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The Bricklayer Apprentice |
From the President's Desk |
News from the Apprentice Office
It’s Saturday, 7:30 am and
apprentices have begun arriving at the Training Center at Pleasanton, driving
from places such as Oroville, Salinas and many other places from the Bay Area to
the Central Valley. At 8:00 am class begins for a standing room only group of
apprentices. The instructors return the homework assignments, drawings, and
tests which were previously graded and recorded. The homework assignments follow
a three volume set of manuals from the International Masonry Institute.
After brief announcements the apprentices will go to the outside work area
where they will spend the day working on their designated projects. The hands-on
projects are completed in a specific order, first introducing the apprentice to
the basic tools and work processes, spreading mud and laying bricks and blocks
to the line. As they advance they will lay corner leads, pilasters, piers,
headers, soldiers, rowlocks, stoops, steps, paving, glass blocks, radius walls,
arches, and fireplaces.
Each project prepares the apprentice with certain skills which he will use at
his next project in our structured progressive program.
The instructors use the BROCASE method of instruction; Brief, Release,
Observe, Critique, Advise, Support, and Encourage. The initial briefing comes in
the form of a drawing assignment of the particular project the apprentice is
assigned to. They typically draw a plan, elevation and section view of their
project. As the apprentices are working on their projects the instructors are
constantly roaming the work area observing their performance and offering
constructive criticism and advice to the apprentices.
The apprentices return to the classroom at the end of the day after taking
down their projects and putting away the tools and equipment. They receive their
drawing assignments for the next class and have an opportunity to voice concerns
and ask questions before heading home at 3:30 pm.
We are very fortunate to have so many apprentices with the desire and ability
to excel in the art of masonry. Our apprentices are fortunate as well to have
the opportunity to learn from our many accomplished journeymen.
I want to say thanks to Michael Height for giving me the chance to help with
the teaching at the Pleasanton Brick School. Like everything else there will be
a bit of a learning curve before I get into full swing, but with Mike at the
helm it won’t be long before it’s smooth sailing.
I look forward to passing on some of the skills that I picked up over the 28
years I’ve been in the trade. On October 20, 2001 I was on my third day of
helping teach the apprentices on the slab. It really feels good to watch the
improvement that can happen in a short time. I also encourage all the journeymen
they are working with to take the time to do some On the Job Training.
Let us not forget that we were all apprentices at one point in time. I would
also like to remind all the jobsite foremen that there is a blue book system in
place. These Blue Books are a requirement by the Division of Apprenticeship
Standards for the State of California. These books, when filled out properly,
show that the apprentices are getting the proper training on the job. If the
JATEC feels that they are not, we will take the appropriate action under the
Collective Bargaining Agreement.
At the end of the month the apprentice is required to have the foreman sign
off on the blue book. Another requirement is that the apprentice turn in the
book before the start of each class or he may be sent home. I would like to
remind everyone that the backbone of BAC Local 3 CA is the apprentice, they are
also our future.
Apprentices returned to school on Saturday, September 8. We currently have
175 apprentices attending at our various training sites. There are 69
Bricklayers, 63 Pointer, Cleaner, Caulkers, and 43 Marble Masons and Finishers.
Troy Garland and Larry Buranen recently returned from the Washington, DC area
for a week of training put on by the International Masonry Institute. Their
program is designed to be completed in five years. Troy teaches our PCC
apprentices in Pleasanton and Larry teaches our Bricklayers at our Fresno
School.
Your Apprentice Coordinator will be traveling to Hilton Head, South Carolina
in early November to attend a Conference on Apprenticeship. The International
Union along with the International Masonry Institute have devised a curriculum
that promises to be both enlightening and educational. They will cover topics
such as Industry Education, Committee Operations, Outreach and Recruitment, and
Testing and Assessment.
Hayward Adult School has agreed to work with us by offering an English as a
Second Language (ESL) course. We would need 12—15 Students to set this up.
Contact the apprentice office if you are interested in taking this ESL course.
Our Local Bricklaying contest will be held in Pleasanton on April 6, 2002.
The 2002 Western States Brick and Tile Contest will be held on June 1 at the
Anaheim West Coast Hotel at Disneyland.
Recently Certified Journeypersons
Marble Finishers Bricklayers PCC Marble Masons Congratulations to each of you for choosing a respected and rewarding craft.
I must think back a long time to think of a time when I felt more proud to be
an American, than on September 11 and the days that followed. This is a day I
hope never to forget. The response to the tragedy began immediately. So many
people did all they could to help, that it would be unfair to single out anyone
or any one group. Thousands responded directly and in the days and weeks that
followed millions are showing their patriotism to our country.
