July 9, 2008

Canadian Apprenticeship Forum

Union members tackle issues facing apprenticeship system

SHANNON MONEO

correspondent

Three union members tackled apprenticeships from their own corners at the Canadian Apprenticeship Forum’s 2008 conference recently held in Victoria.

“We have to stem the underground economy,” said Wayne Peppard, executive director of the B.C. and Yukon Building and Construction Trades Council.

A burgeoning and clandestine construction sector is attracting non-trade workers who work for less. Bidding has to be stabilized and cutting corners has to be stopped, said Peppard, a 35-year veteran of the plumbing/pipefitting trades.

“We need best practices to prevent abusing apprentices as a source of cheap labour,” he told an audience of about 100 people.

Terry Weymouth, a skilled trades co-ordinator for the Canadian Auto Workers, said the shortage of women in trades still needs to be addressed.

“I worked in a male-dominated field and for six years I did not work with a single woman,” said Weymouth, who began her electrical apprenticeship in 1986.

More than two decades later, there are still a limited number of journeywomen in the CAW, she said.

For B.C. Federation of Labour (BCFL) President Jim Sinclair, training home-grown workers is a smart investment.

For every $1 spent on training, the return is $1.38 following two years of employment, he said.

“What’s the cost in not investing in training?” Sinclair asked.

The immigration system is broken and is not bringing in the people we want, he said. “We don’t see foreign workers as the solution,” he added.

All three agreed that training is key.

Under-represented groups such as women and aboriginals have to be attracted to the trades.

A national quota, such as hiring 10 per cent aboriginals, must be set so that there’s something to aim for, Sinclair said.

Also, literacy and numeracy upgrading must be available because they make the difference between success and failure.

In B.C., a student bent on a trades apprenticeship can be shocked to discover they need Math 11, mandatory for an apprenticeship, but not required to graduate from high school, said Sinclair.

Several audience members, including a former teacher, noted that the high school system is failing to get students to embrace the trades path rather than the university stream.

It may have something to do with the fact that most high school guidance counsellors are university, not trade school, graduates, noted an audience member.

Inviting the journeyman or journeywoman to the school to speak with students has proven successful for the CAW, Weymouth said.

Once students complete their trade training, there’s the second hurdle of securing apprenticeships.

“I know of very few employers training enough people to replace the grey-haireds,” said Sinclair.

During a recent visit to Kamloops, neither the city or community college had an apprentice on-board, Sinclair noted.

The school board employed only one and putting them to shame was the local mining industry, which employed more than 30 apprentices.

Mega-projects such as Olympic venues provide the ideal place to train apprentices, Peppard said.

At the Sydney Games, 10,000 apprentices contributed.

Vancouver’s commitment has been an “entire disgrace,” he said.

A further concern voiced at the session was that National Red Seal certification program must be protected.

In the last decade, the number of Red Seal employers in Canada has dropped, Sinclair said.

Also proposed was that each trade association – working with labour, educators, government and industry – join to self-regulate their trade, Peppard said.

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