CFICF is making headlines…
Dateline: May 15, 2009, by J.R. Gonzales, Dallas Business Journal and Austin Business Journal
Independent contractors under attack: National policy shift could be disastrous for the self-employed and for the firms that hire them
by J.R. Gonzales, CFICF Chairman
Labor policy in the U.S. is headed toward significant change. It’s high on the agenda of the new administration and Congress. The laws regulating your business and mine — a small, independent contracting firm — are about to change.
How big will these changes be? Who will they help and hurt? The party now in power received hundreds of millions of dollars in contributions from organized labor. Where do you think things are heading?
The people affected by these laws — employers, employees and independent contractors — can have a big say in what happens. We can influence it, big-time. In fact, we already have.
Take the Employee Free Choice Act, known informally as card check. Big labor’s crown jewel looked like a “done deal,” but Americans found abhorrent the proposal’s secret-ballot provisions, and they let Congress know. For now, at least, the bill has stalled in Congress. Click here to read the full article from the Dallas Business Journal.
Dateline: January 12, 2009, by J.R. Gonzales, Transport Topics Online
Opinion: Assault on Independents Threatens Trucking
By J.R. Gonzales, Founding Chairman, CFICF
If you wanted to shore up a beleaguered industry, would you do it by creating a new threat? Of course not, but that’s exactly what some U.S. policymakers seem ready to do to the already devastated U.S. trucking industry.
Trucking companies already face the massive twin challenges of volatile energy prices and a global recession. While energy prices have eased in recent weeks, there are no guarantees that they won’t surge again. Worse, the severe economic pullback is a massive blow to truckers. When production and consumption grind to a halt, so does transportation.
Under those circumstances, you might expect government to take steps to strengthen the trucking industry’s efficiency and effective operations. Instead, federal and state governments are doing the exact opposite — putting the industry’s viability at risk. Click here to read the full article.
Dateline: Nov/Dec 2008, by J.R. Gonzales, The Georgia Contractor
The Assault on Independent Contracting: A threat to contractors, companies, the economy, and a way of life
By J.R. Gonzales, Executive Director, CFICF
Flexibility. Adaptability. Businesses that can shift capacity to meet the demands of a volatile marketplace. Workers who can find new work quickly as old jobs disappear. Small businesses that can do what they do best—grow and create new jobs.
These are the benefits of independent contracting—in construction, of course, but also in trucking and delivery, technology, hospitality, and even healthcare—among the major industries where independent contracting plays a vital role. Click here to read the full article in PDF format.
Dateline: December 8, 2008, by J.R. Gonzales, Associated Construction Publications
The Threat To Independent Contracting
Independent contracting is the right tool at the right time. To restrict it is a serious mistake.
A guest commentary by J.R. Gonzales, executive director of the Coalition for Independent Contractor Freedom. — Construction, 12/8/2008
The construction industry is central to the health of the U.S. economy and must play a vital role in economic recovery. Infrastructure investment is expected to be a key driver of employment as the government acts to stimulate demand.
Under those circumstances, government ought to be taking steps to ensure that the construction industry can operate efficiently and effectively. Instead, federal and state governments are doing the exact opposite – threatening the industry’s ability to respond in a time of crisis. Read more…
Dateline: Sept. 30, 2008, Associated Construction Publications
Independent Contractors Are Key to Limiting Damage from Economic Crisis, Says CFICF
Independent contractors can play a key role in preventing a deep recession. But a series of moves by state governments, labor unions, the IRS, and proposed legislation in Congress are putting independent contracting – and economic recovery – at risk.
Some of these actions – which compel employers to “reclassify” their contractors as full-time employees – seem intended to protect workers. But according to J.R. Gonzales, the former Chairman of the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and founding chairman of the Coalition for Independent Contractor Freedom, they are likely to have the opposite effect by limiting employment – denying workers the flexibility to find new work quickly after layoffs, work extra hours if they’re able to and escalate their pay. In a release, CFICF explains its viewpoint as to: Read more…
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