Category: Boston

Out With The Old

DSC_4568

On May 13th Plumbers Local 12 in Boston graduated their first apprentice class in two years. These new journeyman plumbers have raised the bar for what an apprentice class should be.

After five years of attending a program that started out at night and finished as a day program they sang the praises of their training. They also represented the changes that Local 12 has been championing. There were commercial, residential, and service apprentices graduating together.

Also in this class were three apprentices that competed in national apprentice competitions. One in Connecticut, one in Ann Arbor, Michigan,and one in Hollywood, Florida. These apprentices were so inclined to participate because of their confidence in the training they received at Local 12s training facility by our instructors.

One of the most important jobs that the plumbers union has is to provide the best trained apprentices and plumbers the industry has to offer. There is nothing else like this in regard to training in Massachusetts. Now with a special attention to all wood frame construction with 12R we are training to all aspects of the residential industry. Not that we weren’t before before but we are in it to win it.

We also have our focus on service as well. All apprentices take part in service training but the ones actually doing it train with the journeyman as well. That along with quarterly in service training with the vendors of the industry puts us head and shoulders above everyone else.

The day school also brought some unsolicited comments from the class. Class President Danny Palimeri spoke about how their personal relationships changed after they went to day school. “When we started at night we were acquaintances but once we started day school we all became very close.” For me that compliment was confirmation that day school is the way to go. “We were supportive of each other to make sure that everyone was getting whatever the teachers threw at us” said Danny.

DSC_4698
Class President Danny Palimeri addresses over 200 people that attended the graduation at Venezia Restaurant in Dorchester, MA. 

Some that read this may not appreciate that trade training is that important, but when you put in five years and over eleven hundred hours of training this group of new journeymen will forever consider themselves Local 12 Class of 2016! Congratulations!

 

 

 

0

You Won’t Read About This!

Dateline 5/13/2016

Location IBEW 103 Union Hall Boston IMG_2288

As I write this post I think about all of the kids across not only the Boston area, but across the country, attending awards nights getting scholarships that will help them with the costs of college. Creating many happy parents as well.

As parents we sit in these awards nights and wonder “where does all this money com from?” Imagine if you went to an award night where they gave out almost $590,000 in one setting. Well one happened today. Given the amazing amount of money given out you would think that maybe the press would be curious.

You see today was the 58th Annual Massachusetts AFL-CIO Scholarship Breakfast and indeed all of that money was given out to hundreds of children of union members. Through the hard work of the fundraising of its members their college “Dream” is a little bit more achievable.

I am happy to say that just my union, Plumbers Local 12, was able to give out over 30,000 dollars to our deserving college bound children. These amazing hard working students are headed to community colleges right up to ivy league institutions.

This is just another way that unions give back. As being part of the solution to give access to college we are helping to keep the middle class dream alive. I think we can all agree that the college dream is becoming harder to achieve because of the crushing debt that these young men and woman are being saddled with.

For many of the proud tradesman and tradeswoman in attendance today college was never part of their plan but being able to send their children to college, the dream of having their next generation do a bit better is very rewarding. Totally Amazing Morning.

 

IMG_2294
Massachusetts AFL-CIO President Steve Tolman with the scholarship awardees in attendence today, Good Luck!
0

They just do commercial……

 

residential bathblue hill view

If you look on a clear day from a high spot on the Massachusetts – New Hampshire border or from the west on a hill in Worcester County or from a high spot near Foxboro you can see the great Boston skyline.

From many a plumbers perspective that are not members, thats where most of the members of Plumbers Local 12 work. Building or servicing large commercial projects. We know thats not true. But there is something really great happening in the Local. A place for residential plumbers.

What I mean by residential plumbers is the men and woman that are out in the suburbs everyday building those local skylines, thinking that Local 12 has nothing for them. As the building boom continues through out the Greater Boston area plumbers and apprentices need to know there is a place here for you.

Yes, if you are contractor you can access the same types of benefits that you may have thought were unattainable for your loyal workers. For the plumbers and apprentices there is the access to the benefits and free training that the Local has always provided. The one thing that we all have in common is that plumbing is our Career. Lets make the most of it together.

We have created a new division that makes this affordable. For Real. Its all about cost and we know that what we have done is in line with whats going on in all parts of eastern Massachusetts.

I can’t tell you how excited I am about this opportunity and I want to encourage any sole proprietor, small shop, developer or any one interested to call the office and get the correct information.

Our business development representatives will be all over eastern Massachusetts visiting job sites this spring and summer spreading the word so we look forward to talking with you.

Remember, plumbing is our career, making the best of it includes being able to provide health insurance for our families and retirement benefits for ourselves. We look forward to talking to you.

0

Where is the shortage of new plumbers?

As I write this blog applications to Plumbers Local 12’s apprenticeship program have just concluded. This year we have over four hundred applicants vying for approximately thirty positions. This flies in the face of what I hear is a shortage of people people entering the plumbing business in Massachusetts.

Maybe there is a difference between a job in plumbing and a career in plumbing. Local 12 has always given all applicants an interview and one thing we hear from them is that people are looking for a career. A place where they will be able to get health insurance and accrue retirement benefits during and after their career is done.

