hard hat winter 2011

Uniting ARCCAW members across Alberta and the Northwest Territories Winter 2012

Military open house, tool reviews, Children’s Christmas parties

Canadian Publications Mail Product Sales Agreement #40063788 Return undeliverable mail to 200-15210 123 Ave Edmonton,AB T5V 0A3

Women UniteConference inspires positive change

Festival CityApprentices bring Metropolis to life

Quality projects bring consistent growth for

Edmonton contractor

Success DESIGN

Shape UpThe easy way to better health

Uniting ARCCAW members across Alberta and the Northwest Territories

HH_Winter12_p01.indd 1 1/19/12 2:50:00 PM

Enter for your chance to cheer on Canada’s team. During the month of June catch the Toronto Blue Jays in rival territory in Boston.

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Enter for your chance to cheer on Canada’s team. During the month of June catch the Toronto Blue Jays in rival territory in Boston.

Enjoy unique VIP treatment both on and off the field for you and three friends. Entry period for VIP experience number one is January 20TH – March 19 TH, 2012

366 days of MAX makes 2012 the year of extended run time. DEWALT2012.com is your home for information about new products,

promotions, event listings and more. Register now for your chance to enter daily prizes, monthly contests and VIP Experiences.

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4 HARDHAT WINTER2012

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Executive Secretary Treasurer’s REPORT

Shaping OpinionsMartyn A. Piper

ow do the majority of us shape our opinions regarding politics, cur-rent affairs, religion, organizations

and any subject matter that has the potential to be controversial?

The sad answer, I think, is that some peo-ple choose to believe a person or article they have read that offers a quick reaction but is not based on objective information. Case in point: some TV commentator delivers a mes-sage and, almost immediately, their word becomes gospel. Why?

Couldn’t it be that the commentator’s position is solely informed by their own per-sonal value systems or the political culture of their workplace and they know that their personal or company “spin” will resonate with some people who will not otherwise take the time to properly inform themselves further on that issue?

We all intuitively know that the ability to appear before any audience can provide a great pedestal from which to “preach.” Newspapers that are easy to read, have glitzy headlines and use words like “union boss” are, in reality, trying to impart a particu-lar message. They are trying to plant a seed about their view of the integrity of unions. Ask yourself why those same papers don’t call bank CEOs “bank bosses” or the owners of newspapers “media bosses.” It is no acci-dent that they are referred to by their actual working titles.

This is no different in politics. It’s not a given that everyone in Alberta is a conservative thinker, or that everyone in Alberta hates Ottawa and the federal government, but you may never know that by reading the Alberta press. You might not know that there are environmentalists here who care about the future of the planet and

that this does not necessarily make them anti-oil sands.

Alberta (and everywhere else for that matter) needs to be a place of free thinkers, a place where it is safe to go against the grain and to engage in informed and objective debate. We have politicians, lawyers, business people and many others who do not know the first thing about unions, and yet, given a vote on further restricting our ability to represent the interests of workers, they put their hand up to limit unions’ abilities to organize and represent their members’ interests.

In my view, media in any form is a free license to pretty much say anything about anything, and this is as it should be in a democracy. However, it appears to me that well-heeled “media bosses” or celebrities continue to parlay messages that are intended to move us further toward a society of “haves” and “have-nots.”

The notion that Canada must move toward the U.S. economic model should appear absurd given the mess south of the border. However, there are those who continue to preach such a message: more deregulation, more privatization, less public services and less unions. Come on, people!

These things may be good for bank bosses, corporate bosses and those other interests who benefit from lower wages, less job security and an unrestricted marketplace. However, they are not in the interests of the average Canadian. Just ask yourself where our economy would be if we had American-style bank deregulation. Who did deregulation hurt more when the economy broke under the strain of poor fiscal management in 2008, and who does it continue to mostly take a toll on?

Fortunately, we still have the ability to shape a new Canadian economic model. This

His provided Canadians are prepared to resist the temptation to blindly believe commenta-tors who have provided their so-called quick fixes. The people who blame Obama today for their economic woes are the same ones who got the U.S. into this mess when they got their way with deregulation and the disman-tling of structures that were designed to pro-tect and regulate the economy.

That could have happened in Canada if some people had their way. The sad reality is that while millions have lost their homes, jobs, life savings and any hope of economic security in the near future, there are those who have profited handsomely from dereg-ulations, the lack of fiscal oversight, the subprime housing market and even the eco-nomic collapse. It is not the case that every-one in society has the same interests.

The “American Dream” of a strong, pros-perous and vibrant middle class has been dying for some time. However, some in the public eye still present that fairytale.

My message here is intended to be a simple one: make a pact with yourself in 2012. Do not be one of those people who are prepared to believe the first thing out of their favourite celebrity’s mouth or what the media, corpo-rate or political bosses or others are trying to sell you. Do the research, ask tough ques-tions, get informed, read and listen to every-thing with a healthy dose of skepticism. Only then can you be confident that you are not just in the march to the cliff because every-body else appears to be heading that way. It’s called being informed and objective.

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HARDHAT WINTER 2012 5

FEATURES

11 fit@workFocus on changing one thing at a time to reach your fitness and nutrition goalsBy Matt Smith

12 MakingHistoryFirst UBC women’s conference in Canada gives female members a voiceBy Alix Kemp

18 BuiltonReputationGeneral contractor Lexon Projects continues on an upward growth curveBy Lisa Ricciotti

22 HiringActionARCCAW hosts an open house to recruit military personnel to join its ranksBy Robin Schroffel

DEPARTMENTS

4 NoteFromtheExecutive SecretaryTreasurer By Martyn Piper

6 SiteLinesMigrating Landscapes competition; Habitat for Humanity project; The making of a winter festival; Mission to Haiti; Calgary project update: Trade Winds funding

10 GearedUp Tools to help you work better

21 Training&ApprenticeshipReport By Len Bryden

24 Local1460MillwrightsReport By Bob Hugh

26 KidZone Children’s Christmas parties

28 MeettheInstructor29 MeettheApprentice

30 Training&Events;InMemoriam

31 PartingShot

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Edmonton 780-471-3200 FortMcMurray 780-743-1442 Calgary 403-283-0747 CarpentersTrainingCentre 780-455-6532 CarpentersHealthandWelfare 780-477-9131 CarpentersPension 780-477-9131 IndustrialWorkers 403-283-0747 MillwrightLocal1460 780-430-1460 LocalUnion1325and2103Dispatch 1-888-944-0818

PUBLISHEDFoR:

Alberta Regional Council of Carpenters & Allied Workers

15210 – 123 Avenue Edmonton, Alberta T5V 0A3

Tel: (780) 474-8599 / Fax: (780) 474-8910www.albertacarpenters.com

PUBLISHEDBy:

VenturePublishingInc.10259–105Street

Edmonton,AlbertaT5J1E3Toll-free:1-866-227-4276Phone:(780)990-0839Fax:(780)425-4921

www.venturepublishing.ca

PUBLISHERRuth Kelly

ASSocIATEPUBLISHERJoyce Byrne

ARccAWEDIToRMartynA.Piper

EDIToRKimTannas

ARTDIREcToRCharlesBurke

ASSocIATEARTDIREcToRAndreadeBoer

ASSISTANTARTDIREcToRColinSpence

PRoDUcTIoNMANAGERVanleeRobblee

PRoDUcTIoNcooRDINAToRBetty-LouSmith

coNTRIBUTINGWRITERSAlix Kemp, Lisa Ricciotti, Robin Schroffel,

Matt Smith, Cait WillscoNTRIBUTINGPHoToGRAPHERS

ANDILLUSTRAToRSBuffy Goodman, RJ Hidson Photography,

Talitha Watkinson VIcE-PRESIDENT,SALES

AnitaMcGillisADVERTISINGREPRESENTATIVE

LisaRichardsSALESASSISTANTKassandraMitchell

Contents©2012byARCCAWInc.Nopartofthispublicationshouldbereproduced

withoutwrittenpermission.

