The Story About Equal Pay Day That You Wont Hear About

Today, April 2nd, 2019 is Equal Pay Day and I wanted to share with you something about my business that you probably have never heard about. I have read no less than a half-dozen articles today about the fact that women make eighty cents to every dollar a man makes. http://www.forbes.com/sites/shelleyzalis/2019/04/02/equal-pay-day-2019-how-to-close-the-wage-gap-for-good/

As Business Manager of the Boston Plumbers Union, and a member for over thirty years, I have never known of a woman member that did not get paid what their male counterparts made.

We all went through an apprenticeship together, worked our way up through the business together, became duly licensed by the state together. All the way through apprenticeship and on to becoming a journeyman there was pay parity. Yes, it’s because we belong to a union.

Over those thirty plus years the ranks of women have continued to grow especially over the past ten years. Yes, the pay structure has been around in a male dominated industry for many years but as women have become more and more commonplace in the industry there was never any thought to pay women anything less than what the contract provided or what the men made.

At a recent meeting with some of the women of Local 12 we talked about many issues but the one issue that never came up is pay equity. I was compelled to write this because there is no media outlet that seems to want to let anyone know that parts of the labor movement is paying dividends for all working people.

Needless to say that the Building Trades can be a misunderstood entity at times, we have always tried our best to be sure that its equal pay for equal work. The reasoning being, that we all came into this together trained and moved up together. Pretty basic concept I think.

So on this years Equal Pay Day, for those that find this thing kind of important, not only do the Union Plumbers in the Boston area make the same pay so do all of our counterparts throughout the rest of the Boston Building Trades.

For that, I’m proud.

April 2, 2019 0

A Little Help for the Little Ones

As Christmas 2018 closes in there are many stories of people helping out one another that you see in the media. Plumbers Local 12 has always been there to help organizations whenever we can and some are just special to us. St Mary’s Women and Infant center is one of them. The center, which has been in operation for over 20 years, helps, houses, educates, and protects women and children in their most dire times.

There is also a soft spot with us because as the old St. Margaret’s many of the men and woman around the metro Boston area were born there and that was the first place that many of us safely slept.

Over 2018 Business Agent Barry Keady has taken volunteer members up to Cushing Ave. and rectified some plumbing issues that have lingered there for almost twenty years. Now fixed, the facility has been able to use areas for various uses that they never were able to use before. Unfortunately there never seems to be an end for the social services that need to be rendered up there.

This year Local 12 made St. Marys the sole beneficiary of our annual toy drive. Hundreds of toys have been donated by the plumbers and apprentices and as an organization located here in Dorchester we wanted help out another neighborhood organization.

On Thursday December 13th, we were joined at the hall by Deirdre Houtmeyers and the leadership team of St. Marys as well as his Honor Mayor Martin Walsh. “It truly is our pleasure to help out these people in need, especially at Christmas” said Local 12 Business Manager Harry Brett. Mayor Walsh while speaking to the members at the union hall that day reminded everyone of the importance of always trying to help out those who are in need.

Plumbers Local 12 apprentices then loaded the Plumbers 911 van and dropped of the toys to the staff at the center. Although we do many things as well as support various causes throughout the year it is special to help an organization located so close to us that provides so much to people in need that come from all over.

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and Happy New Year!

December 22, 2018 0

Plumbers Local 12 Recognizes National Apprenticeship Week

This week, November 14th through 20th 2016 is National Apprenticeship Week. At Plumbers Local 12 in Boston every week is apprenticeship week. There is no better trained plumbers in eastern Massachusetts than the ones at Local 12.

Layout class led by Instructor Darren MacDonald

Just this week in our day school program we have first year, second year, and third year apprentices doing everything from academic classes to shop classes. Classes from Use and Care of tools, Plumbing Code as well training in the latest layout and co ordination technologies have been going on every day.

Local 12 Instructor Gregg Peterson, teaching Use and Care of Tools

Plumbers Local 12 has almost 200 apprentices in our apprenticeship program working in shops that range in size from 2 employees to some that have in excess of 300 plumbers and apprentices. It is imperative that we supply the most highly skilled and well rounded mechanics in the industry to support our contractors.

Apprenticeship is a proven method of skills training that goes back hundreds of years. The plumbing trade is no different. Our apprentices do 1200 hours of training in our program almost double what the Massachusetts laws require for training. “All of this training pays off for us because when an apprentice does an apprenticeship here they are embarking on a journey that will require them to be the best” says Rick Carter Local 12 Training Director.

First year apprentices brazing in the shop, led by Instructor Joe Kyne

“Plumbing is a career” says Harry Brett, Business Manager of the Boston Plumbers Union, “we do not provide jobs we provide careers and a rock solid foundation is the success to that career”. So as the nation recognizes Apprenticeship Week we at Local 12 live it every week and are committed to continue the fine tradition of Apprenticeship.

