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UA Local 112's Apprenticeship Program is Recognized in the Press & Sun-Bulletin - (1/18/2006)
CAREERS IN TRADE Lucrative job field beckons Apprentices benefit from
rising demand By My-Ly Nguyen Press & Sun-Bulletin There's no
shortage of work for Brad Fish Jr., a 20-year-old apprentice and service
technician at Tri County Refrigeration in Owego. He and others in the
traditional trade professions are in great demand, with many employers
hotly recruiting high school students to fill the growing need for
plumbers, bricklayers, drywallers and other traditional tradesmen.
Despite the opportunities, the jobs are a tough sell — not only to young
people but to parents and school counselors, who don't always see the
trades as a desirable option. "They don't talk too much about trades,"
Fish said about what counselors discussed before he graduated from
Maine-Endwell High School in 2004. Instead, joining the military or
enrolling in a university or college were promoted, he said. But after
one semester of studying criminal justice at Broome Community College,
Fish grew tired of academia and wanted out. His parents pushed him to
stay in school. "They didn't want me to have a part-time job and minimum
wage the rest of my life," Fish said. "Parents always want the best for
their kids — education, a good job, good money. Once I stopped (school)
they were mad, but they're happy about what I'm doing now." The typical
wage for a first-year plumber apprentice is $9.75 an hour, plus pension
and other benefits, said Daniel Crocker, training coordinator for the
Plumbers & Pipefitters Local 112 in Binghamton. After a five-year
apprenticeship, Fish can expect to make $24.58 an hour — a little more
than $50,000 per year — and benefits if they work in the southern part
of New York, Crocker said. The federal Bureau of Labor Statistics
estimates the industry will need to add 100,000 jobs a year each year
through 2012, while also filling an additional 90,000 openings annually
for positions vacated by retiring baby boomers and those leaving for
other reasons. "Do we have an immediate crisis? Probably not. Will we in
five years? Absolutely," said Gary Dowty, executive vice president of
the Lake County Contractors Association in Chicago. Each spring, Dowty's
organization sponsors a career expo for local eighth-graders, who get
to build toolboxes, lay brick and use a jackhammer — and each year, the
two-day event has gotten more popular. The idea is to plant seeds early —
with some organizations hoping to capitalize on the popularity of Bob
the Builder and home-improvement shows, including Extreme Makeover: Home
Edition and Trading Spaces: Boys vs. Girls. Trade organizations hope to
supplant the notion that a college degree is the only path to a good
career, creating an atmosphere more like that in Europe, where trades
are often regarded as attractive professions with steady work and high
stature for skilled technicians. "We say, 'apprenticeship is the other
four-year degree,' " said Bob Piper, vice president of work force
development for the Arlington, Va.-based ABC, which has chapters across
the country. And increasingly, some jobs such as construction management
do require a college degree — and offer competitive starting salaries
for graduates. Rob Dayton, 21, of Binghamton, has seen friends enrolled
at Broome Community College, the State University College at Cortland
and other academic institutions struggle to determine their career
paths. "They're still undecided about what they want to do as a career,"
Dayton said. Meanwhile, he's in his first year as a plumbing apprentice
at J&K Plumbing & Heating Inc. in Binghamton. He had previously
worked at the company for four years as a truck driver, delivering
supplies and equipment to job sites. "I'll get through my five years of
apprenticeship and when I retire, I'm going to have a great pension and
annuity," he said. But working in the trades is not for everyone,
Crocker noted. "It's a demanding job," he said. "You're outside in the
cold in winter. You could be working in a boiler room in the middle of
the summer." But there's also tremendous satisfaction and pride tied to
completing a job well done, Crocker said. Too few young people are aware
of the benefits, he said. "They've cut shop programs in school,"
Crocker said. "It's not like 20 years ago when I was in school. The only
place they get exposure to the trades anymore is if they go to BOCES
(Board of Cooperative Educational Services). Then they get exposed to
the trades because their curriculum is directly related to trade
studies." Martha Irvine is a writer for The Associated Press.
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