Important Phone Numbers

oNTHEcoVER:Ironworkers building

Photo: RJ Hidson Photography

9

Winter 12

Contents

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18


Migrating LandscapesCarpenters unions across the country have brought works by up-and-coming designers to life as a part of a unique architectural competition. Named Migrating Landscapes, it is Canada’s official entry for the Venice Biennale in Architecture, an international event where more than 50 countries compete for the title of best national exhibition. ARCCAW was a proud participant in this unique project, which will be on display for three months in Italy.

Diversity is a big part of life in Canada, and it’s the idea at the core of Migrating Landscapes. The project aims to capture some of the cultural memories that every individual carries with them by calling for “unique forms of dwelling – landscapes that resonate with both local condition and personal cultural memory.”

Mike Cooper, business agent and organizer at Local 2103 in Calgary, recently recruited five union members to build Alberta architect Kate Thompson’s contribution to Migrating Landscapes. Chris Cooper, Shawn Walker, Dean Rebiyna, Johann Duplessis and Antonie Duplessis worked for lunch and a small stipend for five days, and in the end created a sprawling, complex cityscape of wood. The work could be seen from December 7 to 17 at the Alberta College of Art and Design before the exhibit moved east across the country.

The union and the project have some fundamental things in common, says Mike Cooper. “We have a diverse membership, with regards to different backgrounds where people come from. Our forefathers who came over here and started this union, for one, were from places other than Canada, and in today’s membership, a lot of people are from different parts of the world as well. It’s a reflection of today going forward.”

6 HARDHAT WINTER 2012

Site Lines News in Brief A roundup of news and events from around the region

BY ROBIN SCHROFFEL

Calgary Project Update

CITYSCAPE ON DISPLAY: Union members helped build a sprawling city of wood for an international architectural competition

Work on ARCCAW’s new facility in Calgary is moving forward, according to project manager Bob Provencher. Building designers ONPA Architects applied for a development permit with the City of Calgary on December 5, and the building’s interior design is currently being finalized. Once the permit is issued, the project will move into the tendering process for a general contractor. Following the tendering process, construction time is estimated to be 11 months. Provencher cautions, “As the construction heats up in Alberta, that time frame may lengthen out as a result because there’s so much competition and so much demand for skilled labour.”



Homebuilding From the Heart

Things are wrapping up at Habitat for Humanity Edmonton’s first-ever 100 per cent union-built home. More than 170 volunteers from the various Building Trades of Alberta unions, including ARCCAW, lent their skills and expertise to building a home on 70th Avenue and 106th Street in Edmonton for a family in need.

Habitat for Humanity is especially grateful for the time union members invested into the project. “It’s a real treat to get trained volunteers,” says Alfred Nikolai, CEO of Habitat for Humanity. “Whenever we get a skilled person at our volunteer site, we give them a hug and we thank them profusely.”

ARCCAW has a long-standing relationship with Habitat for Humanity, says union training co-ordinator Len Bryden, so contributing to the union-built home was a natural fit. The majority of volunteers on the project came from the carpenters union, a union member was hired as supervisor on site, and a Trade Winds to Success class pitched in by building walls in Habitat’s prefab shop.

The union build provided an opportunity for members to help a local family, as well as chance to give unions a little positive PR. “We wanted to show Edmonton that there are so many good things that unions do for the community that people never hear about,” says Bryden. “We’re just regular guys with exceptional skills.”

And applying those skills was not just rewarding: it turned out to be a good time as well. According to Habitat volunteer manager Angela Robichaud, they had a hard time getting the carpenters to put down their tools and leave the job site at the end of the day.

Nikolai says that Habitat benefits more than just the families who move into the homes. Just as the families gain in financial stability, pride and self-esteem, volunteers leave feeling good about themselves and what they’ve contributed to the community. “They have an expertise, and they have a skill. They’re using that skill not just to put money in their wallets or to feed their own family, but to make the community a better place and to help somebody that they don’t know,” says Nikolai. “That’s very enriching and very enlightening.”

VALUED VOLUNTEERS: Carpenters contribute their time and expertise to building a Habitat home


Site Lines News in Brief A roundup of news and events from around the region


A Helping Hand in Haiti Trade Winds Seeks FundingFederal funding cuts to Trade Winds to Success, a program that provides pre-apprenticeship training to aboriginal people, are unlikely to stop the program from running. As of March 31, 2012, the federal dollars that make up two-thirds of the program’s funding will stop rolling in. But the program’s board is seeking new funding partners.

Representatives from the private sector attended a recent lunch-and-learn sponsored by ConocoPhillips at Calgary’s Gulf Canada Square. Deborah Munroe, executive director of Trade Winds, is currently following up on leads generated from that meeting. “It’s important that we get the funding so we can continue to provide this service to aboriginal people,” says Munroe.

A Monument for Remembrance

Workers who have been killed or injured on the job will be remembered through a new monument being erected by spring 2012 by the Edmonton and District Labour Council in downtown Edmonton’s Grant Notley Park.

ARCCAW, along with various other trade unions and businesses, is donating its skills to help bring the project to life.

Known as the Broken Families Obelisk, the monument is one of two designs put forward by local

artist Memi von Gaza. It consists of a concrete, four-sided pyramidal base topped with a dark granite obelisk. The surfaces

of the triangular sides are covered with sheets of stainless steel cut into a city skyline and etched with light detail. Bronze cast figures of

families holding hands are set along the top of the concrete, and on each side, one family member is missing, their shadow etched into the stainless steel to represent a worker who has been killed or injured on the job.

“This was a dream of the previous president of the Edmonton district labour council, Tom Olenuk,” says the EDLC’s Ray Buxton. Olenuk passed away suddenly in late 2009. “The current president, Brian Henderson, took the idea back to the membership, proposed that we go ahead with it, and everybody agreed that this was a good idea.”

Jeff Schnell wasn’t in Haiti during the devastating earthquake in January 2010, but he was there for the rebuilding. Like most everyone else, the ATCO employee had seen the shocking media images of the Caribbean nation in the wake of the disaster. But the harsh conditions didn’t deter him from applying for an in-house job posting.

The Canadian government had awarded ATCO Systems and Logistics a $12-million contract to build temporary structures as a part of Canada’s aid commitment, and a short time later, Schnell was out of the Calgary manufacturing facility and applying his skills as an electrician to set up temporary offices for three Haitian government ministries.

