Employers’ Advocate, Inc. is a private consulting firm which represents construction industry employers and owners in the field of labor relations, collective bargaining and administration of labor agreements. Our firm is retained by contractor associations, individual employers, project owners and developers to negotiate and administer construction labor agreements. We also provide research and strategic planning services for public and private entities in negotiating and administering project labor agreements. Employers’ Advocate has a professional staff of six individuals and maintains two offices – in Walnut Creek and Sacramento, California.

Over 40 years experience

Michael Walton, Owner and President of Employers’ Advocate, Inc. has over 40 years’ experience in assisting California construction firms and owners in labor relations matters. A graduate of Stanford University, Mr. Walton has devoted his professional career to labor relations. For 32 years, he was an Adjunct Professor (2016-2019), Consulting Professor (1996-2015) and Consulting Associate Professor (1987-1995) teaching a graduate course in construction industry labor relations for the Stanford University Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.

Affiliations

Employers’ Advocate is retained to provide full staff services to the Construction Employers’ Association (CEA) www.cea-ca.org, an organization of over one hundred unionized building contractors who collectively perform over $20 billion in public and private construction volume annually. For 35 years, CEA has led the Northern California building industry’s labor relations and collective bargaining efforts. Other association clients include the Association of Construction Employers (ACE), the Association of Drilled Shaft Contractors, West Coast Chapter (ADSC), the Association of Environmental Contractors (AEC) and Southern California Environmental Contractors Association (SCECA).