Apprenticeship Today

News from the Apprentice Office

Travel Reimbursements

Travel reimbursement checks were mailed on January 30. The JATEC has authorized travel reimbursements for apprentices who live distant from the training center. Distances are measured by crow, with the per class rates listed below;

Milage Chart
35 to 50 miles	$10
50 to 75 miles	$25
75 to 100 miles	$30
100 + miles	$40

In addition to the mileage chart, apprentices must receive full credit for the school dates to receive reimbursement. Apprentices should make every effort to be at school on time.

The travel reimbursement checks mailed on January 30 are for the first nine classes of the 2007-2008 school year. Reimbursements for the second half of the school year will be mailed on June 25.

If you have any questions pertaining to travel reimbursement contact the apprenticeship office.

Local Contest

We plan to hold our local Apprentice Bricklaying Contest on April 12 in Pleasanton. The contest, made up of apprentices from our Fresno and Pleasanton schools, will begin at 8:45 am. Project drawings are being developed and will be sent to contestants on March 30. Twenty five apprentices will compete for a chance to advance to the Western States Contest, scheduled for May 31 in San Diego, CA.

We invite you to join us for this event. We will serve lunch to apprentices and guests at the conclusion of the contest at 2:00 PM. The April 12 contest will be a good opportunity for you to visit our school and show support for the apprentices.

We hope to see you there.

Probationary Period

An apprentice who is properly registered with the Apprenticeship Office is considered an indentured apprentice. All apprentices must initially serve a probationary period, the length of which varies among our crafts. The probationary period for Bricklayers and Pointer, Cleaner, Caulkers is 1000 OJT hours. Marble Masons and Finishers have a probationary period of 500 OJT hours. During this probationary period the apprentice agreement may be cancelled by the program sponsor (BAC 3 JATEC) for just cause. To avoid cancellation we encourage apprentices to attend all scheduled classes and comply with our Rules Regulations and Policies. We like to keep the apprentices as well as employers aware of this policy.

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 for apprenticeship 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 Apprenticeship 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 they have not, ask them to contact us.

Recently Certified Journeymen

Bricklayers

Warren Cheatham
Ramon Ponce
Daniel Voolstra

Marble Finisher

Carlos Barrera

PCC

Jose Barreras
Juan Barreiro
Norbert Diedrick
David Meler
Sidi Qadiri
Hector Salcedo
Efrain Tapia

Congratulations for choosing a respected and rewarding craft.

A Brief History of BAC 3 Apprenticeship

BAC Local Union No. 3 was established in January, 1993 under the direction of the International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Crafts. It was formed by merging the existing local unions of the Bay Area, Local 7 San Francisco, Local 8 Oakland, Local 10 San Jose, Local 16 Monterey and Local 19, which was made up exclusively of Tile Layers and Finishers from the Bay Area. The valley locals were merged into Local 4 in Southern California around this same time. In February 1995 the valley locals, Local 1 Fresno, Local 9 Sacramento, Local 12 Stockton, and Local 29, also a Tile local, from Sacramento were taken from Southern California and merged into Local 3 to form the mega local we have today.

Each of the former local unions, which we now refer to as sub locals, had apprenticeship training committees made up of union representatives along with representatives from the contractors. In 1994, under the guidance of visionary, Don Sullivan an agreement was reached to merge the Training Funds of Local 10, and Local 16 into the Training Fund for Local 8 Oakland, which had been formerly established in July, 1973. The newly merged training fund was known as BAC Local No. 3 Apprentice Training and Education Fund. The following year, 1995, the training funds from Local 9 Sacramento and Local 12 Stockton were merged into the BAC Local No. 3 Apprentice Training and Education Fund.

In the summer of 1996 BAC Local 3 President, Steve Rafferty and Don Sullivan committed to a five year lease for classroom space and a hands-on work area with the Carpenters JAC, in Pleasanton. This has since served as our main training facility. Training began in September, 1996 with 23 bricklayers and 25 Pointer, Cleaner, Caulkers. The apprenticeship committee hired a part time coordinator early in 1997 to handle the increased administrative responsibilities. Those duties were later reassigned to, then Apprenticeship Coordinator for Tile, Judith Werner. She set up a central apprenticeship office, developed a system of timely pay increases and the tracking system we use today.

In February of 1998 Greg Miranda took office as President of Local 3. He quickly realized the value of apprentice training and worked tirelessly to afford many changes to be implemented. His contributions are probably second only to Don Sullivan.

Michael Height took over as Coordinator in December 1998. An agreement was reached with the Fresno Training Fund and the Fresno School opened in September of 1999. Later that same year BAC Local No. 3 Apprentice Training and Education Fund reached an agreement with the San Francisco apprenticeship committee and in January 2000, BAC Local No. 3 Apprentice Training and Education Fund, merged into the Local 7 Training Fund. The new fund, which we are known as today is BAC Local 3 Apprentice Training Trust. In addition to the crafts of Bricklayers and PCC, the merger with Local 7 added Marble Masons and Finishers.

BAC Local Union No. 3 is now led by President Tom Spear, and the apprenticeship committee is once again moving forward.

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The ideal participants, in craft training, are receptive apprentices, willing to work diligently and eager to learn, and accomplished craftsmen with a sincere desire to share their techniques and knowledge of the craft.

BROCASE, an acronym for Brief, Release, Observe, Critique, Advise, Support, and Encourage, is a proven training method. These are all critical elements of the training process. Think of a child learning to walk. You can’t simply show them how to walk. They must, after observing someone walk, get up and walk, and fall, and with your encouragement and support, get up and try again.

The BROCASE training method allows the trainer, whether it be a journeyman on the job site or an instructor at school, to teach the apprentice individually or in a group setting. The trainer must be able to recognize and consider various personality types and learning styles to be most effective. This, while requiring some thought on the part of the trainer, is not typically a complicated endeavor.

Basically the trainee should be briefed as to what the job involves. Limited information will be less likely to overwhelm the young apprentice. Release the apprentice to begin the actual work process. After observing the trainee for a period of time, this may vary depending on the particular work being done, critique the trainee, in a positive way, to point out improper performance, and advise him or her of more efficient methods and techniques to accomplish the task at hand. Support and encouragement, from the trainer, are essential and must be shown throughout the training cycle.

Zack Lambert