Masonry Magazine July 2007 Page. 32
Our mission is to provide and support education of the masonry trade," he said. The foundation supports 1,500 pre-apprentices, which are students in high school or vocational school who are interested in masonry and have started taking courses as part of a designated curriculum.
MITA also is working to recruit and train students, Vasquez said. The association provides California high school classes with the books, materials and tools needed to teach students about masonry; the instructors are former masons with at least five years of industry experience. MITA currently has 12 high school programs and nine adult programs in California, training more than 1,000 students.
"If we train them, we can get them excited about the industry," Vasquez said. "We show them what they can do and what they can become."
The high school classes teach students everything they need to know to start their first masonry job, Vasquez added. Students build actual projects and lay block.
Through such programs, contractors benefit by having a qualified pool of candidates for employment. MITA has approximately 200 masonry company members across California. When the participating masonry students graduate from high school, Vasquez said, they have jobs waiting for them.
"I get calls all the time from people looking for new blood," she said. "We have contractors fighting over them. Most of the students have a job on their last day of high school."
McLaughlin said his foundation's training now includes 15 apprentice programs in Florida, which take three years to complete and have approximately 400 students currently enrolled.
"When we started the program, we had 150 students, so we more than doubled," he said. The apprentice program is expected to graduate 50 journeymen in 2007. Since the beginning of the program four years ago, it has graduated about 125 journeymen, including those who are completing the program this year. "We're in better shape than we've been, but a worker shortage is still a problem, and it's still going to be a problem."
He's optimistic about the training, but realizes there's a lot left to be done.
"The industry is overwhelmed with the success we're having. We're doubling and tripling in size and delivering the pipeline of students," McLaughlin said. "We're making some progress, but we've got a whole generation to train."
The National Masonry Instructors Association in Bishopville, S.C., also recognizes the problem and is working to educate high school students about the trade, said Eugene Johnson, the association's president. Johnson helps arrange for masons to talk to the students.
"[The masons] are glad to do it because they need the bricklayers," Johnson said. "We try to help solve the problem of not enough workers."
Annapolis, Md.-based International Masonry Institute (IMI) and BAC also employ a variety of programs to attract and train new masons. "We see a need for more training for more people in masonry" BAC's Flynn said. "We're training all of the time."
One of their impressive programs is the IMI's Mobile Training Unit, which can be dispatched anywhere in the country for training. The mobile job sites can train workers for large projects or for rebuilding after disasters, such as Hurricane Katrina. Conducted right on the job site, the mobile units provide in-class instruction on materials, safety and advanced masonry.
Changing the Industry Image
ONE OF THE OBSTACLES to enticing students into masonry is that the construction industry as a whole suffers from a negative image, Vasquez said. It's often viewed as a last
MCAA
Heeds the Call
Recruitment and promotion has long been a vital task of the Mason Contractors Association of America (MCAA) As the only national association representing all of the industry's mason contractors, the MCAA has focused much of its attention on the development of programs that will build the availability of a strong labor force.
Check Out a Career in Masonry
In April 2003, MCAA launched the national "Check Out a Career in Masonry" High School Recruitment Campaign by contacting the more than 17,000 high schools. The Association offered a free career kit containing a video, brochures, posters, worksheets and other information to any interested school, and the response was overwhelming. MCAA now has schools from every state asking for information about masonry for their career libraries and guidance offices.
Taking this program a step further, every quarter, more than 1,200 high school guidance counselors and educators receive the "Masonry Careers" newsletter. This quarterly communication serves to keep our industry in their minds as an option for their students' career paths. The newsletters often address the opportunities for the schools to participate in career days and establishing vo-tech programs locally. Most importantly, the newsletters further inform them of the benefits that masonry careers provide, and suggest that they and their students visit the MCAA website for more information.
The career day effort of the Workforce Development committee is one of the Association's most successful ventures-MCAA received more than 90 requests for career days.
Masonry Training Series in Spanish
In August 2006, MCAA announced the release of the MCAA's Masonry Training Series Volume 2 translated in Spanish.
MCAA's Training Series is the industry-leading resource for training apprentices, and contractors and instructors who appreciate quality apprentice education use it nationwide.
To respond to the needs of contractors from across the country, the MCAA enlisted the help of its affiliates and members in Arizona and California to construct this new version. This translation will open the doors for many future masons to further their education.