St. Louis–area plumbing companies are facing a shortage of workers (which is a nationwide trend), and they would like to reduce the county’s strict plumbing licensing system in order to help them hire and train more new plumbers. Right now, the unnecessarily burdensome rule of one-to-one—meaning one fully licensed plumber for every apprentice plumber—makes hiring difficult.
The article explains the current rules:
St. Louis County regulations require a one-to-one ratio of apprentices to licensed journeyman plumbers, plus one apprentice for a master plumber. For example, if a plumbing company has nine journeyman plumbers and one master plumber – the latter being required by the code – it can only hire 10 apprentices.
That ratio is too strict, especially as the retirement rate continues to tick up, [Matt] LaMartina said. Plumbing companies need to be able to hire more apprentices who will become licensed journeyman plumbers, and it’s expensive to do so now because an apprentice has to work side-by-side with a licensed journeyman plumber for up to five years before he or she becomes a licensed journeyman plumber, he said.
There is one thing to remember about all occupational licensing. It is always proposed under the guise of “public safety,” but in reality it is often about increasing wages and profits for those already in the industry. This is true for the most absurd licenses and for the legitimate ones.
Predictably, the plumber’s union is opposed to easing licensing burdens and is using the “public safety” angle:
Christopher “Brian” Chumley, a business representative for Local 562, said he hopes the code review committee does not change the ratio. Weakening the plumbing code would endanger public health, he said.
Just to be clear, there is absolutely no evidence that adjusting the number requirements slightly to allow one current plumber to supervise a few more apprentices would “endanger public health.” In fact, one study found that more strict licensing of electricians actually led to more electrocutions, so it is really just the opposite. (Strict licensing leads to higher prices, which leads to more do-it-yourself work, which leads to more electrocutions.) Thankfully, plumbing, while difficult, is not as deadly, so the effects are not as drastic. Does licensing improve safety for the plumbers themselves? Nope, that question has been studied, too.
The purpose of strict plumber licensing (and other trades, too) in St. Louis County and elsewhere is to restrict trade and increase wages for the plumbers, especially the union members. Everything else is a smokescreen. St. Louis County, and every county in Missouri, should reduce its licensing rules for plumbers and many other occupations to make hiring and training for new jobs easier. The same thing goes for occupations licensed by the state, such as barbers and cosmetologists.
