Finding Workers for the Skilled Trades: Part 1

Deborah Wang
06/16/2008

The economy may be slowing, but in Western Washington, there is still lots of work in the skilled trades. Enormous construction projects are underway in Seattle and other big cities, and plumbers, electricians, ironworkers and welders are in big demand. Employers and unions are trying to lure more people into those jobs, but it's not an easy task. KUOW's Deborah Wang has the first of two stories on finding workers for the trades.

WES PETERSON ADMITS THERE IS SOMETHING CRAZY ABOUT HIS JOB. HE'S AN ELECTRICAL LINE WORKER FOR SEATTLE CITY LIGHT. IN THE WORST WINTER STORMS, WITH POWER LINES DOWN IN THE STREETS, HE'S THE GUY WHO HAS TO GET OUT THERE AND TURN THE POWER BACK ON.

PETERSON: "For a person who is not in it, it's hard to visualize putting gaffes on your legs and putting gear on and climbing up a pole and then putting a stick in your hand and working with high voltage wires. It's a thing that most people look at as being, uh, nuts.

I CAUGHT UP WITH PETERSON AT A JOB SITE IN SOUTH SEATTLE. HE'S RIDING HIGH ABOVE THE STREET ON THE LIFT OF A BUCKET TRUCK. THE LINES JUST OVER HIS HEAD USUALLY CARRY ABOUT 14,000 VOLTS OF ELECTRICITY.

PETERSON: "Shall I load you up? Yeah!"

THERE'S A BREAK IN THE DRIZZLE, AND THE LATE AFTERNOON SUN PEAKS OUT THROUGH THE CLOUDS.

PETERSON: "It's really kind of a rush. Like, I totally love my job, and I look forward to getting up and coming to work and doing my job."

PETERSON SAYS HE'S LUCKY TO HAVE ENDED UP HERE. HE SPENT A FEW YEARS BUMMING AROUND ON THE BEACH BEFORE HE FELL INTO THE JOB.

UNION LINE WORKERS MAKE ABOUT $35 AN HOUR. WITH OVERTIME, THEY CAN EASILY PULL IN MORE THAN A HUNDRED THOUSAND A YEAR. IN 2006, SEVERAL CITY LIGHT LINE WORKERS EARNED WELL OVER $200,000. THAT WAS MORE THAN THE HEAD OF UTILITY, MORE EVEN THAN THE MAYOR.

JOHNSON: "Our journey level line workers make more than an engineer coming right out of college, so it definitely is a living wage."

DAVONNA JOHNSON IS THE HIRING MANAGER FOR SEATTLE CITY LIGHT. SHE SAYS THAT DESPITE THE HIGH WAGES, THERE IS A CONSTANT SHORTAGE OF LINE WORKERS. IT'S A TOUGH JOB, SHE SAYS, AND IT TENDS TO APPEAL TO A CERTAIN KIND OF PERSON. YOU'VE GOT TO HAVE AN APTITUDE FOR MATH AND SCIENCE, LOVE THE OUTDOORS, AND BE SOMETHING OF A RISK TAKER. JOHNSON SAYS SHE HIRED 16 NEW LINE WORKERS LAST YEAR, AND SHE HAD TO LURE THEM AWAY FROM OTHER UTILITIES.

JOHNSON: "It's very competitive, one of the California utilities actually offers a pretty competitive signing bonus, full relocation, they set up in hotels and have meet and greet events where they try and convince people to move to their part of the country, so, yeah, its brutal out there."

NOT JUST FOR UTILITIES, BUT FOR MANY LOOKING TO HIRE WORKERS IN THE TRADES. IT'S A CHALLENGE TO FIND QUALIFIED PLUMBERS, PIPEFITTERS, IRON WORKERS, CARPENTERS, ELECTRICIANS. LAST YEAR, MORE THAN TWO THIRDS OF WASHINGTON'S CONSTRUCTION FIRMS REPORTED DIFFICULTY FILLING POSITIONS.

DAVID ALLEN IS THE EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT OF MCKINSTRY, A SEATTLE BASED MECHANICAL ENGINEERING FIRM. HE SAYS THE COMPANY HAS HAD TO LOOK FAR AFIELD FOR WORKERS.

ALLEN: "When the construction halls become empty, you don't hire people who aren't in the union you have to recruit them from other states, and we've had as many as 150 travelers, McKinstry, this year and that's very unusual."

WHAT'S WORSE IS THAT MANY OF MCKINSTRY'S CURRENT WORKERS ARE JUST STEPS AWAY FROM RETIREMENT. THE AVERAGE AGE OF A CONSTRUCTION WORKER IN THE US IS 40. ALLEN THINKS ABOUT HALF OF HIS WORKERS COULD RETIRE IN THE NEXT 5–10 YEARS, TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF GENEROUS UNION PENSIONS.

ALLEN: "We are trying to have these people not retire because they can retire years before office workers can. With incomes in the 50 to 70 thousand a year. So there is some really, really, really big up sides to 20, 25 years in the crafts, for sure."