During the construction phase, which lasted about 10 weeks, Schnell was part of a group of 15-20 Canadians working with approximately 50 locals to get the temporary offices up and running. Despite his experience working in Kosovo and Iraq, and his extensive world travel experience, he found the absolute poverty “shocking at first.” Speaking about the local hires, he says, “Lots of them, it was the first job they ever had. Some of them came to work with their shoes on and they’d take their shoes off because they didn’t want to ruin their shoes. Some of them didn’t even have shoes.”

It was the personal relationships Schnell developed with these workers, and seeing their lives improve first-hand, that made the journey most rewarding. “By the end of things, these people had a better life and some of them were educating themselves. They were wearing half-decent clothes and they had shoes.”

Schnell has travelled to Haiti again several times since to work on different projects, including building classrooms for the Haitian national police academy to provide recruits with space for training. Schnell has good reason to return. “A little bit of it is the adventure and a little bit of it is hopefully doing something to help out the world.”

Workers inspect one of the generators before fi ring it up At work on an in-fl oor ventilation fan

Jeff Schnell enjoys a break with one of the workers



The Making of MetropolisEdmonton’s newest winter festival got off the ground with a little help from Local 1325. The Metropolis Winter Festival, running from December 31, 2011, to February 20, 2012, features four temporary structures designed by local architects and crafted with cold-weather construction techniques. The Alberta Carpenters Training Centre took two classes down to Sir Winston Churchill Square, where 24 students from the Period 1 Carpentry and Scaffold Journeyman Upgrade classes assisted Aluma Systems with the initial layout of the elaborate structures. Giuseppe Albi, general manager of Events Edmonton, considers the union’s donation “pioneering.” “They helped us launch that kind of a concept, the involvement of apprentices working on a project like this. Hopefully we can build on that.”

In a thank you note, Paul Lucas, Metropolis construction manager, wrote: “I have been very impressed with the quality of tradesmen on the construction of Metropolis and without the assistance of the construction industry stepping up, there is no way this project would have succeeded. I wanted to make sure that you know that we at Events Edmonton certainly appreciate the commitment your association has provided.”

COLD WEATHER CONSTRUCTION: Apprentices helped build the structures for a winter festival in downtown Edmonton


10 HARDHAT WINTER2012

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COAT OF ARMOURCalling it “possibly one of the most important sawbladeinnovationsinthelast10years,”DimarCanadarecentlyannounceditsnewDimarNovaIndustrialsawbladesthatfeatureanextgenerationsawbladecoating.TheD-Coatelectrostaticcoatinghasbeencreatedusingspecializednanotechnology,allowingittobeabsorbedintothesawbladebodyplateandteeth,ensuringitwillnotpeel,crackorruboffduringhighproductionuse.

Butdoesitliveuptothehype?“Wewantedtoseeforourselveshowmuchresistancethiscoatingwouldhaveagainstcorrosionandrust,saysnationalsalesmanagerSimonLanger,“sowedidthesimplesttestavailabletous:wetooktwosawblades,onestandardindustrialsawbladewithnoD-CoatandasecondsawbladewiththeD-Coatcoatingandplacedthembothintoacontainerofwaterandleftthemthereforatwo-weekperiod.Theresultsspokeforthemselves;thestandardindustrialbladewithnocoatingwasentirelycoveredinrustandcorrosionwhiletheD-Coatbladelookedasgoodasnew.”

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Geared Up

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Thenew20VoltMAXsystemoffers1.5and3.0amphourlithiumionbatterieswhichprovideupto35percentmoreruntimethanexisting18voltlithiumionbatterytechnology.Theproductsarealsodesignedwithergonomicsinmind,featuringaslimhandleandalightweightfeel.The3.0amphourbatteryitselfis38percentlighterthanDeWalt’sexisting18-voltlithiumionbattery.

“The20VoltMAXLithiumIontoolsareidealforprofessionalstaskedwithheavy-dutyapplications,includingremodellers,carpenters,woodworkers,cabinetinstallers,electricians,mechanicalcontractors,plumbersandmaintenanceprofessionals,”saysthecompany.

Theproductsretailfrom$69to$679andareavailableanywhereDeWaltproductsaresold.

Visitwww.dewalt.com formoreinfo.

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Afirmbelieverinrepairingthingsinsteadofthrowingthemaway,Pierceoffersplentyofnuggetsofwisdomfromhis55yearsofexperienceinfixingthings.Thebookcoversoffbasicssuchashow

Tools to help you work better



ne of the most common questions I get from people who are trying to eat better, work out more often

or make other positive lifestyle changes is, “Where do I start?” Any one of these can be overwhelming, let alone trying to improve multiple areas at once. Although there are many strategies and tricks to building good, strong habits, I’m going to talk about my experience in changing just one small thing at a time and how this gives both immediate and long-term results.

Most people starting an exercise program, for example, have the motivation to work out like crazy and eat like a champion. Yet how long does this last before they start to burn out and go back to old habits?

Anyone can do something when they are motivated. The people who actually lose those 20 pounds are the ones who do it when it’s the last thing in the world they want to do. When they’ve had a stressful day at work and don’t feel motivated in the least is where the magic happens. We need to focus on what we’ll realistically do when we aren’t motivated but that we know we can accom-plish every day.

Another way to put it is finding out your minimum energy action. This is how much energy you need to stay focused on a task or, in this case, to stay motivated to do a task. It’s easier to stay motivated when you know you only have one thing to focus on throughout the day. This means that there are going to be days when you feel like doing more and days when you only want to do the minimum. The point is that by under-standing that you only need to focus on one small thing each day, you are guaranteed a certain amount of results.

Although 1+1+1 doesn’t add up to a whole lot, doing it for 365 days adds up to a good chunk of success. Most people try and hammer out

By MATT SMITH

Focus on changing one small thing to produce big results in achieving a healthier lifestyle

ThaT ExTRa 10%

fast every day. After a few months, you might find yourself packing a better lunch and discov-ering that you have more energy at the end of the day to prepare a good supper. This can lead to all kinds of other lifestyle changes such as having more energy to spend with family or hitting the gym a couple times a week.

By changing one thing at a time, you tend to be more successful. I’d rather see someone eat 365 days of 30 per cent proper nutrition instead of seven days of 100 per cent. Ironically, that 30 per cent progressively increases throughout the year as a result of more energy, increased motivation and better habits.

My greatest suggestion for achieving suc-cess is to focus on finding one small thing in your life that you can do each day that will lead you towards a healthier lifestyle. Don’t focus on anything extra or watching what other people are trying to accomplish; just focus on that one thing. Focusing on this extra 10 per cent can change your life.

We can apply this small change to anything in our lives, from nutrition and fitness to our jobs, our families or other issues. It’s the old adage, “Don’t bite off more than you can chew, because you will most likely choke.” It’s easy to come up with and take action on intense life-style changes when we’re motivated, but what about when we’re not?

Where are you going to be 365 days from now?

Matt Smith is the manager of ARCCAW’s in-house health centre, specializing in the health and fitness of trade workers, and is a Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology Certified Personal Trainer and National Academy of Sports Medicine Corrective Exercise Specialist.

42+36+28+12+6 till eventually they stop adding altogether because it’s just too much and then they reverse everything they’ve accomplished. The great thing is eventually these 1+1+1’s become a habit and you can start to introduce a new for-mula into your lifestyle without using up any more energy. Doing everything at 100 per cent for seven days is nowhere near as effective as doing a few things at 30 per cent for 365 days.

