Greater Boston Building and Construction Trades Apprenticeship Directory

If you or some one you know is interested in applying for union affiliated apprenticeships please click on this link for dates and contact information.

Union affiliated apprenticeships come with benefits such as high pay and health insurance. This is a great step for economic mobility.

Upcoming Event: WOW Book Talk Series with Dr. Mary Gatta - 10/9/14, 1-3pm

As part of their 50th Anniversary Book Talk Series, Wider Opportunities for Women (WOW) will host an event featuring new CEO Amanda Andere and Dr. Mary Gatta, who will discuss her new book, All I Want Is a Job! Unemployed Women Navigating the Public Workforce System.

Thursday, October 9th, 1-3pm

Jobs for the Future
88 Broad St, 8th Floor Conference Room

Boston, MA 02110 

For more information, check out the event flyer. To RSVP, visit WOW online.

Repost: Become a Union Carpenter [video]

Awesome video just released by the NERCC's Sisters in the Brotherhood to recruit more women to become union carpenters. Pass it along!

Repost: Mayor Walsh targets gang members for jobs - Trade unions step up with apprenticeships

The Boston Herald recently reported that Mayor Walsh and attorney Daniel Mulhern have developed a program, Operation Exit, to direct youth involved in street violence to employment in the building trades. Select individuals will complete an apprenticeship program and subsequently gain access to union employment and benefits. Walsh states:

''It’s a great way to get somebody into an industry where they’re going to make a good amount of money in the beginning, but it gets them off the street, hopefully gets them to understand the importance of working and the value of working,' Walsh told the Herald. 'And it will help us on the backside by taking some of the key players off the street'" (Encarnacao, 18 July 2014).

Visit http://bostonherald.com/ to read the full article.

Repost: Mind the Gap - How One Employer Tackled Pay Equity

A recent article in The Wall Street Journal describes a successful policy implemented at McGill University to close the pay gap between male and female employees. After 13 years and $19 million US dollars, McGill provided equal wages to the 12,000 men and women whom they employ full-time (Murray, 8 July 2014). Their gender-equity program even provided backpay to employees who were considered underpaid according to a new Quebec law. The article explains how the program mathematically determined fair pay:

"The program's goal was to ensure that pay for female-dominated professions was keeping pace with male-dominated ones of equal importance. If administrative assistants were considered as valuable as groundskeepers, the thinking went, the women who jotted down phone messages and kept appointment calendars should be compensated as well as the men working the lawns" (Murray, 8 July 2014).

A similar pay gap between men and women persists in the United States, with some estimates as high as 19% (USDOL as cited in Murray). With federal legislation delayed, states and cities are working to develop their own solutions. In Boston, the Mayor and the Workforce Women's Council lead "100% Talent: The Boston Women's Compact" (www.cityofboston.gov/). Through this initiative, companies such as Suffolk Construction work independently to address equal pay issues.

To learn more about "100% Talent: The Boston Women's Compact," visit http://www.cityofboston.gov/.

To read the full article in The Wall Street Journal, visit http://m.us.wsj.com/.

Upcoming Event: USDOL Women's Bureau's Boston Regional Forum on Working Families

The US Department of Labor Women's Bureau will be hosting a Boston Regional Forum to "identify initiatives that benefit America's working families, businesses and economy." The event will be held:

May 19, 2014

9:30am-12:30pm

JFK Federal Building

25 New Sudbury St

Boston, MA 02203

Visit the USDOL website to register by May 17th, get more information about the Boston Regional Forum, or learn more about the White House Summit.

Repost: An iron worker from the Dudley Square project shares her thoughts on Roxbury and rebuilding the historic square

An iron worker from the Dudley Square project shares her thoughts on Roxbury and rebuilding the historic square.
Music: Derek Britain "Second Class Citizen" Creative Commons Attribution/Non-Commercial

View I am Not Afraid of Heights from City of Boston on Vimeo.

Repost: Massachusetts Building Trades face long diversity odds

(Photo Courtesy of Building Pathways)

by Martin Desmarais | 12/4/2013, 11:34am

Increasing the numbers of blacks, Latinos Asians and women in the construction industry and the building trades is an uphill battle, with thousands of workers entering each year and the established diversity programs helping a small number so far, but Massachusetts trades organizations say they are committed to the fight.

