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2011 Looking Good for Trainees - Winter 2010 After a slow start to the 2009/2010 trainee intake due to scarcity of work, I am pleased to report that since the last journal we have exceeded our target for the year and have already started signing trainees for the 2010/2011 intake. We currently have 90 people in training and with the scheme becoming more popular I can foresee the need for us to become more involved in the selection of those people accepted into our scheme. Previously we have just accepted trainees the employer has engaged and in some cases this will continue, particularly when the trainee is the son or daughter of a union member. There is a finite amount of funding for the assistance that we provide to the employers and I believe that it is our duty to ensure the funding is used to train people who have a fundamental belief in the importance of being members of our union. Any members who have sons or daughters who are interested in doing scaffolding, rigging/dogging, concreting or steelfixing please give me a call we can’t guarantee anything but we will do our best to get them a start.
That said I will be sending letters to all of the employers who currently participate in our scheme to outline the new guidelines of how it will operate. These will not be drastic changes but I hope will help to ensure the continuing success of this scheme into the future.
On a more sombre note it is with mixed emotions that I report that my comrade Brian MacNicol will be retired by the time you read this. Brian was a Delegate for the BLF prior to becoming an Organiser in February of 1986. During his 18 and half years as an organiser he trained plenty of new organisers including myself and I will always be very appreciative of the guidance that he has given me during my time with the union. In 2004 when our trainee assistance scheme started Brian took on the role of Training Liaison Officer and developed a system and network of employers that has seen around 150 people complete a Certificate III in Scaffolding, Rigging/Dogging, Concreting or Steelfixing. I can only hope I will continue to grow this legacy he has left in my hands.
Brian has been an asset to the Union and its members. His experience and knowledge will be sorely missed and I wish him all the best in his retirement.
Bob Williams
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