As a beginner in the gym, instead of asking questions like, “How can I start working out more often?” you should be asking yourself, “How can I get in the gym more often?” This is a subtle but important difference. One is focused on getting motivated to work out, while the other is focused on just getting into the gym. Once you get out of the car and get changed, you’ve already achieved that goal and tasted a bit of success. At the begin-ning, doing anything is much more important than how you’re doing it. Obviously having someone to help teach you how to exercise properly will be beneficial, but building the habit is what is going to matter in the long term. If you focus on waiting for the perfect time, training program or training partner, you could be waiting for a long time.

This idea applies in the same way to eat-ing better. The best approach is to focus on one small thing at a time – that 10

per cent – based on what level you’re at. If you already have good eating habits and are sim-ply trying to improve the specific amount of each food you eat, focus on adjusting just one or two things in every meal. On the other side of things, if your diet is terrible and you are try-ing to overhaul your entire eating pattern, start with removing a few bad things instead of try-ing to be a superhero and change everything. Removing that daily two litres of coke can add up to being the easiest weight loss of your life. And it doesn’t require any extra veggies or starving yourself.

Ten per cent can be a huge game changer. For instance, you can focus on eating a better break-

Doing everything at 100 per cent for seven days is nowhere near as effective as doing a few things at

30 per cent for 365 days.

Matt Smith, CSEP-CPT, NASM-CES

O



STAND UP, BE HEARD: Journeyman scaff older Brandi Thorne was one of the lead organizers of a conference aiming to increase female participation in the union



First UBC women’s conference in Canada aims to give female members a bigger

presence in the construction trades

he ballroom at the Chateau Louis Hotel in Edmonton is buzzing with the voices of more than 100 carpenters, electricians, scaffolders, millwrights and other construction trade workers. They gather around tables on

this October morning, sharing the experiences they’ve gained over the years. In this simple act of coming together, they are making history – because of one very important thing they have in common: they are women – and they are participating in the first ever conference for female UBC members in Canada.

Called Stand Up! Be Heard! the 2011 ARCCAW Women’s Conference is bringing together women from diverse backgrounds – pre-apprentices sit alongside those who have been carpenters for well over 30 years. While most of the women here are from Alberta, there are also many representing local unions from across Canada. Everyone is excited to attend – the energy in the conference centre is obvious.

“Something really special is happening here,” Martyn Piper, ARCCAW’s executive secretary treasurer, is quick to point out.

The weekend’s events included a host of networking opportunities, assorted keynote speeches and panel discussions, and a wide variety of sessions on subjects as diverse as health and nutrition, pregnancy and parenthood, and respect in the workplace.

Piper had an enormous role in making the conference happen. After all, he was the one who initiated the ARCCAW women’s committee in spring 2011 and assigned them their first task: to host a conference for female UBC members in Canada. Piper sees the event as part of a larger push to increase women’s involvement in the union and to strengthen the organization through their participation. “It’s the foundation of building a larger movement within our organization,” says Piper. “A trade union is a place where women and visible minorities should come and feel safe, and have a caring and responsible organization.”

Piper’s message for attendees is simple: “I want them to know that we care. I want women to know that the leadership ... cares about the role women have in our union.” And what does he want in return? He hopes that by supporting female union members, women will not only become more involved, but also encourage others to join the union. “I want them to say, ‘This is a good organization, they care, and they’re willing to put their money where their mouth is.’”

Journeyman scaffolder Brandi Thorne is the chairwoman of the union’s women committee and one of the lead organizers of the conference. Like Piper, Thorne emphasizes that the conference is just one piece of the organization’s move to be inclusive and supportive of

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MAKING HISTORY

By ALIX KEMP Photography by TALITHA WATKINSON



women. “This is not [just] a bunch of ... Alberta women carpenters getting together,” Thorne stresses. “It starts small, but it’s an organizational principle, and that’s the most important thing to me in this conference.”

Thorne also emphasizes the role of leadership support in making the conference happen. “Our leadership right from the top, from the general president to the Canadian vice-president and our regional EST [executive secretary treasurer Martyn Piper] are amongst the top people when it comes to being progressive, especially with women’s issues,” she says, “and having that support is the only rea-son this thing is here, and it’s second to none. There is absolutely no way this would have happened without their support.” Despite the count-less hours of hard work she put in to make the conference successful, Thorne is hesi-tant to take too much credit. “It’s just because I’m here, and I’m willing, and things are changing,” she says.

Crystal Bowen, Thorne’s “right hand” at the conference, is a fourth-year carpenter apprentice and second-year scaffolder apprentice who’s been with the UBC for the past two years. Bowen, who describes herself as a lifelong femi-nist, hopes the conference will have a positive impact on the women who attend. “My mission is just to change one life at a time,” Bowen says. “An event like this gives me the opportunity to talk to these women, and the more women you talk to, the more the word gets out there, and the more people start talking.” That helps achieve another of the conference’s missions: to foster connections between trades-women, many of whom say they don’t frequently have the opportu-nity to work with other women.

Bowen also stresses the historical importance of the conference. “I think it’s a historical moment because we’re at a point in our cul-ture, in our society, where our union is being progressive, and it’s just perfect timing. A conference like this wouldn’t work five years ago in Alberta.”

What Bowen and Thorne say is true – things are changing. Female involvement in unions in general has increased in the past 35 years. In 1977, women made up only 12 per cent of union members across Canada, but represented nearly half – 48 per cent – of unionized work-ers in 2003. The 2010 report on the state of women in construction by the Construction Sector Council found the number of female appren-tices in registered trades more than tripled between 1996 and 2007.

Of course, just because change is happening doesn’t necessarily mean it’s happening quickly or easily. A study released in August by the Conference Board of Canada, titled Women in Senior Management: Where Are They?, singled out the construction industry as being “inhospitable” to women in senior management positions, and in 2006 women still made up only 12.2 per cent of workers in the industry.

The efforts of the ARCCAW Women’s Committee and others like it aim to help those changes along, recognizing that women have made great strides in the past decades but also that there is still a long way to go.

Elizabeth Skidmore, the assistant to the general president of the UBC, coordinated a workshop called “Supporting One Another” at the conference. Skidmore, who has been a carpenter for 22 years, has been involved with women’s committees since she first started. “I really wanted to be a carpenter, and I was really excited about learning car-pentry,” she says, “but I also really wanted to have a little home base of women to help me.”

Skidmore was also a conference co-chair for the 2010 UBC Women’s Conference in Las Vegas. “It’s really exciting to have the first Canadian conference,” says Skidmore, who travelled to Edmonton from Boston,

Massachusetts. “Alberta is ahead of most of the UBC in terms of having a higher per-centage of women than just about any other council, so it makes sense that this is where it started in Canada.”

Skidmore also emphasized the importance of young car-penters learning from and networking with carpenters who have been in the field for decades. For Danielle Stack, a

scaffolder from Local 1325 in Edmonton, the opportunity to meet and network with other female carpenters was the highlight of the confer-ence. “As women on the job site, your numbers are significantly lower ... as compared to all the men,” she says. “The men network and the women don’t really, so it’s a really good opportunity for us to get to know each other.”

Stack was also grateful for the opportunity to get information and resources at the conference. “They have so many resources available to us, and sometimes we get so busy working that we forget there’s a lot of support for us women out there.”

That support will certainly continue to grow.

