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Local 3 Apprentices Compete
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Masonry Skills Challenge
The final level of competition of the International Apprentice Contest was held September 21-22 at the
John J. Flynn BAC/IMI Training Center in Bowie, MD.
The event, was made up of union apprentices registered in the crafts of Plaster, Cement, Tile, Marble,
Terrazzo, PCC, Brick, and Stone. Contestants from across the United States and Canada advanced to this
final level of competition through local and regional contests. Apprentices representing Local 3 were
Justin Jones and Jose Barreras. Both are model apprentices and did well in their craft category. Justin
entered our apprentice program as a bricklayer with PTS Masonry in June of 2004. He won both the Local 3
and Western States contests in 2007. Jose, a Pointer, Cleaner, Caulker apprentice working for Rainbow
Waterproofing, was indentured in October 2004. Jose finished in third place among the PCC contestants
at the International Contest. The Awards Banquet was held at the National Building Museum in
Washington, DC.
Congratulations to Justin and Jose along with all the other contestants, the International Masonry Institute
and the International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers for this prestigious event.
Click here for extensive coverage of the contest.
San Francisco Building Sold
In 1975 the San Francisco Apprentice Trust fund purchased the building located at 180 and 186 Potrero
Street in San Francisco. The building originally served as the apprentice bricklayers school and more
recently the apprentice marble masons and marble finishers trained there. The upstairs portion of the
building was rented to BAC Local 3 from January 1999 until July 2007.
At our JATEC meeting in June this year the trustees concluded that our apprentice program can be better
served by selling the San Francisco property and applying all of the proceeds toward developing a training
center that will serve all of our crafts, bricklayers, marble finishers, marble masons, and PCC.
The building was sold in August and the trustees are now making progress toward a suitable
property in a more central location.
We will keep you informed of their progress in this quarterly newsletter.
Rules and Regulations
The JATEC has amended the Rules, Regulations and Policies for Apprentices. The following sentence has
been added. “To remain in this training program, an apprentice must be a “member in good standing”, as
stated in the Constitution and By-Laws of Local 3 California of the International Union of Bricklayers
and Allied Craftworkers (Article VI, Section 6)”. Simply put, keep your dues paid to avoid the risk of
being cancelled.
Instructors
Bricklayer instructors for this year will be Larry Buranen teaching in Fresno, and Brent Kirkes and
Michael Height in Pleasanton. Again this year we intend to use student instructors for the bricklayers
in Pleasanton. We started doing this a couple of years ago and it has proved beneficial to both, the
student and the student instructor. Steve Kantoniemi and Charlie Woodard are teaching the Marble Masons
and Finishers, also in Pleasanton. The PCC instructors are Troy Garland, Justin Garland, Bill O’Connell,
Doug Stokes, and Vincent Schneider.
At a Glance
In October, we had our first OSHA 10 course for this year. The class, which is taught by Vincent
Schneider, was made up of Bricklayers and PCC apprentices. We plan to continue these classes throughout
the school year.
Our first CPR/First Aid class is scheduled for 3 November and a second class on 9 February. We are in
the process of scheduling a CPR/First Aid class for our apprentices that attend school in Fresno.
Our local apprentice contest will be held this year in Pleasanton on 12 April.
The 2008 Western States Apprentice Contest will be in San Diego. The event will be held at the
Island Palms Hotel on 31 May.
Applications
We take applications at the apprentice Office in Oakland each week day between the hours of 8:30 am and
11:30 am. Applicants should bring their High School Diploma or equivalent. If you know of someone
interested in joining one of our training programs, ask them to contact the Apprentice Office,
510-553-0991.
If you see a new apprentice on your jobsite, ask if he or she has registered with the Apprenticeship Office,
if not, ask him to contact us.
Recently Certified Journeymen
Bricklayers
Jose Perez
Marble Finisher
Samuel Duarte
The Masonry Skills Challenge was held at the Basalite Block Plant in Dixon on 15 September 2007. The contest
was open to both union and non-union apprentice and journeyman bricklayers.
The journeymen competed in a Fastest Trowel on the Block competition. The bricklayer contestants worked
as teams. Each bricklayer had two tenders to stock blocks and tend mud. The contestants were allowed
twenty minutes, to lay as many blocks as they could lay on a straight wall 24 feet long. Of the competitors
from BAC Local 3, Robert Jackson, who works for John D. Wait Masonry was the fastest, finishing in
third place. Congratulations to Robert and his tenders.
The apprentice competition was separated into three levels. The projects became more difficult as they
progressed from First Year, Second Year and Third Year. Our union apprentices were well represented with
contestants in all levels of competition. Sam Baeder finished in second place in the First Year competition,
and Kevin Smith and Jeff Sousa were second and third respectively in the Second Year group. In the Third Year
group Joel Lopez took first place, Justin Jones was second and Joshua Woodard finished in third place. Also
competing in the event were Felipe Enriquez, Tobie Lee, Sebastian Stephenson and Kris Trotter.
Congratulations to each of them.
Basalite did an exceptional job orchestrating this event. In addition to the contest they had live music,
served food and drinks and had numerous activities for the children. All and all it was a good day.
They plan to hold this event again next year. We will keep you posted.
News from the Apprentice Office
Bryan Garcia
William Phillips
Joshua Height
Alfonso Herrera
PCC
Rafael Castoreno
Congratulations for choosing a respected and rewarding craft.
Masonry Skills Challenge