Commerce and Labor Testimony - HB 235 High Hazard Training Certification Act (Brad Wendel)

Summary

Brad Wendel, Business Manager of Plumbers and Pipefitters LU776 in Lima, sends a memorandum dated 10/26/2021 to the Ohio House of Representatives Commerce and Labor Committee on HB 235, the High Hazard Training Certification Act. The memo states that Cenovus is outsourcing 3,000 local, skilled construction jobs to out-of-state, unskilled labor at the Lima refinery. It states that apprentices in the joint labor-management training program do 246 hours a year in the classroom and 2,000 hours in the field, and that Plumbers and Pipefitters 776 invests about $250,000 each year in training apprentices. It concludes that House Bill 235 can literally save Ohio lives.

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Full text

                                       MEMORANDUM

To: Ohio House of Representatives - Commerce and Labor Committee
From: Brad Wendel
Date: 10/26/2021

RE: HB 235 - High Hazard Training Certification Act

Chairman Stein / Vice-Chair Johnson / Ranking Member Lepore-Hagan:

My name is Brad Wendel. I’m a plumber-pipefitter and lifelong member of Local 776 in Lima. I
was elected Business Manager to represent the pipefitters who go to work every day in Lima’s
refinery and chemical plants. Lima tradespeople have a long history in our community. Lima
remains one of Ohio’s strongest industrial towns because of our local construction workforce.

Lima Building Tradespeople have built and maintained the Lima refinery since the early 1900s.
Now, the new owner Cenovus is outsourcing 3,000 local, skilled construction jobs to out-of-
state, unskilled labor.

When a company like Cenovus comes in and finds a cheaper construction option, they push
local workers – with their exceptional safety and specialized skills training - to the side.
Apprentices in the Plumber-Pipefitters joint labor-management training program do 246 hours a
year in the classroom for their apprenticeship - in the field they get 2,000 hours. We provide
regular training upgrades on the industrial and refining facilities where we do most of our work.

The local tradespeople we send to the Lima refinery know each unit, they know lock-out/tag-out,
confined spaces. It’s all dangerous stuff. If you walk into that refinery without having drilled on
these protocols, it can be deadly. You can’t just walk in off the street or even from an out-of-
state refinery and know the place. Experience matters.

That’s why there’s so much concern from people in Lima about the new workers who’ve come
into our town. Cenovus contractors are posting hiring ads all over the internet because they
don’t have enough construction workers to complete the turnaround. You can be working at
Pizza Hut one day and go find a job as a non-union pipefitter the next day - that’s the real
dangerous part.

At Plumbers and Pipefitters 776, we invest about $250,000 each year into training our
Apprentices. There is no “Second Place” to a joint labor-management apprenticeship as far as
high-hazard facility training and safety training goes. Ss far as cut-rate contractors go, they offer
nothing by comparison.

The firemen and police officers and business owners and home owners and parents who send
their kids to school down the street from the refinery - they are absolutely right to worry with
Cenovus bringing in unskilled people to replace local Building Tradespeople on the refinery
maintenance turnaround. The work they’re doing today can affect our community for years to
come.

I always worry about safety. The Lima Refinery operators, the USW workers, these are people
we work with day in and day out. They’re like brothers and sisters to us. We want to see
everyone in Lima come home from work safe.

Lima Building Tradespeople and 776 pipefitters have been maintaining that refinery since 1906.
And it shows. Our guys know the Lima refinery. This is their community. They care what
happens. We know that working at the Lima refinery, the wrong thing going wrong will devastate
the people you care about. It could flatten Lima for miles.

An unskilled worker comes to the Lima Refinery from out of town, they’re just there for a
paycheck and per diem. They don’t care what the area looks like when they're done.

Talk with our Lima and Shawnee Township public safety officials. They don’t want to get the 911
calls after an explosion or a chemical leak at that refinery.

Local construction workers are invested in this refinery’s safety and success. That’s what’s
putting food on our tables. In the last 15 years, we’ve rebuilt several Lima refinery units solely
with Lima Building Trades labor. Our construction quality and safety - the condition of that
facility – that’s a big reason why Cenovus bought the Lima Refinery from Husky in 2020.

I’m not a pro-regulations kind of guy. Lima Tradespeople are partners to our end-clients and
contractors. We want them to stay in business and to earn the revenue they need - we help
them with that. But we must require adequate safety. We won’t put Lima lives on the line
because some Canadian executives want to save a quick buck on safety and skilled labor.

Just read a few of the refinery accident reports from Texas. House Bill 235 can literally save
Ohio lives. Safety should be our biggest priority in high-hazard facilities. Lima Building
Tradespeople don't cut corners on safety or skills training in any instance - especially in an oil
refinery in our backyard.

Thank you for considering this urgent safety legislation.

Brad Wendel
Business Manager
Plumbers and Pipefitters LU776
1300 Bowman Rd
Lima OH 45804


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