Hello, and welcome to another episode of building Pennsylvania. A podcast series dedicated to Pennsylvania is a construction industry. I am John O'Brien from the Keystone contractors association,
And this is Chris Martin with Atlas Martin .
So we have a great episode for you today. Um, as you may recall, we like to focus on anything and everything related to the industry. Anything from, you know, safety, construction, contracts, labor relations, you know, all that fun stuff, but we also want to devote a lot of effort into workforce development and we're excited to have with us today , uh, Joshua Moore from the sheet metal workers union, local 12.
Welcome Josh. Thank you. Thank you. Thanks for having me today.
Jump into the meat of the episode here. You just want to provide a couple minute introduction on yourself just to let us know who we're talking with. Okay .
Yeah, sure. I'm the apprenticeship coordinator for sheet metal workers, local 12 , uh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, but we cover 23 counties in Western Pennsylvania. Um, and I oversee the apprenticeship and training for the load .
It's a big territory you got there.
Yeah, we do. We cover quite a bit of a of area. So , uh, you know, w we're we're looking for people from, from all around Western Pennsylvania
And our industry definitely needs people.
Absolutely. Absolutely. Recruitment is one of the toughest challenges that we face along with retention. So , uh, it's, it's great to get something like this out here where we can , uh, we can reach some, some different , uh , people.
Absolutely. And part of our effort also is to work with , uh , local school districts and , uh , K through 12 educational , uh, school boards across the state. So for the benefit of this audience, you just want to introduce,
You know , what , what is a sheet metal worker? What exactly do they do?
What type of projects, you know, all that, all that good stuff.
Uh, fortunately for a sheet metal worker, we, we do a wide variety of things. Uh, we have sheet metal workers that, that don't touch sheet metal. Uh, you know, we have, we had, we have drafting people, we have planning and ticketing. We have estimating we have, and we have welders, we have , uh, uh, installers, we have all kinds of , uh, of people and jobs within the sheet metal industry. So it's not just specifically one thing.
So since it's not just one thing, I assume that training is more, it's pretty complex and yeah ,
Absolutely, absolutely. We're looking, we're looking for people that are interested in all kinds of different things. Uh , our apprenticeship program , uh, offers people the opportunity to pick a career path. Uh , we're a five year program. So they , they get to in their fifth year kind of concentrate on a particular , uh , sector of the industry, which benefits the , uh, the member once they,
So, so it's a five year program. Can you kind of walk us through the first year or two and you know, that obviously the
Workers are getting their feet wet and kind of understanding the trade and the industry. I'm just kind of walk us through that process. Yeah, sure. We , uh,
We usually, well, we don't usually we do, we bring apprentices in, in July. Um , and that's when they start their first year of apprenticeship. Uh, we, we go to school for a week. It's we're a day school. So you go to school for a week, then you're off for six weeks. Then you come to school for a week. So you do that , uh , five times a year. Uh, so you, we get you for 200 hours a year , uh, here at the training center.
Um, but while you're in training, you're , you're eligible to receive unemployment. Uh, so you're not completely out of, of, of making a living as you're getting trained. So you , so you get paid while you learn. Uh, no one is, is , uh , having to miss out on, on making a living while they're learning the trade . So , uh , you don't have to be still living at home. You can be , uh , uh, someone that's a different stages of life and still become a pernicious apprentice with local 12.
Uh, those first two years , uh, you're, you're in, you're in and out of a shop. You're , you're learning the trade, you're getting , uh , familiar with different aspects of the trade. So in those last couple of years of apprenticeship, you can kind of concentrate on what you liked . Um, and then after your fifth year, you become a journeyman. And obviously, you know, the sky's the limit once that happened.
When you say that a , an apprentice or someone applies and it starts in July, do you, is it only a small window of time for you to apply or is that a, do you accept applications year out?
We accept applications year round. Usually our deadline is the end of February is when we'll stop accepting them because we have to start , uh , scoring applications, getting interviews, ready, getting things, set up for the selection process to get into the , uh, the apprenticeship. Um, but there's also a limited apprenticeship that you can apply for. Whereas you're waiting to become a first year apprentice and to get into the program, you can work as a limited apprentice.
Uh, what that means is you're limited to a little bit of what you're able to do. Uh, so you're assigned to a shop. You won't be out on job sites , uh , mainly because you haven't received the proper OSHA , uh , training that you need to be on those job sites. So to keep you safe, they keep you in the shop.
Uh, and that's something that can help you out when you do , uh , go to your interview for your, your apprenticeship is that you're already in with , uh, local 12, you're working towards your apprenticeship and you're familiar with what we do. It's a little different, huh? Yeah, it's it is. But it , it , uh, it , it definitely helps. Uh , that's someone that you're probably going to retain as someone that has done a limited apprenticeship.
They've kind of already know what they're getting into when they get into their apprenticeship.
I , and I like the approach that you're taking, where you're putting them in the shop before they're actually out on the job. So
That actually gives people a good understanding. One other question for you , and then John, I'll hand it back over to you. Cause I know you have some questions for those listeners that don't know anything at all about what a sheet metal metal, or does. Can you give a quick overview of , of what you guys work in HVHC commercial, absolutely residential, those types of things. Um, most of our contractors are , um , commercial installers. They do , uh , commercial installations of duct work.
