electrician. One school in California devotes itself to nothing but electrical training for those

who can demonstrate the skill and the ambition to follow through. Lets take a look at what it

offers.

In Los Angeles County, California, for example, electrical training is highly regulated and

legislated. The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers IBEW and the National Electrical

Contractors Association NECA are committed to compliance and electrical training that teaches the

methods, tools and regulations to apprentices in the union labour force. The organized workers and

administrators realize how important electrical training is to the construction process. They have

put together an institute for electrical training that teaches journey level electricians the

basics of working with logic control systems that are programmable as well as the complex data

that are found in todays commercial and residential buildings.

This labour union electrical training program is actually funded by private industry, with

contributions coming from the union workers themselves and by their employers. Those apprentices

taking part in the electrical training dont have to pay tuition and even get paid a living wage

for their hands-on learning. Apprentices in the electrical training program work under a journeyman electrician who teaches

them the electrical trade both in the classroom shop and on the job site. Classes are held in the

evenings for at least six hours each week. Wage increases are given periodically dependent on

reports of work experience, grades in the classroom and attendance.

Electrical apprenticeship training lasts for five years. Every apprentice attends at least 160

classroom hours each year. They almost must complete a minimum of 8000 hours on the job.

The electrical training program is the NECA and IBEW way of showing customers and potential

customers that they are committed to producing highly qualified electricians. As a result of this

electrical training the jobs that this work force takes on are completed on deadline with the

highest quality products and work. Call backs are a rarity.

Once the initial electrical training at the institute is completed the learning hasnt ended,

however. Its an ongoing process, especially in light of the various green energy projects around

the state and the nation. One of the primary goals of the electrical training is the instruction

in work place safety. All electrical training courses teach safety. One course is devoted to a

safe workplace. Its not just a matter of keeping electrical workers safe, either. The electrical

training takes into consideration that while electrical projects are being completed in retail,

office or other commercial environments, employees of the client may continue to work in the

facility. They must be kept safe as well.

Electrical technology is evolving continually and the electrical training institute is away of

that. Each graduate electrician is keep up on the latest industry developments and continuing

education electrical and related courses are offered on a periodic basis.

Today’s new endorsements include:

* Bakery, Confectionary, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers Union

* Minnesota State Council of UNITE HERE!

* Minnesota Postal Workers Union

* Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers, Local Union 1

“Minnesotans need a senator who understands the needs of Minnesota families, and who won’t abandon them in a time of need,” declared Mark Froemke, education director of the Bakery, Confectionary, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers Union, Local 167G.

“Norm Coleman had a chance to support the families of the Red River Valley on CAFTA and, instead, he supported President Bush,” Froemke noted. “Al Franken will stand with farmers and workers and Minnesotans, and that’s why we stand with him in this election.”

“Unlike Norm Coleman, Al Franken is a candidate who will never privatize social security and will continue to fight for the middle class and workers’ rights,” added Jim Lundquist, president and secretary-treasurer of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers, Local Union 1.

And still no matter what we do, whether we are working for someone else, or attempting to maintain businesses of our own, the push to work long hours is impossible to ignore. For most of us, the forty-hour week is little more than a dream of the past. Firms have paired down the numbers of their employees, compelling those who are left to do two to three times the amount of work employees were expected to do twenty to thirty years ago. Our living expenses are so high that people are required to work two and sometimes three jobs, just to be able to pay their rent and utilities. Rent control has been phased out in nearly every city across this nation.

So, how do we cut back on the sheer numbers of hours we are expected to be productive? Many of us have been working on treadmills for years, and if we are afraid of anything when we consider trying a new job, or building up our own business, we are afraid of increasing the load we carry on our respective treadmills ranks high among our fears.

Meditation, learning how to control stress, eating nutritious foods and getting plenty of good exercise all help to keep us fit, so that we can deal with those stresses. But what can we do to actually change our work environments?

Learning to say no to demands made on our time and resources is something each of us must do individually in order to maintain a balance that is healthful for us, both mentally and physically. But few things have ever been accomplished by people working entirely alone. If it takes a committee to organize a simple picnic for your church, how many people would it take to organize good changes where you work? How many people had to join those early labor unions in this country, and what did those people have to do, in order to win the right to an eight-hour work day, and a forty-hour work week? This is history we need to know, history we could all learn from. Why are we so meek about letting go of those rights that our grandparents and great-grandparents fought so hard to win for us? Is it because we simply don’t know how hard they had to fight for those rights?