“I think it’s a historical moment because we’re at a point in our culture, in our society, where our union is being progressive, and it’s just perfect timing. A conference like this wouldn’t work five years ago in Alberta.”– Crystal Bowen

MAKING CONNECTIONS: The opportunity to meet and network with other female tradeswomen was a highlight of the conference


Conference Highlights: SpeakersAttendees at Stand Up! Be Heard! were able to take in a number of keynote speeches and presentations over the course of the weekend.

Karen Leibovici, an Edmonton city councillor, was on hand to welcome participants to the city. She commented on the obstacles she had faced as a woman in politics. To the women in the audience, she said, “I think of you all as warriors. ... You work in fields that typically have been male-dominated, and you have to be brave to be there, and smart. You need to balance your work, your family, and your personal lives, and above all else, you’re expected to succeed, because you can’t afford to fail. So you are brave, and your leadership inspires every one of us.”

Jim Smith, the Canadian vice-president of the UBC also spoke, remarking on the incredible strides taken in support of women’s role in the union, but also emphasizing the distance left to travel.

Julia Bowen, a fourth grader who designed one of the conference’s logos, also addressed the conference, saying, “Thanks to you, I can be whatever I want when I grow up.”

Heather Smith, president of the United Nurses of Alberta, delivered the lunch keynote speech on Saturday about the obstacles faced by the nurses’ union during the famous nursing strikes in the 1980s.

Other speakers included: Doug Elniski, MLA of Edmonton-Calder; Cathy Pike, Canadian representative of the UBC Sisters in the Brotherhood International Steering Committee; Lynn Zeidler, vice-president of Canadian Natural Resources Limited; and Martyn Piper, executive secretary treasurer of ARCCAW.

Conference Highlights: SessionsDuring three workshop periods over the weekend, attendees had the • option of attending different sessions on a wide variety of subjects.Elizabeth Skidmore, assistant to the general president of the • UBC, led a workshop on women supporting one another in the workplace. Participants discussed their experiences on the job site and brainstormed ways they could support other women.Lori Walls, a psychologist and author, offered advice and resources • to women balancing work in the trades with motherhood.In a workshop called “Eating and Moving to Perform,” Matt Smith • from Smith Trained offered advice on health and nutrition geared specifically towards women working in the trades.Michelle Devlin, a speaker and consultant from Seriously Speaking, • gave tips on effective communication skills, stressing the importance of tailoring the message to the audience.Lorene Beckett from Homewood Human Solutions led a workshop • called “Work-Life Harmony. Really?” in which she encouraged hard-working women to make sure they were taking enough time to themselves between their jobs and family duties.


AT THE PODIUM: JoAnn Williams, assistant to the general president of the UBC, speaking to a plenary session of delegates

HEALTH TIPS: Matt Smith led a session on health and nutrition for women working in the trades

WORKSHOP SESSIONS: Topics included eff ective communication and work-life balance


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NICE DIGS: Lexon’s work on the Ironworkers’ new building is an exampleof one of the projects the contractor has done for Alberta’s unions

Company PROFILE




othing speaks louder than word of mouth. Just ask Ryan Steinbrenner, a principal with Lexon Projects Inc. Last year the Edmonton-based gen-

eral contracting services company turned 20. Looking back, Steinbrenner says it’s been two decades of consistent growth. Yes, even through the recent economic downturn. Yet Lexon does almost no advertising.

“Most of our business comes from word of mouth, with a lot of repeat customers,” says Steinbrenner. “Our success is built on our reputa-tion. We have good rapport with our clients and a good relationship with the subtrades. People trust us to get the job done – on time, with quality work.”

At Lexon, business is a family affair, with three Steinbrenners currently involved in its opera-tion: Ryan and younger brother Derek, who act as project managers, and their dad Harold, the company’s founder. Ryan explains that he grew up in the biz, first working as a labourer. After learn-ing his skills from the ground up, he completed a construction engineering technologist degree at NAIT to further his qualification and became a partner in 1998.

“We work really well together,” says Ryan, speaking for the trio. “Dad’s great with clients, a

strong strategic thinker and an excellent designer. Derek and myself also do design and cost estimates and we really enjoy the hands-on nuts and bolts of project management. I find it very satisfying to see a job right from concept through construction.”

You could say that’s a case of like father, like son. When dad Harold started Lexon in 1991, he was motivated by a desire to broaden his project involvement beyond engineering. “Pre-Lexon,” Harold worked as a mechanical engineer, running his own consulting firm for 16 years. He’d worked on a variety of challenging projects throughout Western Canada, but found he was still looking for something more. During a conversation with an engineering friend, Harold realized they were both interested in expanding their careers beyond engineering.

Soon after, the pair started Lexon Projects – a construction com-pany with a focus on design-build projects. Although they didn’t ini-tially target one specific industry, Lexon’s first client was a company that handled and processed chemicals. That project required a steep learning curve to get up to speed on the environmental, safety and regulatory issues specific to a chemical-processing facility. But they did it, and did it well, and other chemical companies started asking for them. When his original partner left the company after a short time, Harold continued to grow this niche market.

Harold’s 59 now, but the connections made from those first chem-ical industry projects remain strong. Lexon’s project list includes multiple projects for clients such as Quadra Chemical, Newalta, Univar Canada, AMEC, CCS Corporation and Baker Hughes.

“We’ve done all types of projects, with budgets ranging from

With specialties in chemical industrial facilities and union admin buildings, general contractor Lexon Projects continues on an upward growth curve

NBy LISA RICCIOTTI

Built onREPUTATION


Company PROFILE

Lexon has done work for Paragon in both Edmonton and Calgary

Lexon built a new training centre for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and also upgraded its admin building


$1,000 to $20 million, for whatever the client needs,” says Ryan. “But the majority of our work is with companies that supply the oilfield indus-try with upstream chemicals.”

One of Lexon’s most challenging projects to date was the Baker Hughes oilfields chemical facility in Leduc. The massive 41,000-square-foot chemical plant contains an oil sands labora-tory, a water-based blending vessel, a mixer for sensitive chemicals and an 18-tank storage farm, along with loading and unloading facilities for rail and truck and administrative buildings.

Lexon was responsible for this project from the ground up. When the facility opened in 2009, Baker Hughes proudly called the facil-ity “state of the art” and announced that com-pared to conventional plants, new engineering improvements would reduce oil sands process-ing waste by more than 10 per cent.

The bulk of Lexon’s work is in Alberta or just across B.C.’s border in Fort Nelson. There’s also the occasional project in Newfoundland, with its offshore oil operations or in Saskatchewan. And sometimes, the international scope of Lexon’s clients takes staff as far afield as Africa. In 2007, Lexon built a chemical-blending labo-ratory in Alberta that was destined for use in Angola. Its modular units were constructed in Edmonton, then Lexon staff went to Angola to assemble the lab.

Ryan expects Lexon’s work in the upstream chemical industrial field will remain the company’s strong suit in the decade to come.

But he’s also very pleased at the unexpected emergence of a new niche market – the renovation and construction of administrative buildings and training centres for Alberta’s unions.

“We never set out to be specialists in that niche,” says Ryan. “It just took on a life of its own. Again, a lot of the union business is thanks to word of mouth.”