Um, we do things like a hospital work , uh, buildings downtown. We have a lot of work, fire, damper inspections , uh, things like that. Um, and then on the shop, we have guys that , that actually make the duck , uh, they ticket it, they run it through, they make it, or the last tray that actually takes a flat piece of metal makes our own , uh, our own product and installs it ourself.
Uh , we take it from the drawing board all the way to the job site and we do, we do it from , uh, from flat to finish. So , uh, as you can imagine, that opens up all kinds of different career paths within sheet metal.
W you know, we all know this and we hear it all the time, but every time I talk to schools and especially the students, they get amazed when the first question is, okay, how much is it going to cost me for this program? How much is it going to cost them free? Yes. Earn while you learn,
You gotta love that earn while you learn. Uh, and this, this is , uh , the, the one thing that we do ask is, is that you give us a little bit of time. You don't compete against us with the training that you received. I , I think that's a pretty fair deal. Uh , we ask that you, you work with, with, with us and, and you stay with us and, and why wouldn't you , uh, the benefits are phenomenal. Uh, the opportunities are phenomenal.
Um, I, myself , uh, sheet metal has been been wonderful to me and my family. And it's a , it's been even better since it's it's with a union contractor.
Absolutely. And since you mentioned benefits, could you touch on that kind of briefly? Yeah ,
Absolutely. A first year apprentice starts out at 2084. Um, when a sheet metal worker gets out of his or her apprenticeship right now, they're making 36, 21 that's with full benefits, that's medical, dental, vision, annuity, pension. Uh, we have , uh , uh , we have a benefit which is known as sashimi that you put into every hour.
Um, and what that is, is that is if , if , if you were to ever get laid off, you would be able to draw from that fund either, either , uh , monetarily for bills or for medical benefits. If you ran out of hours and you needed to supplement those those hours too , to continue to keep your medical benefits, you're able to do so. Uh, and if you don't use that money, we are one of the last to have 30, 55.
So if you have 30 years of service and you're age 55, you can retire, you can then take that sashimi to supplement your healthcare and pay for that healthcare while you're retired until you're eligible for social security. So that's a wonderful benefit that a lot of people don't think about , uh, as they're younger, because they're not looking at that, but , uh , that's something that is great for a sheet metal worker. Yeah,
That is awesome. Wow, that's fantastic.
Um, we , we just , uh, you know, why anyone would want to go any other direction , uh , is, is just, it blows my mind. So Josh, can you repeat that ?
The wages again for a starting apprentice it's ,
Uh , right now starting apprentice first year apprentices at 2084. Uh , and when they get out of their apprenticeship, they're at 36, 21, that's a negotiated wage that will change yearly under this four year contract . So next year they'll get a raise the following year, they'll get another raise. Uh, so w we try to stay in line with, you know, kind of what the cost of living, because that's what we do. We work and live here in the community.
So you're probably seeing all, all sorts of students. You've touched a bunch, you know, others , are there any sort of traits that you see that make one more successful than ,
Uh, self motivators, someone that , uh , knows what it takes to be successful with someone that is able to motivate themselves to get up and come to work every day. Uh, these are, these are adult jobs that require you to be here every day because they're, they're multimillion dollar projects. Uh, they're very important in the contractors within this local depend on you to be at work. Uh, that's, that's it, you know, the skills will come , uh, with the training and the experience.
Uh, but , but some things like that are very important for someone to , uh, to, to be involved in, in , in, in the construction of building traits .
Okay. So, so picture this, you know, high school student, little Johnny Johnny listed into this [inaudible] , he's like, wow, the benefits are awesome. There's pay, earn while you learn this all sounds amazing. How do I get in, you know, I get in, hopefully I get in, in the future, but is there anything now, while I'm in high school, I could do to better position myself and better improve my chances of getting in with the sheet metal workers
Being, being proficient in math obviously is , is very important in any building trade . Um, but , uh, some, some, some HVHC experience, you know , uh, some welding shop experience , uh, things like that can, can really help out , uh, when you come to apply for your apprenticeship.
Okay. And is there a , uh , a good website or contact information for more information?
Um , you could go to SM local twelve.org, or you could call my office at four one two eight two eight, 1386.
And you said there's 23 counties. So are there other locals in Pennsylvania?
Yes, there are. There's a local 19 over in Philadelphia and there's local 44, which runs the central part of Pennsylvania.
Any other closing statements you have concerning workforce development or anything in general?
No, it's a right right now is a great time to be , uh , uh, in , in the building trades. Um, we're, we're, we're growing and we're, we're doing big things and doing great things here at local 12 week, we got a new training center that's getting ready to open up. Uh, we , we have , uh, some, some big opportunities here at local 12, and we , we have appreciate you guys including us today.
Absolutely. We'll have to check , check back with you every , uh, every so often to see how it's going. Absolutely. Yeah, definitely.
Definitely. Hey, Josh, thank you so much. I'm sure that you literally have almost eliminated the barriers to , to , or obstacles I should say to, to joining , uh , a union opportunity there is, is fantastic. So thanks to you and your, and your, and your brothers. And so thank you. Thank you. Yeah, we, we , uh, we're, we're going strong and , uh , we look forward to , uh, seeing the new candidates coming to join the apprenticeship. Alright ,
Take care. We'll talk later then. Bye. Bye.