Merit Shop Contractors to Oppose Restrictive Apprenticeship Ratios
For Immediate Release:
Contact: Robert Boisselle (401) 305-3510
Pawtucket, RI (Sept. 7, 2010) – Merit Shop Contractors from a number of construction associations including Associated Builders & Contractors (ABC), the Rhode Island Builders Association (RIBA), Utility Contractors Association of Rhode Island, the Rhode Island Independent Contractors and Associates, and the Oil Heat Institute of Rhode Island will testify against restrictive apprenticeship to journeyperson ratios at a public hearing to be held in Building 73 of the Department of Labor and Training, in Cranston. The hearing is scheduled to begin at 9:00 a.m. on Wednesday, September 8.
At a meeting of the associations, members voiced frustration that the State Apprenticeship Council, which has traditionally been dominated by trade union representatives and owners or managers of predominately union companies, appears to be attempting to impose ratios similar to those contained in various collective bargaining agreements on the entire construction industry – both union and non-union. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 85% of the construction industry is Non-union.
In 2007, the State Apprenticeship Council attempted to promulgate rules and regulations with these higher ratios, but was taken to court by a group of non-union companies, along with ABC and RIBA. The attempt to impose the higher ratios was thwarted and ratios were established at one apprentice to one journeyperson (1:1) by the courts.
In round two, the State Apprenticeship Council attempted to have the ratios passed as legislation in the 2009 session. The bill passed the House and Senate, but was vetoed by the Governor and never brought up for an override vote. During testimony on the legislation, representatives of the State Apprenticeship Council and the trade unions repeatedly stated that higher ratios were safer than 1:1, but were never able to produce a single study to back that up.
In the spring of 2010, a sub-committee of the State Apprenticeship Council held hearings where both union and non-union contractors and association representatives were asked to testify as to the safety of their ratios. Many unions operate at higher ratios because they are part of their collective bargaining process. Non-union companies have continued to operate 1:1 under the court order.
In spite of the testimony of non-union contractors that their safety records were just as good working 1:1 – as evidenced by their excellent MOD factors (a measure of a company’s safety record based on its workers comp rates) - the sub-committee of the union-dominated State Apprenticeship Council once again rejected 1:1 ratios and voted to recommend ratios ranging from 1:3 (3 journeypersons to 1 apprentice) for some trades up to 1:5 (5 journeypersons to 1 apprentice for others).
The non-union contractors and associations are particularly troubled by the fact that the State Apprenticeship Council is including non-licensed trades in their proposed ratios. These unlicensed trades include Bricklayers, Carpenters, Ironworkers, Laborers, Painters, Glaziers, Plasterers, Cement Masons and Roofers. Nothing in state law says that a painter, for example, has to have apprentices because there is no painting license for which to study. Yet, the Apprenticeship Council’s proposed ratios call for a 1:3 journeyperson to apprentice ratio for painters.
Finally, according to non-union contractors and subcontractors, this proposal by the State Apprenticeship Council is a job-killer. An electrician who is currently operating with ten journeypersons and ten apprentices (and has been doing so successfully for years), would have to lay off six of his or her apprentices if these proposed ratios go into effect. Non-union contractors feel the unemployment rate in Rhode Island is bad enough – especially in construction. Adding more people to the unemployment ranks makes no sense to the non-union companies and associations that will oppose these regulations on September 8.