News Article

Sheet metal workers in high demand


6/8/2011 2:09:28 PM


Instructor Dave Kenway, left, shows students how to roll round pipe in the sheet metal shop at College of the North Atlantic’s Burin campus.

According to the local union, there’s no better time to be a sheet metal worker in Newfoundland and Labrador.

“For the next 10 years there should be pretty steady employment,” says Bill Squires, the business manager of Sheet Metal Workers International, Local 512. “Right now we’re enjoying a boom.”

Squires says the union has provincial agreements in place for commercial and industrial contracts that ensure sheet metal workers get excellent wages, and there are other benefits as well, including pensions and health care plans.
“We have people, as we speak, they work 10 days on and four days off at Long Harbour and they average $1,600 – $1,700 a week, in their pocket,” he says of workers who live in camp, adding that those who commute get an additional living-out allowance of $400 a week.

Squires says the union is also providing workers for projects run by the Iron Ore Company of Canada (IOC) and Vale in Labrador, and will soon begin working on the Hebron Project, contributing to construction of the Gravity Based Structure at the Bull Arm site.

He says the local’s “active list” is completely exhausted, meaning every available union member is working.
“Our doors are always open to new members provided they qualify,” he says. “Certainly, in peak periods like now, we’re looking for new members.”

To get those qualifications, workers need to complete a training program, like the one-year Sheet Metal Worker certificate at College of the North Atlantic’s Burin campus. Instructor Dave Kenway says potential students need to enjoy hands-on work, and have basic math skills.

“We do all our own layouts and designs,” says Kenway. “It’s rewarding work and most everyone I’ve had in the program really enjoys it.” He adds that students also do some welding and computer aided drafting.

Employment opportunities for sheet metal workers are diverse as they work with a variety of metals to create everything from cabinets and shelving, to ductwork for heating and ventilation systems, or metal cladding for buildings.

The working environment is also diverse, from shipyards and offshore oil platforms to schools, hospitals and construction sites.

Some of the program’s grads work for companies that install heating and ventilation systems, others work at local shipyards building new passenger ferries. Some have gone further afield, working at the Canadian Navy’s Fleet Maintenance Facility Cape Scott in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

“Once they work their way through all the blocks they can get their Red Seal,” says Kenway. “If they want to move into supervisory positions, a lot of those require them to have their Red Seal.”

Seats are still available in the Sheet Metal Worker program at the Burin campus for September. Students are required to have a high school diploma or equivalent, or may be accepted as mature students.

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Media Contact:
Gina MacArthur
Public Relations Specialist
College of the North Atlantic
Ph: 709-643-7928
gina.macarthur@cna.nl.ca