Great Lakes Wire

The Senate Labor Committee convened Tuesday to hear testimony on two bill packages. The first set addresses apprentice ratios for plumbers and electricians, while the second proposes transferring administrative authority of the Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration (MIOSHA) to the Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity (LEO).

Senator Darrin Camilleri (D-Trenton) introduced SB 740, which seeks to establish a one-to-two ratio for master plumbers to apprentices. Currently, this ratio is not codified in statute. Violations would incur a $5,000 administrative fine for the first offense, $10,000 for a second offense, and a 90-day license suspension for a third violation.

Senator John Cherry (D-Flint) presented SB 895, which aims to reduce the job site ratio for electrical journeymen or master electricians registering apprentices from one-to-three to one-to-one. The bill also outlines responsibilities for master electricians, including supervision of electric wiring operations and fire alarm technician duties. Penalties for non-compliance mirror those in SB 740.

Chad Jansen, a journeyman with IBEW Local 665, expressed support for the proposed ratios. He emphasized that enforcing penalties could ensure proper registration of apprentices with the state, thus preventing future certification issues.

“Obviously, if your contractor is following the (rules) registering their apprentices, and then they’re following the one-to-one ratio … it’s going to make it so that the contractor and the master of record are actually invested in that person trying to become a journeyman for the state of Michigan,” he stated. “If you have 1, 2, 3-to-six or whatever the ratio is … then at that point, that contractor and that master of record are not invested in that individual becoming the best journeyman electrician for the state of Michigan.”

Jansen noted that during his tenure on the state’s Electrical Administration Board since last year, approximately 20 percent of cases involved non-registered apprentices unable to receive credit.

The National Electrical Contractors Association supported both bills. However, opposition came from the National Federation of Independent Business and the Michigan Chemistry Council.

The committee also reviewed SB 829 and SB 830 by Senator Cherry. These bills propose transferring MIOSHA's administrative authority from the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs and the Department of Health and Human Services to LEO. This move would formalize Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s 2019 executive order establishing LEO and shifting MIOSHA's authority accordingly.

Additionally, these bills aim to align civil penalties for MIOSHA violations with federal standards and exempt certain information used by LEO in employer consultations from Freedom of Information Act requests.

This article was provided courtesy of MIRS News for SBAM’s Lansing Watchdog newsletter.

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