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Council: Oneida interns measure up
By Ellen Hickok-Wall
Daily Reporter Staff
Apprentices at the Kaukauna training center of the Northern Wisconsin Regional Council of Carpenters learn safe tool usage, scaffold building, first aid, CPR and OSHA safety standards. The council began an initiative working with people from the Oneida Indian Tribe, near Green Bay. The first class graduated in mid-April, and the second is in session. Potential work for the apprentices would be Green Bay Packers Lambeau Field redevelopment. Pat Turcotte, training director for the council, said students are free to choose any construction trade after the apprenticeship program.
The task of beefing up construction crews for a project the size of the Green Bay Packers Lambeau Field renovation could be overwhelming.
But the Northern Wisconsin Regional Council of Carpenters tackled the issue one step at a time and came up with an innovative idea to help fill minority ratios on the project, said Frank Schmechel, business representative for the council.
"We're well ahead of the minority issue," said Schmechel.
The council started an initiative with people from the Oneida Indian Reservation, just south of Green Bay. Training sessions are held at the council's Kaukauna training center. The first class graduated in mid-April, and grads already are wanted.
"One of the contractors said they want one of the first shots at those students when they come out of here," Schmechel said.
Students are taught safe tool usage, scaffold building, first aid, CPR and OSHA safety they'll need on job sites - all on the council's tab.Pat Turcotte, training director for the council, said the classes give students more than an edge.
"It gives them a big advantage over someone who would just walk in and say, 'Here I am and here's what I want to be.' They will come prepared with skills that not everybody has. That will make them much more appealing."
One of the teachers working with Turcotte is a mentor of the best kind, she said.
"Jim Stevens is a true success story," she said.
Chronic layoffs
Stevens, who is an Oneida Indian, wanted to get into the trades, and he did.
But Turcotte said Stevens suffered from chronic layoffs - not an uncommon situation, she said.
"Contractors hire minority people to meet the needs and then discard them when they're done," she said.
"Jim was very disenchanted," she said. "So he came to the union and said he was interested in finishing his apprenticeship with our program. By bringing them in to union membership, they can't be discarded."
Turcotte said Stevens has more than proven himself.
"He's been really, really good for the students," she said. "When he speaks to his own social group, he tells them, 'You've got to put a lot out, and you've really got to want to do it.' He's a real mentor. The whole time, he's feeding motivational chat while he's instructing."
Turcotte said though the council hopes students will opt to be carpenters, the training is not trade specific.
"We're sincerely trying to bring them to a point where they can make a choice," she said. "You don't know until you do the work what you really want to do when you grow up."
So the students will be eligible to become an apprentice in any of the construction trades they might choose.
The age range of the 15 students per class is varied.
"We have a 17-year-old high school student who knows he wants to go into the trades ... two or three husband/wife combinations ... a couple of older people who have had bad experiences but really like the construction trades," she said.
Randy Crump, minority hiring coordinator for Lambeau, said he met with the Oneida Indians recently and is looking forward to working with the interns.
"We're just getting started," he said. "We're learning about what they're doing and the resources they have available."
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