Mayor-elect Marty Walsh touted his own effort — Building Pathways, a building trades pre-apprenticeship program serving low-income residents of the Greater Boston area.

The program, which he launched while he served as head of the Building and Construction Trades Council of the Metropolitan District, was designed to help Boston residents, with a focus on women and people of color, learn the skills and receive the credentials to enter building trades apprenticeship programs.

With over 20 different trades and several dozen apprenticeship programs throughout the state, Building Pathways aims to help its students find the right career direction.

Launched in 2011, the six-week skills training, assessment and placement program has had five training cycles with 70 graduates, 95 percent of whom are women and minorities. According to Building Pathways statistics, 85 percent of the graduates have been placed in apprenticeship programs. The last class of 16 participants graduated last month, all of whom were low-income minority Boston area residents, including 10 women.

While Walsh has received plaudits for his diversity efforts, the numbers are just a tiny fraction of the workers who enter the building trades on a yearly basis. According to the Massachusetts Building Trades Council, almost 6,500 workers were enrolled in both union and non-union apprenticeship programs last year — with unions spending close to $30 million to recruit and train new workers. Comparably, Building Pathways has graduated 70 over three years.

Walsh says he recognizes that the Building Pathways program is not going to single-handedly diversify the building trades industry overnight, but he says it is an extremely important program for what it is attempting to do and that it can serve as a model for a way to increase diversity.

He also points out that the only reason the program has had any success at all is because the different building trades are behind the efforts and have guaranteed placement of its graduates — they want to increase diversity.

“All of them are very much into it,” Walsh said. “That was the key to this program.

“It is the only program of its kind that is successful,” he added. “It has been very, very effective.”

Despite their professed commitment to diversifying their ranks, none of the union or non-union building trades organizations would disclose the demographics of their workers.

Frank Callahan, president of the Massachusetts Building Trades Council, says the problem is not about a requirement to track diversity, the challenge is so many different unions and organizations that are run separately and have their own bylaws and charters.

“It is difficult on a whole number of fronts,” Callahan said. “I get frustrated about it myself.”

Callahan says he believes the building trades are sincere in their diversity efforts.

“I go out to the union halls, I see the diversity in members,” he said. “It is something that the building trades have been committed to for quite some time.”

District 7 City Councilor Tito Jackson says the unions will have to disclose numbers if they want to make progress on diversifying.

“We know the building trades don’t reflect the population of the city of Boston,” he said. “We need to make sure we’re being thoughtful and deliberate about how we diversify the building trades. We have to be able to measure our gains against a baseline.”

While the Massachusetts building trades continue their efforts without numbers to illustrate the cause, other states that have made pushes for diversity in the trades have estimated numbers — and the results do not reflect much improvement.

A report out of Philadelphia, which cites numbers from the Office of Housing and Community Development collected from 2008 to 2012, found that the makeup of the union members in the building trades by the end of this period were 99 percent male, 76 percent white and 67 percent suburban residents. This number is only union members — non-union numbers have not been recorded — so it may not reflect the true diversity of the building trades workforce.

But the report findings demonstrated that even after Philadelphia officials pushed for diversity there was little impact on the unions that lead the way in the industry.

The National Black Chamber of Commerce was quick to jump on the implications of the report, releasing to the media an open letter in July to U.S. Representative Marcia Fudge, chair of the Congressional Black Caucus.

“We are very disturbed that elected officials as well as civil rights organizations have this cordial relationship with construction unions. Construction unions have consistently discriminated against black workers and contractors,” the letter stated. “Ninety-eight percent of all black construction firms are nonunion. There is a reason — if they join a union the union will manage their employees and thus never hire them for work. The end result is the business being void of any black workers and the former black employees will soon be unemployed.”

The letter also concluded: “These construction unions are a prime contributor to black unemployment.”

Municipal officials in the Maryland, Virginia and the Washington D.C. metro area have also made a push for diversity in the building trades, but like in Massachusetts, there is little data to back up what is actually happening.