UNIONS ARE NOW MAKING A BIG PUSH TO BRING MANY MORE PEOPLE INTO THE TRADES. IN RECENT YEARS, THEY HAVE ADDED THOUSANDS OF NEW APPRENTICES TO THEIR RANKS. APPRENTICES DO 3 TO 5 YEARS OF ON THE JOB TRAINING AND CLASSROOM INSTRUCTION BEFORE THEY GRADUATE TO JOURNEYMAN.

ASPIRING PLUMBERS DO THEIR TRAINING AT A SCHOOL RUN BY THE SEATTLE AREA PIPES TRADES. ED HOLMES IS THE TRAINING DIRECTOR.

HOLMES: "I think right now is the best time you could ever got into a trade. Because your baby boomer generation is retiring, your population is growing, the infrastructure of our country is older and has to be replaced, I mean you see the growth in all the tower cranes around us, you know, and the projection is that's going to continue, and so as your workforce ages and moves out, somebody has to move in and take those responsibilities over."

THE CLASSES FOR APPRENTICES ARE OFTEN TAUGHT BY OLDER, HIGHLY EXPERIENCED TEACHERS.

EASTON: "Ok you're on the center of that then…"

BRIAN EASTON SPENT 30 YEARS BUILDING PIPE SYSTEMS FOR TREATMENT PLANS BEFORE HE RETIRED TO TEACH PART–TIME. HE'S LEADING HIS CLASS OF APPRENTICES THROUGH A DRAFTING EXERCISE.

EASTON: "You might even end up having to use your isometrics, put your compass down, designate a north, and do the measurement, you see what I'm saying? And try to walk back to it. It's difficult."

HIS STUDENTS ARE NOT THE FRESH OUT OF HIGH SCHOOL CROWD. IN THIS CLASS, MOST ARE WELL INTO THEIR 20'S OR OLDER. THEY ALL SEEM TO HAVE INTERESTING STORIES ABOUT HOW THEY ENDED UP HERE.

VEATCH: "I was a teacher, computer geek, and a pizza driver."

TOM VEATCH MAJORED IN LINGUISTICS IN COLLEGE, AND THEN CREATED A WEBSITE FOR FOREIGN LANGUAGE LEARNING. HE SAYS IT WAS GREAT RESOURCE IF YOU HAPPEN TO BE LEARNING FARSI. NOW HE'S A 2ND YEAR APPRENTICE PLUMBER, AND HE INSTALLS PIPE SYSTEMS IN HIGH RISE BUILDINGS.

VEATCH: "I decided I wanted to work in the real world instead of the world where people may or may not actually pay you for the work you do. And I like things that are mechanical and geometrical, and I have a good mind for that kind of thing."

VEATCH'S STORY IS NOT ALL THAT UNCOMMON. THE AVERAGE AGE FOR AN APPRENTICE IS ALMOST 30.

SO WHY IS IT THAT PEOPLE COME TO THESE JOBS SO LATE IN LIFE? SOME ARGUE THAT HIGH SCHOOLS ARE NOT HELPING KIDS CONNECT TO THE TRADES. OVER THE YEARS, WOOD SHOPS AND WHAT USED TO BE CALLED VOCATIONAL PROGRAMS HAVE DISAPPEARED FROM MANY SCHOOLS. TEACHERS AND COUNSELLORS OFTEN SAY THEIR MISSION IS TO GET KIDS READY FOR COLLEGE, NOT FOR WORK.

MICHAEL VANDERBECK IS AN APPRENTICE SPRINKLER–FITTER. HE'S 26 YEARS OLD.

VANDERBECK: "Like, when I was in school, you didnct have union trades coming out to the school telling you what your options are, it was colleges and military. I mean, that was it, I mean, that's all I saw. I had to basically do it myself. I had a couple people tell me look into the union trades. I'm so happy I did."

BUT IT'S NOT JUST THE RESPONSIBILITY OF SCHOOLS. MANY KIDS GROW UP WANTING TO BE THE NEXT BILL GATES. AND EVEN THOUGH GATES WAS A COLLEGE DROPOUT, MOST PEOPLE NEED A COLLEGE DEGREE TO GO WORK FOR MICROSOFT. ED HOLMES OF THE SEATTLE AREA PIPE TRADES SAYS IT'S FOOLISH TO THINK COLLEGE IS THE ONLY OPTION.

HOLMES: "Somebody has to build those colleges, somebody has to maintain 'em, somebody has to put the pipe in, somebody has to do the heating and cooling. Microsoft buildings, we have hundreds of our guys working on those projects. Whose going to build it? If everybody goes to college, who builds America?"

HOLMES SAYS THE GOOD NEWS IS THAT SOME HIGH SCHOOLS ARE STARTING TO EMBRACE THAT VIEW. THERE IS NOW A MOVEMENT AFOOT TO BRING BACK SHOP AND OTHER VOCATIONAL PROGRAMS BUT TO MAKE THEM BETTER. THE HOPE, HOLMES SAYS, IS TO CREATE A PIPELINE STRAIGHT FROM HIGH SCHOOLS DIRECTLY INTO THE TRADES.

I'M DEBORAH WANG, KUOW NEWS.

℗ Copyright 2008, KUOW News