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Over 600 people attended the Career Day Expo at IBEW’s Electrical Training Institute in the City of Commerce. This was the fourth year Building Trades Unions and Craft Labor/Management Training Programs have put on the event which is designed to outreach to potential apprentices and provide them with the information they need to apply to any of the various Apprenticeship programs offered by Building Trades Unions.
The event also serves to educate youth and other community members about the great training and career opportunities that are available in the Building Trades and to combat common misperceptions about careers construction trades. Attendees learned about the great wage and benefit packages in the Union construction trades and the world-class training that is provided at no cost to the Apprentices.
“Schools are pushing that college is the only goal for students,” said Jane Templin, Outreach Director for IBEW Local 11’s Electrical Training Institute. “We have to fight to stereotype of ‘poor, dumb blue collar.’ But once we educate them about the great wage package, benefits, pension and college credits all of a sudden students start raising their eyebrows.”
“One thing that isn’t being relayed to a lot of high school students is that the service and construction industry make up most of our economy, said Sam Alvarez, Field Representative with Glazier Local 636. “We have the opportunity to teach these students that we aren’t just a bunch of dumb construction guys. Once you reach that level of journeyman or foreman, our crafts men and women are on par in terms of knowledge as any white collar professional.”
Students need to know that have more option after graduation than going to college, said Ed de Brito, Director of the Southern California Cement Masons JAC. “One thing I tell students is that you can go to college for four years and not get anything but debt or you can start in the trades and make good money from day one including defined pension contributions. They also need to know that bridge construction is not going to be outsourced to someone in India.”
Building Trades Unions worked closely with a number of community organizations and pre-apprenticeship programs. Organizations such as PV Jobs, Women in Non-Traditional Employment Roles, We Build, and Long Beach Job Corps brought their members to the event.
The Building Trades Career Day has many advantages over other career fairs and events that Apprenticeship programs attend throughout the year, said “We had a lot of attendees who were in pre-apprenticeship programs, so they already know something about the construction industry whereas if we go to a career day at a high school a lot of the students have no idea what they want to do,” said de Brito. “Most are thinking about going to college and teachers will even steer students away from the Apprenticeship programs tables.”
In addition to the great wages and benefits, a union construction job offers other intangible benefits, said Templin. “Its hard work, but it’s an opportunity to do something you love and make good money doing it. There’s ownership in your community because you helped build it.”
Alvarez added, “There’s a saying in the construction trades, ‘Let’s go make history,’ because that building we are working on is going to be around for a long time.”
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