While the numbers of minorities in the Massachusetts building trades workforce is small, the increased number of construction projects in Boston has created an opportune time for all parties involved to really target the diversity issue in the Massachusetts building trades.

“Boston is No. 2 in the nation for construction right now, so we are really booming,” said Mary Vogel, executive director of the Construction Institute and program manager for Building Pathways. “This is the opportunity to make sure all of our construction workforce reflects our neighborhoods. Women, in particular, are underrepresented in our industry and we want to make sure they have an opportunity to get these kind of careers.”

View the original article at http://baystatebanner.com.

Career Opportunity: Researcher/Field Activist, NERCC

Researcher / Field Activist
NERCC | Boston MA - USA | Full Time

Job Description
The New England Regional Council of Carpenters is looking for four motivated individuals to help promote union jobs and better standards for workers in the construction industry. Positions are available in the following locations:

• Boston, MA
• Central Connecticut
• Rhode Island / Southeastern MA
• Central / Western MA

Organizational Background
The New England Regional Council of Carpenters is a 19,000 member organization covering the six states of New England. We focus on representing the interests of our members as well as raising the standards of all carpenters in the regional construction industry. We are a progressive union that has committed 50% of its resources to organizing. We are an activist union that promotes union construction through political action, community involvement, regulatory enforcement, and coalition work. Effective organizing campaigns depend on a combination of comprehensive research and street activism. The Researcher / Field Activist will be expected to handle both aspects of the job title. They will report to the Regional Manager / Lead Organizer in their area.

Primary Responsibilities

• Develop research material on industry trends, track construction projects, and provide financial analysis on owners, developers, builders, lenders, etc.
• Develop educational material and leaflets
• Work with state and federal regulatory agencies regarding issues of wage theft, the underground economy, and tax and insurance fraud
• Work in conjunction with other unions, community groups, immigrant worker advocacy groups
• Occasionally assist in visits to non-union job sites, interviewing non-union carpenters on the job and in their homes Participate in demonstrations and picket lines

Qualifications

• Previous organizing experience preferred
• Commitment to economic and social justice and agreement with our union's mission and goals
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills
• Strong organizational skills – good attention to detail and well organized
• Self-motivated – proven ability to work independently
• Ability to work well with diverse groups and populations
• Knowledge of computer operations and programs
• Multilingual skills preferred

How to apply
To apply, please send cover letter, resume and three references to Researcher@NERCC.org

Career Opportunity: Boston Resident Jobs Program (BRJP) Monitor position available

Job Title: Sr. Research Analyst (Boston Residents Jobs Program)

Job ID: 346702

Location: ASD-Boston Residents Jobs Policy



Full/Part Time: Full-Time
Regular/Temporary: Regular

BRIEF JOB DESCRIPTION (essential functions of the job):
Under the supervision of the Manager of Boston Residents Jobs Program (BRJP), monitors public and privately funded construction projects to ensure contractor compliance with relevant City of Boston policies and Federal and State regulations.

• Conducts kick-off meetings and pre-construction conferences with developers, general contractors and project managers. 
• Conducts on-site monitoring of the participation of minority, women and Boston residents. 
• Verifies reported employment data and wage data. 
• Conducts quarterly review meetings to review contractors' performance goals, and review cases of non-compliance, and statements of recommended corrective actions. 
• Prepares reports and make presentations before the Boston Employment Commission (BEC). 
• Performs related work as required. 

MINIMUM ENTRANCE REQUIREMENTS:
Must have four (4) years of fulltime, or equivalent part-time, experience in research work including project monitoring and statistics. A bachelor's degree may be substitute for two (2) years of the required experience. Must have computer knowledge of Microsoft software; knowledge of City utilized software and hardware preferred. Excellent written and oral communication skills and willingness to travel to sites throughout the City of Boston on public transportation; writing sample; knowledge of the construction trades and related legislation; ability to exercise good judgment and focus on detail as required by the job.

Boston Residency Required

Terms: Union/Salary Plan/Grade: SEIU/RL-18
Hours per week: 35

Please refer to the Salary Information section on the Boston Career Center site for more information on compensation. For each Salary Plan, salaries are listed by Grade and Step.

