Masonry Magazine September 1971 Page. 20
Bricklayers
National
Pre-Job
Training
Program
To assure continued growth, the BM&PIU is laying the groundwork for a far-flung pre-job training program, it has been announced by IU President Thomas F. Murphy.
It will be financed with a $757,928 contract from the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare and the Department of Labor. "It will enable BM&PIU Local Unions utilizing their own standards and procedures-to provide young men with sufficient skills, during six weeks of training, to earn their own way when placed with Mason Contractors," President Murphy explained. "Sub-contracts will be arranged with Locals to cover procurement of the instructor, text materials, tools, and space requirements," he said.
The plan ties in with the four-point program to improve and broaden apprentice training adopted in late 1969 at the National Bricklaying Joint Apprenticeship Committee meeting in Washington, D.C. Robert Ebeling, MCAA Detroit Chapter President, is Chairman of this committee. It called for:
1) Increasing the number of apprentices from the 9,000 level to 16,000 to meet anticipated demands for craftsmen in the next five years.
2) Use of pre-job training, financed by hourly contributions from all employers, as part of the apprentice programs operated by local joint-apprenticeship committees.
3) Development of Career Day Kit to be used by local JAC's in promoting bricklaying apprenticeship among high school students and other youth groups.
4) Promotion of all-weather construction by local unions and contractors to overcome a big obstacle to apprentice recruitment the seasonal nature of bricklaying with resulting loss in annual income.
"The IU's $757,928 pre-job training plan, which is similar to training programs of other building trade unions, is a voluntary one with the training done entirely by Local Unions," President Murphy said. "In some areas it may serve to supplement the existing bricklayer apprentice-training programs. In other localities, it should help establish the nucleus of strong and lasting apprenticeship programs. It will not take the place of, nor encroach upon the programs BM&PIU Locals now have," he explained.
The IU's approach to training is based on two premises: a) that formal apprenticeship programs are the best way to train the skilled and versatile craftsmen needed by the Union and industry, and b) that such programs are most effectively and efficiently conducted by Local Unions (either singly or in concert with other BM&PIU Local Unions) and the contractor groups with whom they deal, simply because they are in the best possible position to determine the number of men needed, and the kind of training most suitable for their area.
President Murphy said that there are several basic reasons why the BM&PIU accepted, on May 17, 1971, the government funds for the Bricklayers National Pre-Job Program.
1) The "seed money" can be used in building a strong apprenticeship system. Through these funds, pre-job segments and comprehensive related training instruction can be added to local apprentice programs in areas where the Local Union and the contractors would continue the program through collectively-bargained employer payments after the government funds are no longer available.
2) The funds may also make it possible to retrain some journeymen with new or additional skills. No matter what the employment picture, there are times when specialized skills are in short supply in a particular area. By training a bricklayer to give him additional skills as, for example, welder or an applicator, the employment opportunities for this person could be considerably broadened.
3) Congress has allocated millions of dollars for manpower training. The money will be used, and probably in an ineffective way by nonunion groups, if the BM&PIU does not undertake the training which the government feels is needed. With years of experience and the training-manpower needed to effectively do the job, the BM&PIU Locals are the logical organizations to undertake this effort.
Elaborating on this, BM&PIU Secretary William Conners said, "We will, as an industry, either meet this challenge or see an increasing percentage of our work lost to the competition. While we have faced a difficult slow-down period in construction, we must recognize that the demand for housing has been artificially restrained in recent years. The pent-up needs of the country will have to be met, and met soon. If we are not able to meet this demand, somebody else will, and we'll undoubtedly start seeing more structures designed or redesigned with substitute materials."
President Murphy anticipates that the program will generate new interest in establishing training within Local Unions and in revitalizing existing training programs. He pointed out that the training program is being administered and implemented with full cooperation between the BM&PIU and the Mason Contractors Association of America.
To administer the program, President Murphy has appointed Richard Gould as Senior Coordinator of the Manpower Development and Training Contract. He was formerly Project Director for MCB Associates of Washington, D.C., a labor relations consulting firm. The Manpower Development and Training Office has been established in Room 927, at 815 Fifteenth St., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20005.
masonry
September, 1971