ENR Midwest

• NLRB Says Scabby the Rat, Other Inflatables, Can Remain at Secondary Boycott Protest Sites July 26, 2021
  The union protests were ruled protected speech by the National Labor Relations Board last week.
• First Energy Pays $230M Fine for Bribery in Ohio Nuclear, Coal Plant Bailout July 22, 2021
  Ohio utility FirstEnergy pleads guilty to bribery and fraud.
• Minnesota School Projects Study Says Unions Increase Safety Without Higher Costs July 20, 2021
  New study says that union construction projects are similar in cost to non-union projects because higher union labor costs are offset by savings in other project components such as materials and safety, but critics point to prevailing wage laws that may have skewed its findings.
• 2021 2Q Cost Report: Supply Issues Persist Even as Lumber, Other Prices Stabilize July 1, 2021
  While price increases in softwood lumber have pushed new home costs higher due to homebuilders’ extensive use of the material, estimators for all other building types have felt the pinch as well.