Visit the City Job Postings webpage for more information.

Career Opportunity: Building Pathways Pre-Apprenticeship Program

Click the above image to download this flyer.

Happy Women's Equality Day!

For those of you who are in downtown Boston today, you can celebrate Women's Equality Day right now with your fellow Bostonians:

Celebrate Women's Equality Day with Us!

Women’s Equality Day, August 26, celebrates the day women won the right to vote in 1920. We will gather at the Boston Women’s Memorial on Commonwealth Ave. Mall, between Fairfield and Gloucester Streets, from 12-1:30PM. Join City Councilor Ayanna Pressley, the first woman of color to be elected to the Boston City Council. We will have great music, voter registration, and girl scout snacks. Wear the suffrage colors of white, purple and yellow and join us. All are welcome.

Wherever you are, you can celebrate by reading this USDOL blog post about the importance of construction jobs for women and being thankful for the efforts in our community to achieve gender equality in the construction industry.

Save the Date: 9/20/13 USDOL Women's Bureau & The Construction Institute Will Host "Engaging Women for STEM, Non-Traditional, and Green Careers"

THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR WOMEN’S BUREAU & THE CONSTRUCTION INSTITUTE INVITES YOU TO AN IMPORTANT ROUNDTABLE: ENGAGING WOMEN FOR STEM, NON-TRADITIONAL, AND GREEN CAREERS 

The roundtable will bring together leaders in the Metro Boston area to discuss potential pathways for women to become involved in careers related to science, technology, math, and engineering (STEM). This discussion will also draw on ideas for engaging women in green and non-traditional careers. Some of the topic questions to be considered are:

1. How can women qualify for STEM, Non-Traditional, and Green Careers? 
2. What opportunities are available for women in “green” jobs and STEM? 
3. How can we help women transition from traditional occupations to non-traditional ones? 

DATE: Tuesday, September 20, 2013

TIME: 9:00 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.

WHERE: Sheet Metal Workers Training Center, 1181 Adams St. Dorchester 

Attendance is free but registration is required. Space limited to 25.

RSVP: To register, please send an e-mail to Rizzolo.Angela@dol.gov by close of business hours on September 18 and include your name, organization, and telephone number.

For questions, please call: Angela Rizzolo @ 617-565-1988.

Our special thanks to the Sheet Metal Workers Training Center for co-hosting this roundtable.

Reminder: Aug. 2nd Application Deadline for Suffolk Construction Company's Subcontractor Development Series is Approaching!

Suffolk Construction Company's Subcontractor Development Series offers classes to union and non-union subcontractors that are certified by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts as a Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE), Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) or Women Owned Business Enterprise (WBE), and have been in business for a minimum of two years. The free, eight-session series begins on September 5, 2013. The application deadline is 5pm EDT on August 2nd. Space will be limited. For more information and to apply, please visit http://www.suffolkconstruction.com/subcontractor_development_series.html.

Repost: Suffolk Construction offers training to minority and women contractors

Great free training opportunity for MBEs and WBEs in Boston! Check out the qualifying information below.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

July 8, 2013

By John Ruch

Suffolk Construction, Boston’s largest construction firm, is inviting Jamaica Plain minority- and women-owned subcontractor firms to a special course in how to do business on Suffolk projects.

The lack of opportunity for such firms on Boston construction projects has been longtime controversy, including recently in Jackson Square spanning JP and Roxbury. Suffolk started its “Subcontractor Development Series” program last year to help create such opportunities on its projects.

The free, eight-week program will be held in Roxbury starting Sept. 5. It will be limited to 30 participants and the application deadline is Aug. 2.

Applicants can be union or non-union subcontractors that are certified by the Massachusetts Supplier Diversity Office as a Disadvantaged Business Enterprise, a Minority Business Enterprise or a Women Owned Business Enterprise. The firms must have been in business for at least two years.

The program includes classes in dealing with Suffolk, managing a project, finances and accessing capital, among other topics. Graduates will receive a certificate and direct access to Suffolk experts. The classes will be led by Suffolk executives and other industry experts.

