Cleveland Plumbing Contractors Association

Services

However, there is so much more that comes with being a member of the Association, as contractors join the CPCA for more than labor relations. Amongst the other reasons why contractors join CPAC:

Strength of Unity

Contractors can either take control of their own industry and be part of the decision-making process or they can be on the outside looking in. CPCA members are on the inside looking out. Not surprisingly, they are all independently successful.

History

Today, the CPCA and Plumbers Local 55 negotiate a CBA every three years and handle grievances that may arise during the contract.

Another basic purpose of early plumbing contractors’ associations was to standardize the pipe and fittings of all manufacturers. In the late 1800s, there were no codes to establish the size and composition of materials, so one manufacturer’s products would not properly connect to another. With the help of the contractors’ associations, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover established the first plumbing code, which began to resolve this problem.

The most important goal of the associations was to protect the nation’s health. Throughout history, poor plumbing and sanitation have been responsible for all major plagues. In fact, more civil war soldiers died from bad water and poor sanitation than from war wounds. Additionally, President Abraham Lincoln’s son Todd died from drinking bad water while in the White House. Industrialized nations can, in great part, thank the plumbing contractors’ associations for the high health standards they enjoy today.

After World War II, the unions began negotiating benefits for their members such as pensions and health insurance. In order for these benefits to be funded by pre-tax dollars and for the interest to be tax-free, ERISA and the Taft Hartley Act require the funds to be co-administered by the contractors’ associations. CPCA and Local 55 co-administer four joint committees: Pension, Health and Welfare, Supplemental Unemployment Benefits and Joint Apprenticeship Committee.

Executive Board

Layne Kendig
Treasurer
(Relmec Mechanical LLC)

CPCA Contractors