Govs. Josh Shapiro and Phil Murphy announce interstate partnership to protect workers from misclassification
Shapiro and Murphy appeared together after touring the Finishing Trades Institute in Northeast Philadelphia, a training site for industrial and commercial painters, glaziers and others.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy announced a new interstate task force Thursday to help the states protect workers and address misclassifications.
Shapiro and Murphy, both Democrats, appeared together after touring the Finishing Trades Institute in Northeast Philadelphia, a training site for industrial and commercial painters, glaziers, drywall finishers, and others. President Joe Biden made his budget address at the same facility last month.
When workers get misclassified by their contractor bosses, taxes aren’t collected correctly, Shapiro said.
“You know who gets shortchanged? Our local police, our local parks,” Shapiro added. “Then the commonwealth has to come up with the difference.”
Worker misclassification occurs when employers list workers as independent contractors rather than employees. In addition to tax implications, it can also limit workers’ ability to be in a union or receive benefits.
The task force will allow the states to share information about contractors misclassifying their workers and potentially coordinate joint enforcement actions against them, Shapiro said.
Murphy also issued a warning to contractors about the states’ new partnership: “If you’re a bad-apple contractor, we’re either going to bring you into compliance, or we’re going to put you out of business.”
Shapiro used the visit to tout his budget proposal, which includes increasing the state’s vocational and technical education spending to that of former Gov. Tom Ridge’s administration in the late 1990s.
Murphy, in a news conference following the tour, said programs such as the Finishing Trades Institute allow him and Shapiro to “double down on our passion and belief in apprenticeship programs.”
“They are the backbone of both the Pennsylvania economy and the New Jersey economy,” Murphy added. Both governors repeated their support for organized labor in their states, and joked about the rivalry between the states.
Pennsylvania’s Labor and Industry acting Secretary Nancy Walker and New Jersey Department of Transportation Assistant Commissioner Justin Braz also joined the governors.
As part of the visit, the governors met with three high school students from Mastery Charter Pickett Campus, who are part of a pre-apprenticeship program. They demonstrated the different types of personal professional equipment they learn to use on the job.
“We weren’t interested in going to college and sitting behind a desk all day, no offense, though,” Abdur-Rahman Davis, 18, a senior at Mastery’s Pickett Campus, said to the governors. “The trades were for me.”
Davis and Jahkai Moses, who will both graduate from Mastery Pickett this year, said they joined the pre-apprenticeship program after several of their teachers encouraged them to attend.
Both students are looking forward to applying to apprenticeship programs where they will earn a living while focusing on their chosen trades. Moses wants to attend FTI’s painting apprenticeship. Davis is considering applying to an insulator’s union apprenticeship.
“College isn’t for everybody,” Moses said. “Some people are better off doing a more hands-on working experience.”