Iwilei is the new classroom setting for air conditioning/refrigeration apprentices, from left, Brenton Tanji, Marshall Romento, Robert Gannon, and Daniel Delas Santos.

Hawaii’s acclaimed PAMCAH-Local 675 training program took another major step forward this year with the debut of its new Iwilei-based classrooms, to meet expanding needs for all apprentices and journeyworkers. Hands-on classes in air conditioning/refrigeration and OSHA 10 have shifted to the former Dole Cannery complex. Upcoming will be video conferencing of classes to benefit Neighbor Islanders, a first in Hawaii’s construction training industry.

“Industry can’t stand still, especially in the wake of tough years, and we all simply have to give our youngsters opportunities to see what it can offer them,” business manager Reginald Castanares prudently observed. “So our efforts and those of the other trades are continuing to stretch resources to entice our young folks to look at the trades as lifetime careers. Happily, many are responding.”

For the plumbing/ fitting sector, 2009 was marked by taking its program as part of a career fair directly to six school campuses. Three included the appearance of its mobile unit, the industry’s shining armor and only one of its kind to date, that has awed onlookers from legislators to townspeople.

No one considering entry into the trade winces anymore when told it is a strenuous five-year journey that must be completed before attaining the qualifications to become a certificated journeyman. After a prospect sizes up what the training entails, the innermost thought has to be “is five years enough?”

The primary training facility at Pearl City is in its 18th year and provides the bulk of the program. Its equipment is state-of-the-art in prepping for backflow certification, medical gas installation, welding, fire protection, and all phases of plumbing and piping. Solar installation is also part of its curriculum, handled as an integrated part of the plumbing system. Its computer lab will continue.

The success of the diverse training program is basically due to the wellrounded experience of our dedicated instructors, almost all drawn from the field, head apprentice coordinator Vernon Rosa noted. He said instructors and coordinators themselves undergo annual or occasional upgraded training. Whenever possible, members or staff also have opportunities to earn additional certification as inspectors under UA auspices.

Especially noteworthy is that 95% of our apprentices are First Aid/ CPR-certified, according to instructor Wayne Murakami. The OSHA 10 certification program began this past fall semester and will continue into the next fall semester, the goal to secure 100% certification for all enrolled apprentices. Instructor for the latter program is Matt Brady.