November 17, 2016 0

The Plumbing Career

When one thinks of the word career, they usually equate it with a length of time at work. As young people go into the workforce they begin their careers, and if they are lucky its when they are right out of school. That career will have that beginning and an end, which will be over at retirement. At Plumbers Local 12 the career is a life long journey. We celebrate those careers annually at our Service Awards Banquet.

Just last week over 80 Plumbers from Local 12 were recognized for their years of membership. The “youngest” of which were celebrating 30 years of service, myself included. But this year had a very special guest, Brother George Cataldo, who celebrated 70 years of membership. Brother Cataldo joined Local 12 in 1946!

George is part of that great generation that after World War 2 helped bring the standards of wages and benefits up so that at the end of a working career a worker could retire with dignity. When I talk to people that inquire about the union I often ask them “Don’t you want to get the most out of your career?”. When they say yes, I refer to men like George who will tell you his career is not over yet. Local 12 is the vehicle for any plumber to get the most out of their career. Health insurance, training, brotherhood and most importantly the ability to retire. George has been collecting a pension since 1988, and he’s not the oldest retiree!

We recently started a new tradition that has the most senior award recipient get up and reminisce about THEIR recollections of THEIR time in the business. George did not disappoint. He spoke about 1946 when the union operated out of an office with one creaky chair down on Essex St. downtown to an organization, that he is so proud of, that has grown to having its own building and beautiful training facility. “I can’t believe how far we have come as an organization, I am so happy!”

Our Service Awards Banquet also serves as our “Class Reunions”. All of us remember the day we started our apprenticeships or the day we came in as new journeyman into Local 12 and its a great night for everyone to catch up. Last week we had over 200 people in attendance.

Over the past few years we have opened our doors and have brought in many new members, apprentices and journeypeople alike, and I know that future memories are being created everyday as time marches forward and there will be plenty of Service Awards Banquets in the years to come. Congratulations All!

pin-night-2016 — 2016 Local 12 Service Award Recipients

November 1, 2016 0

Out With The Old

On May 13th Plumbers Local 12 in Boston graduated their first apprentice class in two years. These new journeyman plumbers have raised the bar for what an apprentice class should be.

After five years of attending a program that started out at night and finished as a day program they sang the praises of their training. They also represented the changes that Local 12 has been championing. There were commercial, residential, and service apprentices graduating together.

Also in this class were three apprentices that competed in national apprentice competitions. One in Connecticut, one in Ann Arbor, Michigan,and one in Hollywood, Florida. These apprentices were so inclined to participate because of their confidence in the training they received at Local 12s training facility by our instructors.

One of the most important jobs that the plumbers union has is to provide the best trained apprentices and plumbers the industry has to offer. There is nothing else like this in regard to training in Massachusetts. Now with a special attention to all wood frame construction with 12R we are training to all aspects of the residential industry. Not that we weren’t before before but we are in it to win it.

We also have our focus on service as well. All apprentices take part in service training but the ones actually doing it train with the journeyman as well. That along with quarterly in service training with the vendors of the industry puts us head and shoulders above everyone else.

The day school also brought some unsolicited comments from the class. Class President Danny Palimeri spoke about how their personal relationships changed after they went to day school. “When we started at night we were acquaintances but once we started day school we all became very close.” For me that compliment was confirmation that day school is the way to go. “We were supportive of each other to make sure that everyone was getting whatever the teachers threw at us” said Danny.

Class President Danny Palimeri addresses over 200 people that attended the graduation at Venezia Restaurant in Dorchester, MA.

Some that read this may not appreciate that trade training is that important, but when you put in five years and over eleven hundred hours of training this group of new journeymen will forever consider themselves Local 12 Class of 2016! Congratulations!

June 20, 2016 0

You Won’t Read About This!

Dateline 5/13/2016

Location IBEW 103 Union Hall Boston

As I write this post I think about all of the kids across not only the Boston area, but across the country, attending awards nights getting scholarships that will help them with the costs of college. Creating many happy parents as well.

As parents we sit in these awards nights and wonder “where does all this money com from?” Imagine if you went to an award night where they gave out almost $590,000 in one setting. Well one happened today. Given the amazing amount of money given out you would think that maybe the press would be curious.

You see today was the 58th Annual Massachusetts AFL-CIO Scholarship Breakfast and indeed all of that money was given out to hundreds of children of union members. Through the hard work of the fundraising of its members their college “Dream” is a little bit more achievable.

I am happy to say that just my union, Plumbers Local 12, was able to give out over 30,000 dollars to our deserving college bound children. These amazing hard working students are headed to community colleges right up to ivy league institutions.

This is just another way that unions give back. As being part of the solution to give access to college we are helping to keep the middle class dream alive. I think we can all agree that the college dream is becoming harder to achieve because of the crushing debt that these young men and woman are being saddled with.

For many of the proud tradesman and tradeswoman in attendance today college was never part of their plan but being able to send their children to college, the dream of having their next generation do a bit better is very rewarding. Totally Amazing Morning.

Massachusetts AFL-CIO President Steve Tolman with the scholarship awardees in attendence today, Good Luck!

May 16, 2016 0

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