On the recordFebruary 5, 2021
We all want to help. We all want to help the people in our community find their way; do better for themselves; seek the opportunities that support themselves, their dreams, and their families. Now, this bill establishes ratios of journeymen and apprentices on the job. What does that mean? That means you have to have somebody watching when somebody is pulling wire, you have to have somebody watching when somebody is learning to sweat joints because you have got to make sure it is done right, you have got to make sure it is done safely. And that is great. That ratio is going to be established by the Department of Labor based on something--hopefully by people in the trade that know what they are doing. But this is what it also does: It says that if you have a collective bargaining agreement, you don't have to worry about those ratios. You can make your own up. So the union and the business can make their own, but everybody else has to use the Department of Labor standards. Ladies and gentlemen, one standard for all. If it is good for the goose, it is good for the gander. This is picking winners and losers. This is saying, if you are not in a union, you have got to have a different standard. Oh, by the way, the different standard is it is always more expensive for you than it is for the union. Oh, by the way, we see that all the time.…





