IMI & IMTEF
BAC Members Advance Their Careers as Certified Welders at the International Training Center
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t the BAC/IMI International Training Center, members are learning a new aspect of the trade and advancing their careers as certified welders. Though they come from different parts of the country and even different crafts, they have one thing in common: the drive to increase their work opportunities and value to contractors by learning a specialized skill like welding. Take Tyler Fairweather, BAC Local 1 Washington/Alaska journeyworker bricklayer. “I wanted to have this under my belt to make myself more valuable to the company,” he says. Fairweather, a bricklayer by trade, works for the family business, Fairweather Masonry. He knew having a certified welder on the crew would
allow them to bid more work — work that’s currently getting subbed out, like precast. Tirhas Gebrus, PCC apprentice, also from Local 1, will put her welding skills to use when she travels back to Seattle to continue work on the I-5 with signatory contractor United Professional Caulking & Restoration, Inc. (UNIPRO). “I love this class,” she says, noting Welding Instructor Kay Whigan’s skill. “Kay, from day one, has been a great teacher. He’s very nice and such a professional and is always right beside us showing us how it’s done.” Gebrus loves her job and appreciates the opportunity to learn and grow with the crew. “I couldn’t be with a better company,” she says. “They’re very inclusive and very fair. All you have to do is show
up with a good attitude, ready to work.” She credits Wayne Belcher, co-owner of the minority women-owned business, for fostering such a welcoming environment. Gebrus got her start in the trade through ANEW, a local pre-apprenticeship program that connects women with good-paying union construction and manufacturing jobs. Fellow apprentice and classmate Logan Yerger, from BAC Local 5 Pennsylvania, got his start a little differently. While he was still in high school learning masonry at Berks Career and Technology Center, he approached a bricklayer working on a retail project in his neighborhood. That bricklayer just happened to be Randy Eberly, a Field Representative for his Local. Forming that
Though they come from different parts of the country and even different crafts, they have one thing in common: the drive to increase their work opportunities and value to contractors by learning a specialized skill like welding.” 14 // BRICKLAYERS AND ALLIED CRAFTWORKERS
