EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S MESSAGE
It’s Very Clear EVANGELOS “LUCKY” PAPAGEORG
It is abundantly clear that there is a huge divide between being considered essential and not being paid as an essential in the collision repair industry. Although collision repair is considered and understood to be an essential industry, there are those who do not understand how essential it is. Not only that, but there is a lack of understanding that being essential comes with being paid accordingly. The knowledge and expertise required to be proficient in the art of collision repair is surpassed by very few - if any - other fields, and yet a collision repair student coming out of a vocational school can be guaranteed to be joining one of the lowest paid of any of the other trades - if not the lowest. Is it any wonder that we not only have a retention issue, but also an enticement issue in this industry? The same individuals who lack the understanding of what it means to be essential have failed to ask themselves what will happen when there is no one left to repair collision damaged vehicles. During the Labor Rate Study Commission (LRSC) hearings, the testimony given by one of the vocational school instructors was particularly on target. He spoke to the reason why so many individuals have entered into this industry in the first place…“It’s cool” and challenging as no two repairs are ever the same! The challenge a technician faces day in and day out is what makes it cool and interesting. Their learning curve never really reaches a plateau. So, why are they not rewarded? Why do insurance appraisers (who in most cases have never even attempted to repair a damaged vehicle yet get paid more than the highly skilled technician) blindly say, “NO” because they are told to do so? Maybe getting paid more eases a guilty conscience? There is a tendency to sound like I am minimizing what other professions do and are responsible for. I really do not want to sound that way, but the facts are the facts. Anyone who has had something repaired at their home, be it the roof, plumbing or electric, knows the price you pay to have one of those “technicians” work at your home. How about the price you are paying per hour for repairs to your vehicle that are not collision related? Then, there are the comparisons to other vocations. As I waited to get a haircut the other day, I figured that just the one “technician” doing the cutting was making more than $100 per hour for the shop, excluding the tip. Yes, all those vocations have their own degree of liability and specialized training, but none reach the degree of liability a collision repair shop and its technicians take on. Just as with the analogy of our industry being physicians and diagnosticians, our technicians must learn the basic skills and
8 June 2022
New England Automotive Report
sharpen them as they work to become more artful and skilled. Yes, approaches to medicine and health care and procedures do change; however, when you get right down to it, the human body has not changed much in thousands of years, whereas vehicles and repair procedures change daily. Again, I have to ask, why are our businesses and our technicians reimbursed at such a substandard rate? It is very clear that we are not valued for our expertise or for our abilities to learn and adapt. The mere fact that we ARE ESSENTIAL should be reason enough to be paid a proper wage. We should not have to continually grovel and say, “Please sir, can I have more?” The fact that we do have to grovel simply shows that there is a huge disconnect between our industry, the consumer, our legislators and the insurance industry. We, the collision repair industry, are partly at fault. Because we are so adaptable and learn so well, we have adapted over the last 34 years to the suppression brought to bear on us. We have learned to do better and more with far less. It is very clear that we have reached a critical time in our existence. We have exhausted all measures of efficiency. Our technicians are maxing and aging out. Those who have not moved on to other jobs stay because they love what they do and because the job they do is “so cool.” Sadly, no matter how much you love your job, nor how cool, exciting and challenging it is, if it does not provide you with the ability for a certain quality of life now and in the future, what is the point? That is exactly the question so many current and future technicians ask themselves daily. As we see our ranks of technicians leaving and aging out with no new blood entering at a rate that will sustain the collision repair industry, it is clear that now is the time to go all in. Yes, as an industry, we have been chasing Labor Rate bills for nearly 18 years now. The last two years have been frustrating at times, but HB 1111 has the most support of any bill ever addressing the labor reimbursement rate. Although some viewed the LRSC hearings as an exercise in futility, the process has more than emphasized the critical state of the collision repair industry and the need for immediate action. The report has been positive on that point. It is very clear that the legislators still need to react to the collision industry’s needs. We cannot afford to let history repeat itself as it did after the 2008 LRSC findings and report. AASP/MA will, with your assistance, continue to bring pressure to bear on our legislators and the insurance industry by keeping the issue at the forefront. As I write this message, it is my sincere hope that our rally continued on pg. 30
