LABORERS

The Laborers must have a common knowledge of all work performed by building tradespeople for he or she is the tender or helper in the industry.

The Laborer is called upon to operate and maintain power tools such as the power grinder, chipper, tamping machine, concrete vibrator, chipping hammer, pavement breaker, jackhammer, crawler drills, welding, cutting and burning, burning bar, power curber, laser beam, laser tracking level, laser beacon, hydraulic shoring, sod cutter, power buggy, sky genie, trenching machine, asphalt screed, demolition and the use of explosives, cribbing and sheeting, and traffic control.

Many Laborers have graduated into other trades after applying and grasping knowledge as they earn their livelihood.

Because the Laborer is required to work under undesirable and sometimes hazardous conditions such as extreme heights and also depths hundreds of feet underground on subways, tunnels, and storage reservoirs, they must be in good physical condition to perform the work of the trade, take pride in performance, realize their responsibilities to fellow workers and employer and have a broad knowledge of safety to protect themselves and co-workers.

Persons wishing to enter this trade should have some knowledge of general math, mechanical drawing, blue-print reading, welding, cutting, and burning. They must accept working out-side, sometimes in unpleasant weather conditions.

Requirements:

-All apprenticeship programs require applicants to be physically fit.  In addition, applicants must take an aptitude test and be interviewed by the joint apprenticeship committee before acceptance.

*Where the apprenticeship program has established a formal classroom training course, these are required number of school hours the individual apprentice must attend each year.

For information on all apprenticeship programs, contact the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Apprenticeship and Training, (574)236-8295.