny houses from scratch, no experience necessary. Southwest Mountain States Carpenters is proud to be a main sponsor of this event!
Our Career Connection’s students from Fontana and Montecito High School will find out this week if they are one of the 8 final schools to be chosen for the People’s Choice Award. We are proud of every single one of these students and most importantly, thankful to all the teachers, leaders and mentors in Career Connection’s who are changing the future of carpentry and construction!
To see the finalists, click here and to learn more about Career Connections, visit SWCareerConnections.org
California and New Mexico Carpenters: It’s Time to Vote!
California and New Mexico Carpenters and Voters, ballots are out! Now, it’s time to narrow down your final candidates before casting your ballot on Tuesday, June 7th.
Need help figuring out who to vote for? Need to learn more about your candidates before making a final selection. Click here or visit Ivote.ubc.civicengine.com. On the website, you can enter your address and we will show you Carpenter endorsed candidates and measures to help you get started and make informed decisions!
Again, don’t forget – Election Day is June 7th for both California and New Mexico Voters. We’ll see you at the polls!