The purpose of a training department is to train, not make a phone call to out-source everything. But more to the point, consider just a couple real challenges for our Hall, and how effective training addresses such.
Oil peaked @ $156USD / bbl in June 2008; today, $50 / bbl seems the new norm. Potash peaked @ almost $900USD / MT in later 2008; today, it’s $200 / MT. In this era of low commodity pricing, the consequences of a mining centric district like ours are enormous. There just aren’t going to be all those mega Oil Sand, Potash, or Uranium construction mining projects on the horizon as we’ve become accustomed to in the past. So, to help our members meet these economic realities, we must become more efficient as workers, pivot from construction to maintenance, and expand to other markets. To meet this challenge, training is essential!
Meanwhile, the Baby-Boomers are about to retire. We need to replace those seasoned workers with a younger, more diverse, highly skilled workforce. You are not going to attract younger generations to a trade – any trade – w/o offering an aura of professionalism and legitimacy … and effective training – safety, skills, and supervisory – is central to that effort!
So, going forward, our members must [really] be more knowledgeable, [really] more skilled, [really] safer, and [really] more professional craftspeople than our less expensive non-union competition if we are going to thrive as a Hall in the future. I am not exaggerating when I say: Training [really] is the foundation for the future of this Hall.