It all began with Local 177, the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades. In 2007, Lexon did a tenant improvement on IUPAT’s Training Centre in Edmonton. That same year, Lexon built a brand new training centre in Edmonton for Local 424, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. The IBEW’s stylish new build-ing features a complete exterior wall of solar panels, which represent electrical workers’ future in alternative energies. In 2009, IBEW asked Lexon back to upgrade and renovate its older administrative and hall building on the same site.

Between those union projects, Lexon also won a design-build con-tract from Local 720, the Ironworkers’ Union. In 2008, Lexon knocked down a small older building on the Ironworkers’ main office site in Edmonton. Then the larger building that remained was transformed with significant renovations and a major addition. Ryan says the Ironworkers wanted their building to show the world what they do, inside and out, so large black steel beams were mounted on the exte-rior, adding a striking and symbolic design feature to their new admin and training centre.

As Hard Hat goes to press, Lexon is nearing completion of its latest union project – a new shop expansion for the Alberta Regional Council of Carpenters and Allied Workers. The new 9,000-square-foot building started last September will be a standalone structure on the same site as the Edmonton main office.

“There have been some bumps and humps, as on every project, but it’s turning out well,” says Ryan. “Lexon has a good relationship with the union, and ARCCAW has been an excellent source of skilled sub-contractors.”


Len Bryden, Director of Training and Apprenticeship

Alberta Carpenters Training Centre


ast year we successfully launched our five-day Hoisting and Rigging program in all three provincial centres, as well as Forklift/Telescoping Rough Terrain Forklift (Zoom Boom)

and an Aerial Work Platform two-day certification (currently in our Edmonton centre only). We have incorporated Hoisting and Rigging into our Level 3 and JM Upgrade Scaffold programs, and the response has been very good from the members.

Most realize the value of this extra training in gaining work hours on the job sites, and it is important to emphasize to members who don’t see the long-term value of this training how much it is actually worth. Not only is it an expensive program to deliver, but it will also provide for more opportunities on the job sites as well as enhanced safety overall.

Our members have once again done us proud with their recent involvement in many extracurricular training events. From Habitat to Humanity residential wall building, scaffolding, and the many hours of members volunteering for the Habitat union-built home in Edmonton, to the Metropolis Edmonton Winter Festival at Churchill Square in December, which is comprised of some of the most inter-esting scaffold pavilions I have ever seen. Our students and other members really did us proud at this event. Check out the pictures on page 9 in this Hard Hat edition, and I hope you have a chance to visit this awesome event over the winter season.

Going forward, it looks like much more of the hectic pace we have been seeing over the past few years around the training centres, with more new programs being offered all the time. We will be involved in a large way with Skills Canada again in 2012, hosting the Regional Skills Competition in our training centre, as well as hosting the Try-A-Trade booths again at the Provincial and National Skills Canada event in May at Edmonton’s Expo Centre. I believe they are predicting well over 10,000 students of different ages from all over the country will be flowing through this major week-long event, and we are becoming a regular exhibitor there. Thanks to the hard work of the ACTC staff that make this happen.

We also have our yearly Provincial Carpenter/Scaffolder competi-tion in June of 2012, and we are hosting the UBC National Carpenter/Millwright/drywall competition the weekend of August 25, 2012 – this will be a major event for the UBC, and I want as many members

as possible to come out to this. Please contact me at 780-455-6532 or [email protected] if you want to volunteer to help out – we need you! Don’t forget all of the regular training programs we run every day as well.

Thanks to all the members and staff for a productive and rewarding 2011; more of the same in 2012. Thanks also to our in-house safety training partners, KG Safety Services, for providing such good service to our members when they need their safety training, as well as all the other great safety training providers we send our members to.

Remember, it always pays to go to school. Hope to see you sometime in 2012, and stay safe!

Looking Forward

REPORT Training and Apprenticeship

L



ilitary careers don’t last forever. Whether it’s for medical reasons, age or simply the end of a term commitment,

many military personnel make the transition to civilian jobs. Their military careers have given them the soft skills that make great tradespeople, and that’s sent ARCCAW on a recruitment mission of its own.

On November 16, the union participated in a job fair held at the Edmonton Garrison mili-tary base. Six men and women from the union turned out to give military personnel the low-down on carpentry and scaffolding, to answer questions and hand out information, and to show the solidarity that goes along with being a part of the union.

Training co-ordinator Len Bryden, carpentry instructor Hunter Shaw, Regional Council del-egates Doug Germaine and Devin Jean-Louis, and scaffolder Ronnie Ollet volunteered to join organizer Chester Fergusson, union educator and recruitment officer, in the ARCCAW booth.

The strong turnout was what Fergusson was hoping for. “I wanted as many people as pos-sible. You always have a way of connecting with some people and not with others,” he says. “And if you didn’t have the answer to a question, there was always somebody else there who would. Even though I’m a union educator and have been in the hall for 22 years, I don’t know all the answers.”

Having so many people on hand was also a good way to show the strength of the union and the respect it has for the Armed Forces,

Fergusson says. “I thought it was important to show commitment – that the carpenters believe in military people being part of our hall.”

The event was a success, and a number of military members who attended the open house have contacted the union to express inter-est in a trades career. It’s only the first of what Fergusson hopes will be many military job fair appearances to come. Already, he’s got his eyes set on the base in Cold Lake and has plans to contact other bases across the province.

In the past, the union has set up information booths at high schools, but hasn’t been consistent in these types of recruitment strategies. Now, union leadership is looking at these initiatives as a priority. “The people in charge believe it’s a future that needs to be addressed,” Fergusson says. “We want to get the word out that we’re a union, and if you’re looking to become a member, these are solid reasons why you should come.”

The carpenters union hosts an open house to recruit military personnel to join its ranks

MBy ROBIN SCHROFFEL

Hiring Action

HELP WANTED: ARCCAW volunteers answer questions at a job fair for the military



Bryden says that although there’s no shortage of interested people knock-ing at the door, it’s important for the union to maintain a public presence. “We need to have exposure and people need to know that the carpenters union is there, because a lot of people don’t realize who we are and what we do.”

Fergusson says there are many ex-military people already in the ranks, and that they make excellent tradespeople for a number of reasons. One of them is an ability to give orders, but more importantly, the ability to take them. “Some people think giving orders is easy: bark, yell, scream. But giving orders is knowing how to take an order as well,” he explains.

Military members also understand that working as a team is vital. “They already know how to work as units. They don’t get anything done as an individual; they get things done collectively,” Fergusson says.

Finally, military people already understand the importance of training. “We believe in training, and military people believe in training. They take to training very well because they understand the need for it,” Fergusson says.

According to Fergusson, these pre-existing soft skills provide a sound base to build on. “They’re already a foot up on someone at equal footing as far as skill set, as far as being a carpenter or scaffolder, because of the soft skills they’ve learned being in the military.”

Bryden agrees that ex-military people as a whole have positive skills to

bring to the union. “They understand the impor-tance of working hard for the employers, and they’re just generally a good, disciplined group of people that we would like to partner with. “

And as a career choice for ex-military, joining the union is really a no-brainer, says Fergusson. Its excellent benefit plans, strong pension plan and modern training facilities are strong selling points to potential recruits, but it’s more than that. The union and the military also have a lot in common where values are concerned. “They’re coming from an organization that believes in camaraderie, working together, strength in num-bers,” Fergusson explains. “Military people act in concert and work in concert. That’s because they have confidence. They have the same opinions, motivation and common goals. And in a carpen-ters union under Douglas McCarron, we also are acting in concert. We have common opinions, common goals.”



f you’d told me at the beginning of my career that someday one of the most important threats facing our union would be “erosion of market share,” I would have questioned your sanity.

