Recently, three IAM Local 1943 members, Mike Gray, Brian Banks and Shawn Patrick, completed the third 260-hour Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) training class co-administered by Machinists members from Cleveland-Cliffs in Middletown, OH. The Local fought for and won the right to not only co-administer the class with the company, but be paid for training.
These graduates will join the Local’s other 16 current HVAC journeymen out in the field.
“All of our HVAC work used to be done by contractors, costing the company around $250,000 a year for them to do this work,” said Neil B. Douglas, Local Lodge 1943 President and Directing Business Representative. “We showed the company that our members need to be directly involved in the training and performing of all the work.”
“This program’s growth and success can be attributed to the foresight and hard work of the members of Local 1943,” said IAM Eastern Territory General Vice President Brian Bryant. “There are thousands of units to service in the steel mill, many of them vital to the continuous operations of the plant, and they will continue to be worked on by the industry’s best union technicians.”
The course is designed to provide students with the basics of air conditioning. Topics are geared toward high temperature refrigeration (air conditioning) systems such as package equipment and split-type, central air-conditioning systems.
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