State Senator Thomas A. Colapietro (D-Bristol), co-chair of the General Assembly’s General Law Committee, and Senator Edith G. Prague (D-Columbia), co-chair of the Labor and Public Employees Committee, said today that new legislation passed Tuesday out of the General Law Committee marks a long sought compromise between management and union workers in the skilled trades, and will set a new standard in the hiring of apprentices to create jobs while ensuring quality on-site work and maximizing opportunities for those looking to learn the trades.
The legislation is Senate Bill 133, An Act Concerning Apprentice to Journeymen and Contractor Ratios, and it addresses hiring practices in the skilled trades of electrical work, plumbing, heating, piping and cooling, sprinkler fitting and sheet metal work. The bill would require contractors (with some exceptions, see table below) to hire workers at a ratio of one apprentice learning the trade to three licensed journeypersons, fully trained in their work.
“After all these years, it is great to see the unions and management come together and form an agreement. I want to thank Lelah Campo of the Associated Builders and Contractors and Cameron Champlin of the United Association of Plumbers and Pipe Fitters for all their hard work that made this possible,” said Senator Colapietro. “In the skilled trades, it is important to have a proper balance of learners to experts, so that work is done properly while young people have job opportunities and are taught well. I think this bill strikes the right balance.”
“We need more skilled people in the trades, and this is just the right opportunity,” said Senator Prague.
“This minor change in the (hiring) ratio will give plumbing, heating and cooling contractors more flexibility to hire apprentices, which will allow our small businesses to grow and add jobs to the economy,” said Scott Basso, member of the Legislative Committee for the Connecticut Heating & Cooling Contractors Association in testimony before the General Law Committee.
“This ratio was the best solution for the industry to ensure that we have properly trained apprentices and therefore the best trained Journeymen in the future,” said Cameron Champlin and Joyce Wojtas of the United Association of Plumbers and Pipe Fitters Local Union 777, also in testimony before the General Law Committee.
“I think that when both unions and management sat down together to talk about this issue, everyone found that there are many things that could be done in cooperation with one another, to everyone’s benefit. It goes to show the positive things that can come out of an open discussion,” said Senator Colapietro.
Existing law requires a higher number of journeymen for each apprentice for plumbing, heating, piping and cooling, sprinkler fitting and sheet metal workers than for electrical workers. The new legislation would apply the lower requirement for electric workers across all of these trades.
Senate Bill 133 provides for the following ratio of apprentices to journeymen:
Electrical, Plumbing, Heating, Piping and Cooling,
Sprinkler Fitter and Sheet Metal Work
Apprentices Licensees (Journeymen or Contractors)
1 1
2 2
3 5
4 8
5 11
6 14
7 17
8 20
9 23
Ratio continues at 3 Journeypersons to 1 Apprentice
Having passed the General Law Committee, Senate Bill 133 will next be taken up for consideration by the Labor and Public Employees Committee.