But here we are in Alberta, one of Canada’s most union-unfriendly jurisdictions, after more than 20 years of provincial government bias – in labour legislation and regulations – in favour of the non-union sector.

On all sides, we’re being competed against by forces that truly believe we are less than we know ourselves to be, and that promote their message to increasing numbers of others.

That’s why it’s critical to do everything we can to counterbalance our competitors, to protect the market share we have … and to win more of it back.

That’s why I was so very proud that our members recently voted to adopt a document called The Millwrights of Alberta – The Members’ Commitment to Excellence. This document details our commitment to excellence in our work, and it makes specific promises to our contractors and their clients about what we’ll do to maintain excellence. We’ve reprinted it here. Please read it.

Cheaper Isn’t Better. Excellence Is Non-union forces can loudly trumpet their “we’re cheaper!” message, but in the end, the people who employ them must accept the consequences of work that is less than excellent or that may not meet deadlines or budget.

Less than excellent millwrighting work is much, much more expensive work. And therein lies our advantage, because our greatest edge in fighting the market share battle is the excellence of our work and the consistency with which we perform it, which adds up to saving the client money in the long run.

If our contractors and the owners they work for see us as true trade pro-fessionals – always working clean, safe and as a tight, efficient, responsible team – and if we perform on time or better, on or under budget, then they will want to hire us again. And again. And again.

Especially if they have had past experience with less professional, less highly trained millwrights, these contractors and their clients will see the direct financial value in using skilled trade professionals who know their stuff, and who respect the people they’re working for.

That’s why our local places so much focus on the world-class training programs available to members at our provincial training centre, and the Las Vegas International Training Center. We fully understand that the more front-edge skills our members have, the more value we’ll bring to our contractors, and the more we’ll work. It’s as simple as that.

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I am reminded of a turnaround one of our contractors did for an electrical generation client that doesn’t normally employ outside millwrights. Our people outperformed the client’s timeline expectations by such a huge factor that they earned extra tens of millions of dollars in revenue because its generator was back up so quickly. That client won’t hesitate to hire union millwrights again!

For a healthy business relationship to work, it requires a three-way partnership with no misunderstandings between the union, the contractor and the client/owner. People who pay the bills must have certainty about what we’ll deliver. The contractors they hire must also have that same certainty.

That’s what our Commitment to Excellence is all about. It guarantees that each partner knows what we’ll deliver on the job. And it underlines our commitment with a promise to discipline any member who does not live up to the document.

The promises we make in the Commitment to Excellence document are critical to forming strong, long-lasting partnerships with contrac-tors and their clients, partnerships that can provide steady, reliable and growing amounts of work for all of us.

Read the document. And please, live by it. We need to approach every day as a new opportunity to display our commitment to being excellent.

Millwrights Commit to Excellence

REPORT Local 1460 Millwrights

Bob Hugh, Senior Business Representative - Millwrights

The Millwrights of Alberta Members’ Commitment

to Excellence

Protecting our jobs requires a competitive edge for our contractors so they can send a Clear message to companies – the job is going to be done on time, on budget with high quality, safe work and no disruptions. Our union can only deliver if each and every member is committed to excellence every day on the job.

What is our Commitment to Excellence?

Our Commitment to Excellence means:

• No absenteeism • Timeliness – arriving at work on time, fi t for duty with the proper tools and clothing, working a full day and keeping breaks to the prescribed limit • Superior productivity, safety and cooperation • Strict adherence to zero tolerance to substance abuse as per our “Out of Work Rules” Alcohol and Drug Policy • No personal business conducted on company time (ie. Electronic Communication Devices) • Respecting company property, our employer’s tools and the tools of our co-workers • Following employer site rules, work procedures, policies, directives and Collective Bargaining Agreements

How do we honour our Commitment to Excellence?

We fulfi ll our Commitment to Excellence by:

• Teamwork – every member working together with foreman and job stewards, on every task, to deliver a superior product in every respect • Compliance – our job stewards and Union representative, working with the entire management team, will monitor and enforce the standard of Excellence

What happens if a member fails to honour our commitment to Excellence?

• If members are unwilling to comply with their responsibilities under our Commitment to Excellence, they will be brought before the Local 1460 Executive to explain his/her actions and if not resolved at this level, he/she can be brought before the Alberta Regional Council Executive Committee. The Disciplinary committee will take appropriate corrective action which may include imposition of internal disciplinary procedure, up to and including charges under the UBC constitution.

This Commitment to Excellence has been adopted by Millwrights Local 1460to protect and expand your job opportunities.

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The Millwrights of Alberta Members’ Commitment

to Excellence

Protecting our jobs requires a competitive edge for our contractors so they can send a Clear message to companies – the job is going to be done on time, on budget with high quality, safe work and no disruptions. Our union can only deliver if each and every member is committed to excellence every day on the job.

What is our Commitment to Excellence?

Our Commitment to Excellence means:

• No absenteeism • Timeliness – arriving at work on time, fi t for duty with the proper tools and clothing, working a full day and keeping breaks to the prescribed limit • Superior productivity, safety and cooperation • Strict adherence to zero tolerance to substance abuse as per our “Out of Work Rules” Alcohol and Drug Policy • No personal business conducted on company time (ie. Electronic Communication Devices) • Respecting company property, our employer’s tools and the tools of our co-workers • Following employer site rules, work procedures, policies, directives and Collective Bargaining Agreements

How do we honour our Commitment to Excellence?

We fulfi ll our Commitment to Excellence by:

• Teamwork – every member working together with foreman and job stewards, on every task, to deliver a superior product in every respect • Compliance – our job stewards and Union representative, working with the entire management team, will monitor and enforce the standard of Excellence

What happens if a member fails to honour our commitment to Excellence?

• If members are unwilling to comply with their responsibilities under our Commitment to Excellence, they will be brought before the Local 1460 Executive to explain his/her actions and if not resolved at this level, he/she can be brought before the Alberta Regional Council Executive Committee. The Disciplinary committee will take appropriate corrective action which may include imposition of internal disciplinary procedure, up to and including charges under the UBC constitution.

This Commitment to Excellence has been adopted by Millwrights Local 1460to protect and expand your job opportunities.

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KidZone Children’s Christmas Parties

The fourth annual Millwright Children’s Christmas party was once again a huge success! Santa was kept busy chatting and giving out gifts to nearly 75 children. The children also enjoyed face-painting, a balloon artist and an hour-long magic show by Magic Mike. Special thanks to the millwrights members who volunteered their time.

MILLWRIGHTS LOCAL 1460


A special visit from Santa and unique glitter tattoos were just some of the highlights at the Local 2103 Children’s Christmas Party, held at the Carpenters Union Hall in Calgary. Thanks to everyone who volunteered for their eff orts in making the party a huge success.

A magic show, face-painting, balloon-making and real live reptiles were on hand to entertain children at the 1325 Children’s Christmas Party in Edmonton. And who could forget the special visit from our jolly friend Santa Claus? A special thanks to all of the volunteers for helping to make the annual Christmas party a highlight of the holiday season.

