Advancing Plaster Craft Skills and Options
January - February 2001
 |
| Plaster instructor John Totten,
Local 5 NY, shown here at IMI’s National
Training Center, enjoys helping to give BAC a training
edge in the growing plaster market. |
Growth in the plaster market creates new opportunities,
and IMI is there to provide quality training to ensure
that the work continues to go to BAC members. IMI training “helps
BAC’s reputation,” says BAC Wisconsin District
Council Field Representative Owen Jones, by expanding
the number of skilled craftworkers available to BAC
employers.
In each of the past two years, Jones has turned to
IMI to deliver quality training to BAC members that
wanted to upgrade their plaster skills, in this case,
to Green Bay, Wisconsin members. The courses cover
traditional plaster, EIFS, and cornice and ornamental
plaster. Plaster restoration will be added soon.
“Our members deserve the opportunity to learn
the trade the right way, so that the work will stay
with BAC,” says Jones. He keeps in close touch
with contractors, who welcome what IMI training and
BAC could deliver—results that allowed BAC to
reach new areas in the state.
For Local 5 New York, IMI training provided a solid
foundation for pre-job apprentices, while meeting plaster
contractors’ needs. In 1999 and 2000, two 12-week
pre-apprentice classes were conducted, “because
we had to give the plastering industry a boost,” says
Local 5 Vice Chair and Field Representative Manny Valente.
The program included outreach efforts to recruit minorities, “It’s
the right move for the Union and IMI, and we’re
opening doors,” says Valente. Plaster training
is also provided throughout the IMI regional training
system, and at the National Training Center at Ft.
Ritchie.
Upcoming programs include a pre-job course in New
Jersey and EIFS training in New England. For more information,
contact Clarence Nichols at 1-301-241-5507 or cnichols@imiweb.org.
|
