Hager: Householder should be next Speaker

Columbus/Central Ohio Building and Construction Trades Council Executive Secretary-Treasurer Dorsey Hager made his monthly appearance on America’s Workforce Radio and talked to host Ed “Flash” Ferenc about the upcoming vote to elect the next Speaker of Ohio’s House of Representatives.

Dorsey Hager, C/COBCTC Executive Secretary-Treasurer

In the battle between Republicans Larry Householder and Ryan Smith, Hager believes Householder should be the choice. He cites Householder’s prior experience as Speaker, when there was no anti-building trades legislation. Furthermore, two of Householder’s five sons are members of the building trades – one is an IBEW member and the other is an operating engineer. Hager explained how Democrats can capitalize on this vote and elect a Republican who will support the building trades.

Besides politics, Hager and Ferenc discuss a recent Associated General Contractors of America report, where their affiliated contractors raise concern over a lack of skilled workers. Hager said his building trades council has enough manpower to ensure projects finish on time. He offers an explanation to the contractors’ claims that a lack of skilled workers will increase project cost. Union signatory contactors do not have to worry about increasing their costs because all wage increases are contained in the collective bargaining agreement. The CBA, along with a more productive workforce, help signatory contractors keep their costs down. Non-union contractors do not know their personnel costs, which causes their bids to increase.

America’s Workforce Radio Host Ed “Flash” Ferenc

Discussion then transitioned to an upcoming career fair. The C/COBCTC is working to recruit new members and multiple affiliated trades will be represented at the Fort Hayes Career Center Career Fair, which will be held on Jan. 31, from 4 to 7 p.m. Attendees will have the opportunity to try hands-on demonstrations.

Around 325 people attended last year’s event and Hager expects an even bigger turnout this year. The Fort Hayes Career Fair is one of the top building trades apprenticeship recruitment events in Columbus. The City of Columbus and the Columbus Public Schools do a good job promoting the event. The hands-on demonstrations have become very popular, as attendees get a feeling for a few basic tasks members perform everyday on the jobsite.

Click here to listen to the entire interview, plus some talk about the Columbus Crew SC.