Masonry Magazine December 1999 Page. 10
Recruitment & Training
Continued from page 9
Phoenix, Arizona
The Arizona Masonry Contractors Association Apprentice Program is currently in its 6th year. Last year, they graduated seven apprentices and this year, have a total of 35. Twenty-one apprentices are in their starting year, which is the program's largest to date.
One of the problems they are facing in Arizona is retention. According to Jan DeVitto, AMCA Executive Director / Apprenticeship Coordinator, "Due to the volume of work available in Arizona, it has been very difficult to get and to keep apprentices. They can go to work anywhere for a few dollars more, not realizing of course, that once they have completed the three-year training, they have far greater earning capacity."
Apprentices in the AMCA Program have the opportunity to build special projects in their community. Last year, the apprentices built dugouts for a local high school baseball field. Two years ago, AMCA contractors, volunteer bricklayers and the apprentices constructed a masonry wall around the entire facility of the Arizona Recreation Center for the Handicapped in one day! Currently the apprentices are building a project for the Metro Tech School where the classes are held.
According to Ms. DeVitto, the support from the masonry contractors and suppliers in their area has been fantastic. Most of the supplies needed for their program are donated. On occasion, the contractors and suppliers even stop by and sit through an evening class or a Saturday afternoon lab.
In addition to the three-year apprentice program, AMCA held a "pre-apprenticeship" training course last May. Participants attended the course eight hours per day, five days per week for three weeks and learned how to use the trowel, spread mud and lay block. It is their belief that this course will give new apprentices a "jump" on being more productive for their employer.
Pensacola, Florida
According to Chuck Whiteman of Masonry Arts, Inc., "With the tremendous explosion in commercial construction in this area, I have seen a large number of men applying for work as masons that are no closer to being masons than they are to being neurosurgeons. Quite a few of them have no formal training in masonry...and no understanding regarding the reinforcing and structural requirements of the buildings that they are working on." Because of this, the contractors in the area formed an apprenticeship program.
One of the first things Mr. Whiteman teaches his students is to have pride in their work. He's found that the best way to nurture pride in one's work is through "live-work" projects as opposed to projects done in the lab. According to Mr. Whiteman, "It is very difficult for someone to develop pride in what they have built if they have to tear it down and clean the material at the end of the day. It is a lot easier for them to develop a sense of accomplishment if they can turn around at the end of the day and see what they have done."
Last year, the apprentices built thirty-two 2'x2'x4' brick columns to serve as fence posts in front of a local elementary school. The welding department then made wrought iron panels for between the columns resulting in a fence much more aesthetically pleasing than the chain-link one it had replaced.
Georgia
The Masonry Association of Georgia apprentice program had a total of 17 students last year. Three of these students graduated and are currently employed as masons. In recent years, they have enjoyed a good retention rate. In fact, only two students left the program during the 98-99 school year.
Attendance has been a problem for their program, however, they have been able to resolve it by adding an awards program and by adding new policies for absenteeism. Another major obstacle to their program has been getting new students. Scott Carey, Apprenticeship Coordinator reports, "Our biggest problem is convincing contractor members in our association to start apprentices in our program. Once we get a student, we do really well keeping them. The key is to get the contractors to start the students in our program."
Chicago, Illinois
The MCAA office received a report from Chris Laughlin of Bricklayers