Pandemic Darlings The pandemic economy, in original documents
Home Source documents Ohio State Association of the United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipefitting Industry

Ohio State Association of the United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipefitting Industry

Summary

Written testimony addressed to Chairman Mark Johnson and the Ohio House Commerce & Labor Committee in support of House Bill 327. Kelly Lipinski identifies as a former Lead Organizer for the Ohio State Association of Plumbers and Pipefitters and a Special Representative with the United Association of Plumbers and Pipefitters, testifying on behalf of 14,000 members in Ohio. The testimony states that organizers who visited Columbus jobsites in April 2022 found that 30% of the workers who gave contact information were undocumented. It also states that a June 2023 organizer visit found undocumented workers in cities including Columbus, Cincinnati and Cleveland.

Summary drafted by a model from the document's text below and checked by script against that text before publication. It is a navigation aid, not a reading of what the document proves. Where AI is used

Cite this document

“Ohio State Association of the United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipefitting Industry.” Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/2024-04-16-commerce-labor-testimony-testimony-10457-4d31c89eb6/, SHA-256 dcb76b731b83683c2f68c6bb487507d865549ff597cbf32af47df9a6d1469fc0.

Full text

                                  OHIO STATE ASSOCIATION
                                                      Of the
                               United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices
                                    Of the Plumbing and Pipefitting Industry
                                                   AFL-CIO
                                               OhioPipeTrades.com


Chairman Mark Johnson
Ohio House Commerce & Labor Committee
41 S. High Street
Columbus, OH 43215

Chairman Johnson, Vice-Chair Manchester, Ranking Member McNally, and members of the Ohio House Commerce &
Labor Committee:

My name is Kelly Lipinski, I am the former Lead Organizer for the Ohio State Association of Plumbers and Pipefitters. I’m
currently a Special Representative with the United Association of Plumbers and Pipefitters in the Organizing and
Recruitment Department. On behalf of our 14,000 members in Ohio and in support of every construction worker in Ohio
I am pleased to testify in favor of House Bill 327. HB 327 discourages unscrupulous Contractors, Labor Brokers and/or
Human Traffickers from undercutting the wages and benefits of every honest, tax paying worker providing for their family
while supporting their community.


In Ohio we have 15 full time Organizers covering every inch of the State. These 15 Organizers spend their entire work
week visiting jobsites and talking to workers. In April 2022 we brought in bilingual Organizers and for two weeks 24
Organizers visited every jobsite possible and spoke to every Plumber and Pipefitter we could find in Columbus. Of the
573 Plumbers and Pipefitters that gave us their contact information 30% of these workers were undocumented.
Undocumented workers were mainly in the Commercial sector of our Industry.

In June 2023 we brought in 160 Organizers for a week and visited every jobsite and talked to every Plumber and
Pipefitter we could find in Ohio. It was alarming to find out that a little over a year later we found that undocumented
workers were in most major cities in Ohio. (Columbus, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Dayton, Lima, Canton, Akron and Toledo)
and present in every sector (Residential, Commercial and Industrial) of our Industry.

As a Lead Organizer and Special Representative for the United Association I have participated in new Organizer training
twice a year at our Headquarters in Annapolis, MD. As part of our training, we visit jobsites in Baltimore and Washington
DC talking to workers. In five years, I am yet to find an English-speaking worker. The undocumented worker issue in
Maryland is rampant and out of control. My counterpart in Maryland has a team of Organizers who speak to
undocumented workers every day, they often hear that these workers are moving to Ohio because of the amount of
work in Ohio.

We must address the undocumented worker issue that is growing in Ohio by the minute. Thank you for your
consideration and support of this crucial HB 327. Thank you for your consideration.


Kelly Lipinski


                      1228 Central Parkway Suite 200 Cincinnati, Ohio 45202 (513) 241-1760

File and source

File
2024-04-16_commerce-labor_testimony_testimony-10457.pdf
Size
98,989 bytes
SHA-256
dcb76b731b83683c2f68c6bb487507d865549ff597cbf32af47df9a6d1469fc0
Our copy
2024-04-16_commerce-labor_testimony_testimony-10457.pdf
Original
No public link identified.
Back to top