L-128 BM-ST Jim Tinney (r.) leads a tour of the lodge’s training facility for Ontario Training Minister John Milloy (l.) and MPP Kevin Flynn.
Government officials see first-hand how lodge is spending infrastructure grant
JOHN MILLOY, MINISTER of Ontario’s Ministry of Training Colleges and Universities (MTCU), and Kevin Flynn, a member of the Provincial Parliament, toured the Local 128 training facilities on March 20.
Local 128 (Toronto, Ontario) BM-ST James Tinney conducted the tour, showing the officials how the local is spending the $1.4 million MTCU award it received for skills-training infrastructure.
“This is an example of Lodge 128 and the government of Ontario working together to improve the skills of the Boilermakers for the betterment of members, our contractors, and clients,” Tinney said.
Local 128 used the funds to purchase two Genie lifts, with 60-foot and 40-foot booms respectively, all-terrain forklifts, an Orbital welder, an enhancement smoke extractor system, a lathe, seven new Lincoln welders, a five-ton overhead crane, an eight-ton mobile crane, a band saw, air compressor, tube milling and rolling equipment, computers, and projectors and screens for all Local 128 offices (Burlington, Sarnia, Sudbury, and Thunder Bay, Ontario).
According to L-128 Apprenticeship and Training Coordinator Ed Frerotte, the funding will also be used to build a rigging structure.
“The Liberal Party of government in Ontario is proactive in training and apprenticeship,” Frerotte said. “They recognize both the amount of work that needs to be done to the province’s infrastructure and that the unions are ahead of the game when it comes to training.”
