Continuing the effort to redefine the role of the United Association (UA) on the U.S. Gulf Coast, the organization is investing millions in its training programs and the future generation of pipefitters and welders. Last year, the UA worked over 33 million hours in more than 100 oil, gas, chemical and power plants along the Gulf Coast. These hours were worked under 250 different owner-directed welding procedures on construction projects, turnarounds, and operations and maintenance crews. Contractors, both union and open shop, are reaching out to the UA in record numbers for trained and certified craft workers, and the organization is responding. To keep up with the increasing demand for safe, skilled pipefitters and welders, the UA has undertaken a robust capital program, increased recruiting, expanded apprenticeship classes, implemented veteran employment programs and added an accelerated welding program.
Investment in training infrastructure, programs
The UA is investing in the expansion of its training capabilities along the Gulf Coast through the addition of new facilities and the expansion of existing facilities to accommodate more students and increase the training provided. In the past year alone, the UA has opened two new training centers in Houston and Harlingen, Texas. Those facilities join the Lake Charles, Louisiana, facility that opened in 2015 and the existing coastal facilities in Gulfport, Mississippi; New Orleans; and Beaumont and Corpus Christi, Texas. Together, these facilities consist of 175,000 square feet of training space with over 170 welding booths and the capacity to train 1,800 pipefitters and welders. This increase in space has allowed the UA to expand the apprenticeship classes to accommodate more students and larger welding training programs. The UA program trains and qualifies welders in the shielded metal arc, gas tungsten arc, gas metal arc, flux core arc, machine, semiautomatic, automatic and orbital welding processes.
The UA organization absorbed the cost of the capital program and provides the training program at its own expense. None of the costs associated with the training of apprentices or certification of welders is passed on to the contractors or clients. The UA provides all the material and services costs associated with the qualification of welders, such as weld test coupons, welding consumables and independent test labs. In addition, the welder tests on his or her own time. The program provides significant advantages for owners and contractors, such as the elimination of costs associated with welder certification, safety training, certification and skills training.
UA apprentices learn through both classroom and on-the-job training. The five-year apprenticeship period is divided into one-year segments, each of which includes 1,700-2,000 hours of on-the-job training and a minimum of 216 hours of related classroom instruction. All UA apprentices receive a solid general education background in a trade, with core courses in basics such as mathematics, mechanical drafting and related sciences. At an appropriate juncture, apprentices can choose a specific curriculum to pursue with the goal of becoming a journeyman plumber, pipefitter, sprinklerfitter or air-conditioning/ refrigeration service technician.
Once UA members complete their fiveyear apprenticeships, they become full-fledged journeymen. However, their education in the trade is not over at that point. In fact, UA members are serious about pursuing lifelong training, and most of them take advantage of the many opportunities they have to update and expand their skills. In addition, all UA members are eligible to earn college degrees as part of their training. Members can choose from a wide variety of degrees, ranging from an associate’s degree to a bachelor’s of science degree. Apprentices earn 32 college credits through Washtenaw Community College upon successful completion of their apprenticeships. These credits can be used to earn an associate’s degree in construction supervision, industrial training, HVACR and general studies. Degrees can be completed by taking from five to nine additional college-level courses. All requirements can be completed through online classes without having to attend on-campus classes. Students with prior college experience can transfer their credits into the program as well. In addition, UA associate’s degree graduates can transfer into bachelor’s degree programs offered through the National Labor College and Ferris State University
In addition to the safety and skills courses, the UA training program includes a foreman course covering:
- Creating an effective team.
- Communication skills.
- Problem solving.
- Documentation and record-keeping.
- Planning and scheduling.
- Safety management.
- Quality management and more.
Educating and training frontline supervision has become key to the success of the projects where the UA is working.
Accelerated welder training program
To more adequately address the shortage of trained and qualified welders in the construction industry, the UA established an accelerated welder training program. Students are invited to participate in the training program on a voluntary basis. Training is provided to the students at no cost. The training program is approximately 18 weeks in duration, consisting of 40-hour weeks and 8-hour days. Classes are administered by UA instructors and are held daily Monday-Friday at designated UA training facilities across the Gulf Coast. Participants who complete the requirements of the welder training program are tested and certified as welders, available to join the workforce and also eligible for the UA Apprenticeship Program. To date, over 1,500 individuals have successfully completed this program and are working as UA certified welders.
Mobile training trailers
The UA currently operates a fleet of mobile training trailers, 20 of which are specifically designed for training and testing welders. The newest weld trailer is equipped with state-ofthe- art welding equipment consisting of automated and mechanized weld machines used in the power and petrochemical industries. The other types of trailers are “green” trailers equipped with the very latest equipment for training members in today’s green technology. The UA has three medical gas trailers, a process piping trailer, instrumentation and HVACR trailers. These trailers are in use throughout the U.S. and Canada. Several of the weld trailers are located at multibillion-dollar jobsites to provide additional support for training and testing site welders. The use of the mobile trailers provides the UA with the capabilities to train its members wherever and whenever they are needed.
Veterans in Piping (VIP)
Over the past decade, more than 2 million men and women have served and sacrificed for our nation. But despite being a disciplined and highly trainable population, military members face an exceedingly high unemployment rate upon their retirement from the service.
To ease the transition back into civilian life, the UA established the Veterans in Piping (VIP) Program to equip military service members preparing to leave the service with sought-after skills that can lead to lifelong careers in the increasingly in-demand pipe trades. Through 18-week accelerated courses provided free of cost on military bases across the country, VIP participants earn industry-recognized certifications and a direct entry into solid private-sector jobs with good pay and benefits.
In addition to veteran unemployment, the UA VIP Program was created to address a growing shortage in the construction industry of skilled workers due to the combined effects of an aging workforce, increased demand and a lack of skills training for youth.
With praise from Congress, the U.S. Department of Labor, the military and media, the UA VIP Program is recognized as one of the best active-duty military transition programs in the country. In 2011, the Military Officers Association of America honored the UA VIP Program with its Distinguished Service Award.
For more information on the UA, the VIP program and how to employ graduates, visit www.ua.org or www. uavip.org.
