ENR lists top contractors
Four Michigan construction contractors made the Engineering News Record's annual ranking of the top 100 contractors (in terms of revenue) and several more made the top 400.

Barton Malow of Southfield was the state's largest contractor in the nation (#34), followed by Walbridge-Aldinger of Detroit (#54), Angelo Iafrate of Warren (#61) and Ellis-Donn Construction of Northville (#62). All four contractors moved up on the list from last year's rankings.

Other Michigan's based contractors on the top 400 list include The Christman Co. of Lansing (#122), John Carlo Inc. of Clinton Twp. (#208); Roncelli, Inc. of Sterling Heights (#251); Clark Construction of Lansing (#286), and George W. Auch of Pontiac (#308).

San Francisco-based Bechtel was again the nation's largest contractor.

Some other contractors familiar to the Michigan construction industry include: The Turner Corp. of Dallas (#5); Washington Group International of Boise (#8); Hunt Construction Group of Indianapolis (#19); Perini Corp. of Framingham, Mass. (#23); The Walsh Group of Chicago (#26); Black and Veatch of Kansas City, Mo. (#27); The Boldt Co. of Appleton Wis. (#109); and Parsons Brinckerhoff of New York, (#340).

Michigan lawyer tapped to lead NLRB 
For the first time ever, a Michigan man has been named to the National Labor Relations Board.

Management attorney Robert Battista of the Detroit law firm of Butzel Long was not only nominated by President George Bush for a seat on the board, he would be designated chairman of the five-member panel upon Senate confirmation.

Battista has practiced law since 1965, and has served as a member of the Advisory Committee to the Michigan Employment Relations Commission since 1999. Peter Schaumber, a labor arbitrator in Washington, was also nominated to a seat on the commission.

Battista's term on the NLRB would fill the remainder of a five-year term expiring Aug. 27, 2006. The appointments were generally seen as acceptable by the labor community and are expected to be approved by the Senate

"We consider these appointments to be indicative of a genuine effort by the administration to appoint a fair labor board," Carpenters union President Douglas J. McCarron told the Engineering News Record.

Teamsters President James Hoffa was more cautious. Bush's NLRB nominations "indicate recognition the board should be brought up to full strength through appointees who balance the interests of labor and management," he said.

Mr. Battista said in a published report that he wants to keep the NLRB above political partisanship and solve cases on the basis of facts.

The National Labor Relations Board's impact on the construction industry and the rest of organized labor cannot be understated. The NLRB makes rulings and sets precedent on a myriad of employer-employee, union-management issues, related to strikes, handbilling, proper payment of wages and benefits, and others.