Mohawk ironworkers learn safety first

Iron Workers Local 440 has the only majority Native American membership in North America. Its members are well known and respected for their skills and adeptness on the high beams.

Skilled Labour

MONTREAL

Iron Workers Local 440 has the only majority Native American membership in North America. Its members are well known and respected for their skills and adeptness on the high beams.

It’s a dangerous job, but the Utica-based union offers an apprentice program that stresses safety and versatility of skills.

“We like to train all our guys, even the journeymen who have been at it for years,” said Mike Swamp, business manager for the Local. “We do upgrading of skills, welding, safety and other essentials. I am trying to produce the best ironworkers I can.”

The program places great emphasis on safety for good reason.

“Safety was not a big issue in the 1950s and 1960s,” Swamp explained. “Even in the 1970s, when I started, it really wasn’t a big issue. My father said, ‘There was basically nothing.’ You had a safety lanyard (an eight-foot long manila half-inch rope) on your workbelt and wherever you could tie off, they would. There were no cables.”

Ironworkers now use safety harnesses just to get off the ground.

Newer safety regulations dictate that workers be tied off at all times.

“People I knew fell and were killed. If they had the proper safety gear then, they probably would be around today,” Swamp added.

The apprentice program offers in-house training in Utica and Cornwall, Ont. It has just been revived, trains Mohawks and non-Native Americans. It is run by Swamp and Larry Beauvais, both with extensive experience as ironworkers.

Twelve apprentices are currently being trained in Utica. Two workers from Cornwall graduated last year and 12 to 15 new apprentices are in the four-year program in Cornwall.

“If we find young kids that have experience in welding and connecting, we try to strip them off a non-unionized company and give them credit toward their experience,” said Beauvais, the recording secretary for IW440 and apprentice training coordinator. “The way to train somebody properly is to go through the (full) apprentice program.”

A journeyman ironworker does everything — structural steel, bolting, re-inforcing steel, installing windows and sheets, fencing and bridge work.

“We train new apprentices to be welders, be it stick or wire-feed welding, and to obtain whatever certification they can,” said Beauvais. “The more skills they have, the better their employment opportunities are.”

Apprentices are also sent to Board of Cooperative Education Services (B.O.C.E.S.) training facilities, which offer training in conjunction with the Local 440 in-house program.

Local 440 represents Mohawks from Akwesasne, Kahnawake and Kanesatake (Oka).

Swamp often receives calls to supply contingents of workers. In the Local 440 area, ironworkers are paid $40 per-hour, while in New York City and other major urban centres, they receive $80 per-hour.

With more than enough projects ongoing, Mohawks who want to work are basically guaranteed employment.

“There is a lot of work between my Local, Local 12 (Albany), and New York and New Jersey locals,” said Swamp.

“I just received a call from Connecticut looking for 40 to 50 guys for overtime work. Workers are definitely needed in Rochester.”