Local Lodge 555

BOILERMAKER LEADERS IN the Canadian construction industry met Jan. 24-25 in Toronto to address various project and manpower issues. International Vice Presidents Joe Maloney and Ed Power led discussions about filling job orders with qualified Boilermakers, recruitment initiatives, and the status of the national online dispatch system. General (ret.) Rick Hillier also addressed the group, explaining how organizational and leadership lessons from the military relate to the construction industry.

THE BOILERMAKERS’ International Executive Council scholarship committee announced the winners of its 2011 scholarship program this past April. The committee awarded $50,000 to 37 scholarship recipients, with $36,000 being allocated to U.S. applicants and $14,000 to applicants from Canada.

Program emphasizes communication techniques

FORTY-EIGHT MEMBERS from four Canadian locals participated in the two-day field supervisor leadership training program held late last year and early this year, according to Grant Jacobs, Canadian National Director of Apprenticeship and Education. Jacobs, pictured in the first two photos kneeling/sitting at left, led the course, assisted by Jonathan White, Assistant National Training Coordinator, pictured to Jacobs’s right.

Mike McMullin named first recipient

LOCAL LODGE 555 (Winnipeg, Manitoba) presented its first Mark Langan Apprentice Achievement Award to Mike McMullin Dec. 1, 2010. The award recognizes apprentices who demonstrate commitment to the Boilermaker trade. It takes into account volunteerism, attendance at union meetings, work ethic on the job, performance in apprenticeship school, and respect by co-workers.

17 members from six locals attend

SEVENTEEN CONSTRUCTION Boilermakers from six local lodges attended the first project management course to be held in Canada with all-Canadian participants. The training took place in Vancouver, British Columbia, Nov. 7-12.

The week-long course was taught by Dale “Skipper” Branscum, Director of Construction Division Services, and Gerry Klimo, Local 154 (Pittsburgh) safety training coordinator.

Training coordinators Scot McMahon, Local 128 (Toronto, Ontario) and Al Bennett, Local 359 (Vancouver) audited the program.

Locals 128 and 555 finance 1,800 sq. ft. building in Ontario

SITTTING RIGHT ON the dividing line between the Boilermakers’ Western and Eastern districts is a new 1,800 sq. ft. training centre in Thunder Bay, Ontario.

FIFTY-ONE MEMBERS from six lodges attended a stewards program in Canada during the first half of this year.

THE CANADIAN BOILERMAKER apprentice competition tests journeyman tradecraft. The contest begins with a six-hour written exam that includes about 300 multiple-choice questions drawn from the apprentice training curriculum, the Boilermaker Constitution, and local lodge bylaws. Curriculum-related content includes such topics as cutting and welding; hand and power tools; construction materials; metallurgy; blueprint reading; layout and fitting; math; rigging; and boilers, heat exchangers, furnaces, and tanks.

Brooks receives Industry Award of Excellence

ERIC HACHE, a Local 146 (Edmonton, Alberta) graduate apprentice, took top honors in the 2010 Canadian Boilermaker Apprenticeship Competition held at the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT) in Edmonton June 21-24. The announcement came during the awards banquet at the Fairmont Hotel Macdonald.

FOR THE FIRST TIME, members of Local 555 (Winnipeg, Manitoba) celebrated Labour Day in partnership with the Saskatchewan Provincial Building and Construction Trades Council (SPBCTC).

On Sept. 7, over 600 people gathered at the Legislative Grounds in Regina for fun and festivities, but also to protest Bill 80 — legislation the government of Saskatchewan has introduced that will allow contractors (not workers) to choose the union to represent their employees.