Now is not a time for fear, as the news media blows up the Anthrax situation.
President Bush and his Staff are more than capable to deal with this developing
war on terrorism. Lets not forget our men and women who serve our country in the
military. The U.S. Army Rangers who parachuted into Afghanistan were certainly
aware that danger was present but they were able to muster the courage to
overcome fear as they conducted their mission. We should use them as an example
should we sense fear in our relatively safe environment. We also should remember
the thousands who lost loved ones, family members, parents, and children in this
tragedy.
Michael Height
This column, made up of job stories, questions and answers, suggestions
and comments is a contribution of our readers. We would like to thank Gary
Peifer for his contribution to this issue. If you would like to contribute to
this article please send your correspondence to the apprentice office.
Dear Brothers and sisters,
When Apprentice Coordinator, Mike Height asked me to contribute an article to
the apprentice bulletin, I was honored by the prospect to once again serve the
apprenticeship. However, when he told me that only two sunrises would pass
before it was due, I was in turmoil over what to write. It finally dawned on me
(after the second sunrise) that I should share a recent personal experience that
confirmed my faith in the common sense of our future craft workers.
During a recent field inspection I discovered that two journeymen and an
apprentice had won a lottery and were to split almost five million dollars.
After congratulating the journeymen on their recent good fortune I approached
the apprentice and asked what he planned to do with his life now that he was a
millionaire. He replied by asking me how I felt about the craft I worked at for
so many years. When I told him that it had been rewarding to me and my family
and that I would probably do it all over again if given the chance, he stopped
plumbing the lead he was building and looked at me. He paused and then said that
after thinking about the whole thing, he decided if the money came this easily,
it could surely leave the same way. He continued by telling me that after
working as an apprentice for three years, there was no way he was going to
gamble with his future by not having the skill to work and survive.
When I asked him how he came to this conclusion, he stated that due to the
recent economic changes in the country from the terrorist attacks, a television
program he had watched had discussed the economy during times of war and
recession. The program had shown that skilled labor had a definite advantage,
especially during the recovery from the Great Depression and this is what made
up his mind. He wanted to be able to take care of himself. I told him that this
was provable, as the good well-trained mechanics of the trade always seem to be
working when the economy slowed down. I wished him good luck and thanked him for
sharing his new found wealth with me.
When later I thought about our conversation, I realized that this apprentice
had discovered the basis for most of us being in the trade. The need to earn a
living and survive. When you really think about it, the commitment to serving
your apprenticeship and becoming a skilled craft worker is a step above
surviving. It will allow you to earn a living with pride and retire with
dignity. In closing I would ask that all of you remember the following; Gary Peifer
HEROES
On September 11, we saw clear evidence of heroes. Policemen and Firemen
entering the World Trade Center to assist the occupants while the occupants were
doing their best to get out of the buildings. Surely, these individuals were
heroic., Yet, we must look at other types of heroism. The father, who gets up
every morning and goes to work irregardless of how he feels, in order to provide
for his family. The mother, who day in and day out gets up, prepares breakfast,
cleans the house, washes the family clothes, takes care of the children, in my
mind she is certainly a hero. I would like to tell you about one of my heroes,
Sarah Kraw. Sarah is the attorney for our health and pension plans. She was
instrumental in the merger of all of the individual Trust Funds into the Local
#3 Plan. The members of Local #3 have a better retirement opportunity that they
would have had under their original plans. Her sense of social justice has
served the membership of Local #3 very well in their fringe benefit plans.
I see Sarah’s heroism in the fact that she has had cancer for the past couple
of years and has now been diagnosed as terminal, and yet has continued on doing
her job to make life better for the membership. Her guidance to all of us who
are Trustees of the plans is immeasurable. In appreciation of her efforts when I
established the BAC #3 Sullivan Scholarship for the children and grandchildren
of Local #3 members that I requested that the name of the scholarships become
the BAC #3 Sullivan Kraw Scholarships. I should at this time, as we have seven
recipients of the scholarships, thank those who spent so freely of their time
and energy in establishing the rules for the scholarships, Greg Miranda, Mark
Wuelfing, Ron Bennett and especially Dave Venuti. They are all heroes in my
book!
Don Sullivan
From the President’s Desk
Greg Miranda
News from the Apprentice Office
Mahmoudou Kande
Kim Sandvei
Juan Gomez, Robert Greenbach, Ryan Humphries, Robert Regalado,
Glen Trago, Jose Vidrio
Steve McBride, Shawn Moody
America
Story Poll
It
should be considered a privilege to learn the craft and even more an honor to
teach it.
Live Better— Work Union.
Words of Wisdom
Don Sullivan