First class of heavy equipment operators graduates through new union-community partnership

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.workdayminnesota.org/index.php?news_6_4565

By Barb Kucera, Workday editor
20 July 2010

HINCKLEY, Minn. - Gerrod Williams made history July 9 as part of the first group of heavy equipment operators to graduate through a unique union-community partnership – and the first member of his class to get a job.

“I’ve been trying to get a job for so long above $8 an hour,” said Williams, a St. Paul resident who worked at a McDonald’s restaurant before enrolling at Summit. “This program really lifted my spirits . . . thank you so much!”

Williams is benefitting from a joint venture between the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 49, a union of 13,000 workers in Minnesota, North and South Dakota, and Summit Academy OIC, a nonprofit educational and vocational training center working with adults in the most economically depressed neighborhoods of the Twin Cities.

View video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZD6a9ZlVo14&feature=player_embedded

Nineteen students recruited through Summit participated in Local 49’s highly specialized, hands-on apprenticeship curriculum this spring. The program, which prepares graduates to work on Minnesota’s roads and bridges, involved classroom, online and simulator instruction followed by heavy equipment training at Local 49’s Hinckley training facility.

“Our doors have always been open wide to women and minorities, but we wanted to go the extra mile to ensure more people knew how to enter Local 49’s apprenticeship program,” said Glen Johnson, Local 49 business manager. “Today is a new day.”

Said Louis King, CEO of Summit Academy: “This training is like no other being offered locally and it gives our students – many with difficult backgrounds and upbringings – the tools they need to succeed. We are pleased to have partnered with Local 49 to fulfill our mission of teaching our students to be self-sufficient, regardless of background, economic status or ethnicity.”


FULL story at link.

[rfranklin]

1. Good luck to the graduates, but....

aren't there already hundreds of union workers sitting idle on the bench already?