A 400 Pipe Trades and the Mechanical Contractors Association held its fourth annual Apprentice Signing Day on Sept. 15, at the UA 400 Training Center to recognize 102 first-time apprentices as they begin their five-year apprenticeships.
The breakdown of the apprentices by trades is as follows: 17 Fabricators, 18 HVAC Service Technicians, 20 Plumbers and 47 Construction Steamfitters. This year’s event, modeled after the National Signing Day for college athletes, recognized UA 400 first-year apprentices who have secured employment with 28 UA 400 signatory contractors.
“You don’t have to go to college to have a great career and make a great living,” said UA 400 Business Manager Doug Dokey. “This is our way of showing these apprentices that they’re just as important when they sign with us as the high school seniors who sign to attend and compete at NCAA programs.”
UA 400 signatory contractors, representing the MCA, who are employing the new apprentices include A&J Mechanical, Aldag-Honold Mechanical, Anderson HVAC LLC, August Winter & Sons, AZCO, Bassett Mechanical, Coenen Mechanical, CR Meyer, EGI Mechanical, Enerpipe, Great Lakes Mechanical, GRP Mechanical, Hurckman Mechanical Industries, J.F. Ahern, John’s Refrigeration, Johnson & Jonet Mechanical, Kurt Zenter & Sons, Mannenbach Mechanical, Meyer Mechanical, Mechanical Technologies, Piping Service Inc., Piping Systems, Plymouth Plumbing, Refrigeration Services, Straightline Refrigeration, Team Industries Inc., Tweet-Garot Mechanical, and Woolsey Plumbing.
“Apprentice Signing Day is not only significant for the individual apprentices as they embark on an exciting new career, but it is hugely important for Local 400 and the Mechanical Contractors Association,” said Jeff Gaecke, Executive Vice President of the Mechanical Contractors Association. “It helps us ensure there is a steady pipeline of trained and qualified workers to meet the demand of industry in Northeast Wisconsin. Apprentice Signing Day provides contractors with the future employees who can eventually become journeymen, supervisors, and leaders within our organizations.”
Speakers who addressed the apprentices and guests included Amy Pechacek, secretary of Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development; Tony Penterman, mayor of Kaukauna; Dokey, Gaecke and Krejcarek.
“The average first-year apprentice needs 1,600 on-the-job-training hours, 136 hours of day school, and at least 120 night school hours,” said Krejcarek. “Apprentices are paid to attend eight hours of day school once every other week. While the apprentice attends day school, he or she typically works 32 hours per week for their contractor (fabricators work 40 hours per week, four ten-hour shifts Monday through Thursday and attend school on Friday). In addition, a typical first year apprentice has two 3-hour nights of school per week after they are done working for the day.”
Currently, there are a total of 391 UA 400 apprentices working towards their apprenticeship. UA 400 Pipe Trades in conjunction with its signatory contractors offer paid apprenticeships in pipe fabrication, plumbing, steamfitting and HVAC-R service. The five-year apprenticeship programs provide classroom instruction with UA Certified Instructors and on-the-job training with a contractor alongside experienced journey workers and apprentices.
Once an apprentice has completed his/her apprenticeship and becomes a journey worker, continuing education opportunities are available to all UA members through specialized training and certification programs.
For more information on UA 400 apprenticeships, visit https://ua400.org/get-started-now/