While the course is open to all qualified subcontractors, Suffolk issued a press release to the Gazette specifically pointing out that “Jamaica Plain area” firms are welcome.

The course is the second form of community-improvement outreach from Suffolk in JP in recent weeks. Suffolk CEO John Fish last month proposed a multi-million-dollar renovation of Franklin Park’s White Stadium through a nonprofit he founded.

See the original article at http://jamaicaplaingazette.com. Get more information about the Subcontractor Development Series at http://www.suffolkconstruction.com. Fill out your application at https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/VQMWD8P.

Apply to Building Pathways Pre-Apprenticeship Program

Repost: Women building careers in construction

Julie Palmer, president of Charlie Allen Restorations, at a condo remodeling project in Cambridge.

When Julie Palmer answered a classified ad for an office manager at Cambridge-based Charlie Allen Restorations in 1999, her management experience was in accounting, not kitchen and bathroom renovations.

But she managed transportation for a book distribution company prior to joining Charlie Allen, so the male-dominated setting didn’t faze her. It’s not unusual for her to be the only female on the job site except possibly for the homeowner, she said.

In February, Palmer was promoted to president of the company, one of only a handful of Boston women who hold leadership positions in the building and renovations industry. For some, this gender divide starts in childhood.

“They’re not always teaching girls how to hammer nails,” said Palmer, who oversees Charlie Allen’s projects that have included the restoration of period homes and several churches.

Palmer is among a few women who have chosen a career in construction, according to the National Association of Women in Construction. Of the 9 million trade workers in the U.S., only about 830,000 or 9 percent are women. The number of females in construction peaked in 2006 at 1.1 million. Gerry-Lynn Darcy, executive officer at the Builders and Remodelers Association of Greater Boston, said she doesn’t have local numbers, but anecdotal evidence suggests women in the industry are on the rise. The national trade group noted that the number of women increased by 2.6 percent in 2011, the most recent year for which data is available.

Allison Quinn Guido, general manager at Hanover-based Almar Building & Remodeling, is a notable exception to the stereotype of girls not using a hammer. Almar is a family business, and Guido’s parents built their house in Hanson when Guido was 10. “The smell of cut wood has always stayed with me,” she said.

While studying theater arts management at West Virginia Wesleyan College, Guido spent summers supervising vinyl-siding crews. After graduating college in 2002, she had planned to work at the family business for a year or two while job hunting. But she liked the work, stayed on and now runs it as a 50/50 partnership with her father, Terry Quinn.

Guido acknowledged the physical challenges. “There are some things that are much more difficult for me as a 5-foot, 2-inch woman as opposed to a 6-foot-tall contractor,” she said

But some clients who don’t want her advice at the beginning of a project wind up asking for her by the end, because she sees the potential in their vision and doesn’t belittle their ideas, she added.

Like Guido, Allison Iantosca studied theater in college and entered the industry through a family business. Iantosca joined her father at Hopkinton-based F.H. Perry Builder Inc. in 2000, initially accompanying clients to showrooms and helping them select materials for home improvement projects. She’s now a partner and works on business development, marketing and strategic planning.

Iantosca sees an increasing number of women getting involved in all levels of building and renovation, thanks, in part, to the focus on craftsmanship at places like the North Bennet Street School in Boston’s North End. “Just about all the companies that I know that we compete with have women involved,” she said.

Women with strong management skills bring valuable insight to the construction site, Palmer said. “We tend to look at a project as more than construction, we approach it as a relationship,” she said. “I also think that without the construction background, it can be easier to understand what a client wants, because I’m not always thinking of the constructability first, but the clients’ wants and needs.”

Article from the Boston Business Journal. View the original at www.bizjournals.com.

Apprenticeship Applications Being Accepted, Insulators Local 6 Boston

APPRENTICESHIP APPLICATIONS BEING ACCEPTED

Notice of Non-Discriminatory Policy as to Applicants

PROGRAM: Heat & Frost Insulators and Allied Workers Joint Apprenticeship, Sponsor #20000

AFFILIATION: Heat & Frost Insulators and Allied Workers Union, Local 6 - Insulation Contractors Association of New England

TERRITORIAL JURISDICTION: Mass., Maine, New Hampshire & Rhode Island

TERM OF APPRENTICESHIP: Four (4) years. 150 classroom hours and 1600 job site hours per year.

