Local plumbers, contractors and union leaders — including Dorchester’s own Plumbers and Gasfitters Local 12 — gathered on the Grand Staircase at the State House during their lobby day last week. Madyline Swearing photo
By Madyline Swearing, Boston University State House Program
Local plumbers, contractors, and union leaders — including Dorchester’s Plumbers and Gasfitters Local 12 — flooded the State House last Wednesday in observance of World Plumbing Day to rally support for legislation to improve conservation efforts, ensure safe drinking water in schools, and support emergency preparedness measures and industry training.
Several organizations — including the Greater Boston Plumbing Contractors Association, the International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials, the Propane Gas Association of New England, Plumbing, Heating and Cooling Contractors of Massachusetts, the United Association of Journeyman and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipefitting Industry, and members of Locals 4, 12, 51 and 104 — met with legislators to discuss ongoing bills.
“Plumbing is often called the invisible profession. When everything works, nobody notices, but when it doesn’t, everybody does,” said James Vaughan, business manager of Local 12 — the largest plumbers union in New England. “Our world is evolving. Water conservation and sustainability are no longer an option: they are essential.
He added that Local 12’s current priority is years in the making: greywater recycling— reusing the relatively clean wastewater generated from household sources such as bathing, hand-washing, or laundry machines. Greywater does not include water from toilets or kitchen sinks, which is often referred to as blackwater.
In the coming years, Vaughan said, the organization hopes standards will be established for greywater to be captured from commercial and residential buildings, filtered, and reused, to reduce the strain on freshwater supplies.
“We need drinking water to live, and we’re trying to get bills passed on greywater,” said Vaughan, a member of Local 12 for nearly 40 years, who was sworn in to his current position last January. “What that does is, if you have a flat roof and it’s raining, the water that lands on your roof could be collected and used to flush toilets.”
Strong licensing standards, codes, apprenticeship programs, and trainings are instrumental in ensuring the integrity of plumbing and its role in public health, Vaughan said.
As of 2023, Massachusetts has the second-highest concentration of plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters in the nation. The state also comes second in hourly and annual mean wage, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Modernizing workforce development and energy policies is key as well, said Mark Valentini, vice president of legislative affairs for the Plumbing, Heating, and Cooling Contractors of Massachusetts.
“We’re working on reauthorizing workforce programs that allow federal funding for registered apprenticeships, and on the HVAC side, federal grants that train people on the job,” Valentini said. “We’re seeing more interest since the pandemic, especially in light of this $2 trillion student loan crisis, where people realize that your trade is in demand and pays very well. It’s sustainable and is not going to get replaced by any kind of AI.”
Other priority bills include expanded funding for water infrastructure, adding plumbing inspectors to statewide public safety agreements, expanding flood mitigation measures and upholding stronger regulations regarding PFAS — known as forever chemicals.
Local 12 members said that, with technological advancements and an evolving industry, upholding current standards and protecting the plumber’s code — state licensure that governs what plumbers can do and what is necessary to maintain safety standards — is at the top of their priorities.
“If we lose our code, everybody can be a plumber,” said Ariana Hernandez of Framingham, a third-year apprentice.
Jimmy White, a third-year apprentice from Hyde Park, said it was his first time commemorating World Plumbing Day. White said he joined the trade after the military — following in the footsteps of his father and uncle, both Local 12 members.
“It’s important to uphold the code, to maintain the standard that plumbers before us set and to improve on them eventually,” White said. “We’re here to show up in numbers and show we mean business.”