LOCAL 2103

LOCAL 1325




t’s not difficult to find someone to teach you when you show up in class ready and willing to learn. But it’s more difficult for a student to find an instructor who not only cultivates a relationship in the classroom, but

also carries it through apprenticeship training and beyond.At the Alberta Millwrights Training Centre in Edmonton, Millwright

training coordinator/instructor Dave Knight is doing just that.“Currently we offer 12 courses with four courses being presented as

prerequisites to the Gas and Steam Turbine courses put forth the by UBC Training Center in Las Vegas, Nevada,” says Knight. But describing those 12 courses doesn’t encapsulate the hundreds of instructor hours that go into teaching first-year apprentices, and the countless hours that Knight and his colleagues put in outside the classroom.

“We instructors take turns teaching different classes,” says Knight and that, in 2010, 618 students went through the training centre. Of those, any one of them can – and often do – call on Knight and other members of Local 1460 after they finish their courses.

“A lot of the instruction is mentorship,” says Knight, which is why, over the last four years as an instructor at the centre, Knight has emphasized that, “When former students are in the field, if they run into trouble, or are in an unfamiliar situation, they can call the centre to talk to an instructor.”

Of course, the four years Knight has been instructing doesn’t even scratch the surface of the breadth of his knowledge. Knight has been in the industry for more than 45 years, which means he’s got the background to not only be able to teach the most up-to-date industry standards, but also the tried-and-true methods. He says, though, that marrying new technology against student instruction can sometimes be a challenge.

“Take, for example, machinery alignment tooling equipment,” he says. “Some of the apprentices come into the classroom and … they’ve never used the dial indicators, which we use in the classroom.

“There’s an important difference [between this equipment and some others in the field] and apprentices need to be well-rounded, so we try to expose them to all different types of equipment, and scenarios, while they’re in training.

“It takes several years after an apprenticeship is completed before you can really feel comfortable in all scenarios, with all different types of equipment.”

The most important lesson Knight says he emphasizes to students, whether in the classroom or later in their apprenticeship or career: “You never stop learning.”

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Beyond the Classroom

By CAIT WILLSMeet the Instructor

DAVE KNIGHT



Meet the Student

that Friesen and his classmates can learn at their own pace and concentrate on topics that are of particular interest to them. This curriculum design, says Friesen, is in large part thanks to the efforts of Pipke, one of the training centre’s course instructors.

linton Friesen is an instructor’s dream student. The first-year apprentice positively gushes when talking about

his program, and his enthusiasm for both the learning and industry-oriented aspects to his apprenticeship shine through when he talks about his mentors: job supervisor Bob Keddy and instructor Wilf Pipke.

Friesen had been working as a labourer on Keddy’s crew for 18 months before Keddy agreed to indenture him as a carpenter’s apprentice, and while he admits to working hard to maintain his place near or at the top of his class at the Alberta Carpenter’s Training Centre in Edmonton, he says he owes as much of his placement into the apprenticeship program to Keddy. “He’s an upstanding guy,” says Friesen. Keddy supported him while he was considering entering in the carpentry trade and also helped him register with the apprenticeship board. A critical factor in Friesen being able to concentrate on school is the knowledge that, unlike some of his fellow students, he has a job to go to as an apprentice, thanks to his indentation with Keddy.

Getting off site and into the classroom was a shock, says Friesen. “The first week of the course was tough,” he admits, but, once he passed the hump of transitioning from the workforce to the classroom, everything “fell into place.” One of the biggest surprises of the program, says Friesen, was the online, module-based learning, which means

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By CAIT WILLS

Top of the ClassCLINTON FRIESEN

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MEETINGS

First Wednesday of each month: Local 1325 meeting

Third Thursday of each month: Local 2103 meeting

Fourth Tuesday of each month: Local 1460 meeting

In Memoriam Training + Events UPCOMING

ARCCAW notes with sorrow the passing of the following members.

TRAINING


The following is a sampling of training courses that are open for registration at the time of publication of this edition of Hard Hat. For full listings or more information on training courses, visit www.abcarptc.ab.ca or phone the Edmonton office at 780-455-6532 or toll-free 1-877-455-6532.

EdmontonOSSA Confi ned SpaceMarch 31

H2S Alive (Enform Certifi ed)April 1

Standard First Aid & CPRApril 7 to 8

Aerial Work PlatformApril 19 to 20

Period 2 CarpentryMay 14 to July 6

Millwrights Training Centre

Visit www.albertamillwrights.com for a current listing of training courses available.

LOCAL 1325

Frank EngstromAugust 2011, Age 64

Charles FrancoeurNovember 2011, Age 51

Jean-Guy GosselinDecember 2011, Age 47

Agner MortensenJuly 2011, Age 88

Ronald PedersenDecember 2011, Age 65

Walter UssykSeptember 2011, Age 89

Adolf WagnerSeptember 2011, Age 74

Local 2103

Ralph BolzeOctober 2011, Age 80

Leslie HenryNovember 2011, Age 52

Friedrich KolbOctober 2011, Age 90

Walter KosturNovember 2011, Age 64

Gaetan ParadisOctober 2011, Age 60

Local 1460

Keith HutchisonNovember 2011, Age 70

Local 1460



This photo, taken in about 1880, represents a time when the millwright “was an itinerant engineer and mechanic of high reputation. He could handle the axe, the hammer, and the plane with equal skill and precision ... he could set out and cut in the furrows of a millstone with an accuracy equal of superior to that of the miller himself,” wrote William Fairbairn in his Treatise on Mills and Millwork. The role of the millwright has evolved over the years with today’s millwrights specializing in installing and aligning heavy industrial machinery but the commitment to precision and accuracy remains.

Early MillwrightsParting Shot



We’ve trained North America’s best scaffolders for 15 years.

The Alberta Carpenters Training Centre has delivered its 3-year Scaffolder Apprenticeship and Carpenter JM Upgrade Scaffold Programs, as well as dozens of other safety and skill training programs, to thousands of students in three training centres – Edmonton, Ft. McMurray & Calgary – since 1994.

Our new $23 million centre includes two state-of-the-art scaffold shops, including one purpose-built to accommodate suspended scaffolding.

ACTC-trained scaffolders work on some of the world’s largest mega-projects. Many of the scaffolds they design and build are unique, highly-complicated, and critical to both human safety and worker productivity.

www.abcarptc.ab.ca

000.ABCarpTraining_1-2H_nBL.indd 1 1/13/10 3:43:38 PM

The Alberta Regional Council of Carpenters and Allied Workers (ARCCAW) represents more than 11,000 members working across several construction industries, including carpenters, millwrights, scaffolders, interior system mechanics, roofers and floor layers.

If you have products or services that demand the attention of the construction industry and want to reach this key target audience, Hard Hat provides a unique forum to access more than 11,000 of the sector’s key decision makers.

For further details or to discuss your advertising needs, contact: Hard Hat Account Executive10259-105 Street, Edmonton, AB T5J 1E3 Tel: (780) 990-0819 ext. 223 • Toll-free: 1-866-227-4276 ext. 223 Email: [email protected]

Venture Ad 1-2H.indd 1 1/9/12 2:20:52 PM


hard hat winter 2011

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