TRAINING: Related. Learn the types and methods of insulating the various services (hot and cold) that are installed in industrial and commercial installations, power plants, hospitals, pharmaceutical and bio tech facilities. Training will consist of classroom and workshop procedures in the proper use of tools, equipment and application as well as reading construction drawings.

WORK PROCESSES: Assisting journeyman on the job in performing all of the above functions.

MANDATORY ENTRY REQUIREMENTS: Valid, Current Driver’s License and Vehicle

AGE: 18 Years or older by September 1, 2013.

TESTS: General Aptitude Test and Interview; Mandatory Physical and Drug Test.

EDUCATION: High School Diploma or GED required.

RESIDENCY: Territorial jurisdiction of Local Union

APPLICATION FEE: $25.00 Non-refundable fee.

APPLY: In person – During the month of April, 2013 – On Mondays and Wednesdays (Except Mon. 4/15/13) between 10:00 A.M. and 4:00 P.M., at 303 Freeport St., Dorchester, MA. Driver’s license, diploma and application fee must be produced at that time. No exceptions.

TELEPHONE: 617-436-4666

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY: Equal Opportunity is provided to all regardless of race, color, creed, sex, national origin or sexual orientation.

Visit http://insulatorslocal6.com/ for more information.

Repost: At Old Colony, unions prove their worth

After 70 years, the Old Colony housing project in South Boston is getting a fresh start. The aging complex at the rotary where Columbia Road meets Old Colony Avenue has been transformed into 116 attractive new rental units made up of wood-framed townhouse-style homes, a six-story midrise, and a community center. The enhanced view from Dorchester Bay across Joe Moakley Park is only the most visible change in the neighborhood. The second phase of the Boston Housing Authority's master plan is now underway under an innovative project labor agreement that will produce 169 more rental units and, as importantly, offer some of the project's residents a pathway out of poverty.

The master plan is the result of a year-long community process that will ultimately create another 453 units along with the goals for job opportunities for public housing and local low-income residents. The PLA negotiated with Boston's building trades unions incorporates language that exceeds the city's standard hiring goals for residents, minorities, and women by establishing additional employment preferences for Section 3 residents from Old Colonyand the city's other public housing developments.

The project is making use of Building Pathways, a pre-apprenticeship program servicing Greater Boston, as well as other programs that prepare recruits with the soft and hard skills needed to thrive in the challenging world of construction. The PLA's commitment to diversity has already borne fruit. Forty participants have completed the Building Pathways program and are working in the trades. Ten more will be placed in upcoming months and an additional training cycle has been scheduled.

Almost half of the graduates are women; all are low-income Boston residents in search of a career, not just a one-time job. Tyiesha Thompson has lived at Old Colony for 10 years. A 38-year-old single mother of three, Thompson is now a union apprentice working on a high-rise in the Seaport District. As phase two of Old Colony unfolds, she hopes to be part of the renaissance of her home community.

Read the rest of this article at http://bostonglobe.com.

By Mark Erlich, executive secretary-treasurer of the New England Regional Council of Carpenters.
(c) The Boston Globe Mar 22, 2013

Job Opportunity: Suffolk Construction is hiring a Compliance Officer

Position Summary:

The Compliance Officer monitors and reports on the goals and requirements related to workforce compliance and the use of minority, woman and disabled-owned businesses on all projects in Suffolk’s Northeast Region.  In addition, the Compliance Officer provides guidance to project management teams on matters relating to such goals and requirements. The Compliance Officer also plays an active role in outreach to and establishing relationships with local, state and community agencies, groups and organizations.

Department: Legal

Reports To:  Director of Diversity & Workforce Compliance

Direct Reports: None

Location: Boston, MA

Status: Full Time/Exempt Salary

To read the full job responsibilities or apply for this position, visit Suffolk Construction's website.