1 min read

Season 3, Episode 75

Sprinkler fitters are not required to be licensed in Illinois

Sprinkler-Fitters-Chicago

 

Guest Name:


William Hincks

Guest Website:


www.sprinklerfitterchicago.org

Guest Social Media:


Facebook

Supportive Documents:


Sprinkler Fitters Local 281 Vice-President and Organizer William Hincks joined the America’s Work Force Union Podcast and discussed the need to require licensing for sprinkler fitting in Illinois.

Besides Illinois, there are five other states, including New York, that do not require sprinkler fitters to be licensed to install or repair fire safety systems, he said.

Local 281 represents about 1,400 sprinkler fitters in Chicago.

The Local is working with legislators to increase safety standards in the state in order to save lives, Hincks said. Pushing lawmakers to require licensure for sprinkler fitters is part of that effort. The Local wants to tighten testing requirements in order to make the state’s fire protection systems safer, he added.

Hincks also discussed Local 281’s organizing efforts through a bottom up approach. Organizers have put their focus on the interests of the membership and solving issues meaningful to their families such as healthcare, better pay and time off from work, he added.

Lastly, Hincks talked about organizing efforts at a Cintas plant in Chicago that resulted in numerous labor violations on the part of the company. Workers were awarded back pay by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).

Listen to the entire episode to learn more about these topics.


America’s Work Force is the only daily labor podcast in the US and has been on the air since 1993, supplying listeners with useful, relevant input into their daily lives through fact-finding features, in-depth interviews, informative news segments and practical consumer reports. America’s Work Force is committed to providing an accessible venue in which America's workers and their families can hear discussion on important, relevant topics such as employment, healthcare, legislative action, labor-management relations, corporate practices, finances, local and national politics, consumer reports and labor issues.

America’s Work Force Union Podcast is brought to you in part by our sponsors: AFL-CIO, American Federation of Government Employees, American Federation of Musicians Local 4, Alliance for American Manufacturing, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes-IBT, Boyd Watterson, Columbus/Central Ohio Building and Construction Trades Council, Communication Workers of America, Mechanical Insulators Labor Management Cooperative Trust, International Association of Heat and Frost Insulators and Allied Workers Local 50, International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Crafts, International Union of Painters and Allied Trades District Council 6, Ironworkers Great Lakes District Council, Melwood, The Labor Citizen newspaper, Laborers International Union of North America, The National Labor Office of Blue Cross and Blue Shield, North Coast Area Labor Federation, Ohio Federation of Teachers, United Labor Agency, United Steelworkers.

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