Maybe its the training that Local 12 provides apprentices as well as journeymen throughout their careers that provide them them many opportunities to work for the different contractors while maintaining the highest pay and best benefits in the industry.

Local 12 is a proud membership organization that wants its members to succeed all during their careers as plumbers. With at least sixty percent of Americans with almost no savings (according to an article in Boston Agent Magazine by Tom Ricci) these applicants have figured out that union benefits are a good thing and applying to the union training program is the way to go. No wonder over four hundred people have applied.

Plumbers Local 12 is about careers not jobs.

 

 

 

0

SERVICE,SERVICE,SERVICE

One of the most exciting things happening at Plumbers and Gasfitters Local 12 these days is the Service Division. We have partnered with our parent organization the United Association to become the Eighth city in the country to implement the Plumbers911.com program.

Local 12 is celebrating our 125th anniversary this year and in those years we have helped build and service the plumbing in the greater Boston area. What is new now is that because we are organized we have partnered with our contractors to bring our expert customer service and skills together under the PLUMBERS911Boston.com group.

Plumbers911boston.com is a group of contractors that will answer all calls that come through the website and our service area is basically anywhere in eastern Massachusetts. Our plumbers/mechanics and apprentices bring years of training and experience that provide value to residential and commercial customers alike.

All Plumbers911boston.com mechanics are drug tested, background checked, and are extremely proud to wear the Plumbers911 logo. A special point of interest is that I mentioned residential service. Many think that our organization only builds commercial projects. Not True. The members of our organization have always done residential service.

Our members train in our Boston state of the art training facility. Not just subject specific but periodic in service training as well. This is where the customer realizes the value in using a plumbers911boston.com contractor. There is almost nothing our Plumbers can’t do. Along with our service area is also the 24/7 response. Our exceptional group of contractors are committed to making sure that when you go to http://www.plumbers911boston.com you will get the best service provided by the most trained and experienced mechanics in the area.

If you have a plumbing issue there is only one place to go http://www.plumbers911boston.com

0

The Glass Half Full, thoughts on Boston 2024

The Olympics coming to Boston? Well I hope so. Now before people get mad I want them because I love everything about Boston and want the City to be on a pedestal. Even if that means nine years of planning for two weeks of games.

Yes, we had a terrible winter that exposed some of the shortcomings of the antiquated MBTA, but seven feet of snow in a month, come on for its age it did pretty good. But like the misery brought on by the weather it also brought out a lot of negativity that got directed right at the Olympic bid.

First off I am not an employee of Boston 2024, but I am a Union Leader. I am also one that has not yet attended any of the public hearings. I do want good jobs for my members as well as everyone else that I think the games will bring. I really want it for other reasons.

One, it is a great city, by the way I don’t live in the city but have spent most of life in it. This city has been on an upward swing for some years and I don’t think we have even got real momentum yet. As a matter of fact I feel that Boston was a city that changed little over the previous one hundred plus years. It has been roughly over the past twenty or so that things have taken off.

Infrastructure upgrades over this time has been huge, some unknown or unnoticed but yet instrumental in the growth of not only Boston, but the whole Metro area. The Big Dig, Water Supply Upgrades, Waste Water Treatment Facilities, Logan Airport Expansion among others has helped to bring development to areas that could not be built before. The Convention Center has put Fan Pier on the map.

As someone in construction of course I think all of this is great and I can tell you that there were people that we very vocal about probably all of these projects. But after they were done the common good has outweighed the negatives. Yes I certainly have been a proponent of some jobs that certainly did not work out for the best interest of me and were killed or changed for the right reasons.

The No Olympics group out there bring an important element to the conversation. It is groups like this that will force change along the way and I encourage them to push forward. In the end though, I want the games here.

I heard Mayor Walsh speak about the fact that there has been no Master plan for the City since 1963. That is too bad because development and progress in general may or may not have had a sense of direction. I commend him for starting the process again. As a plan takes shape there will no doubt be a great focus on the needed infrastructure upgrades. As the conversation goes it will be these subjects that will get more interest than things such as open space, etc. Maybe rightfully so.

With that being said since we live in Boston some of those upgrades are coming with or with out the games. This is where I think the games are a positive for the city. If through a plan the citizens agree that certain trains and roads need to be fixed over the next twenty five years then lets use the games to push the changes here sooner than later. Have the games become the catalyst for the things we need.

I have heard that traffic will be a nightmare, it already is a nightmare. The T is running at capacity, time for a changed system. We have been living in a state of change in Boston for many years and the major changes we have invested in are only going to benefit those younger than us. The games put a time frame on changes that need to be done and in maybe a romantic way, an end or at least a break from this state of change.

I would love for the world to tune in for that month in 2024 and think wow what a beautiful city. I would love for people from around the world to come to Boston and walk this city as a venue like none other. I would love all Bostonians to welcome and enjoy the changes that the Games brought to the city not just as a sporting event but also as a deadline for the needs of the future.

I love the idea of Boston 2024, I respect the people of NO Boston 2024 for bringing out the hard and uncomfortable questions but as someone who sees this as a glass half full I say, Let the Games Begin.

People enjoying the public art of Boston recently
People enjoying the public art of Boston recently
0

Start a Blog at WordPress.com.

Up ↑