New York, NY – IUOE Local 891’s training program differs from standard four or five year apprenticeship programs. LaborPress wanted to learn more about how it works, so we spoke to Local 891 Training Director Frank Byrne.
LP: How does your training program work? You offer courses rather than the standard apprenticeship program.
FB: Right. We don’t have a full-fledged apprenticeship program. But we do offer courses that the folks need for work. For example, the refrigeration certification for the Fire Department, certified pool operation if you’re going to treat swimming pools, we offer that. [And] fire safety director for those buildings that require fire safety director certification. So, it’s not a full apprenticeship program. But we do have necessary courses for the custodian engineers, too.
LP: And are there also programs where skills are upgraded over time?
FB: Well, employees or custodian engineers, if they’re working on getting their — it’s called a ‘stationary engineer license’ — and they’re going to sit for the Department of Buildings exam, we will try to prep them with information to hopefully help them pass that exam. Same thing with the refrigeration; we will prep them in order to help them, hopefully, pass the exam. We also have informational sessions on F 12 F 13 sprinkler and standpipe certifications.
LP: How did your program end up being at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, where the union is based?
FB: We used to operate, or try to operate, out of a school building. But it was very difficult to try to operate out of schools. So, we have a location now with our own classrooms and we don’t have to worry about getting permits to use the school so we can use it whenever we want. That’s the benefit of being here and having our own training center here.
LP: Have ventilation standards changed because of the pandemic?
FB: Not really the standards, but they do they do recommend better filtration. The filtration now — you have to be careful because you can upgrade the filtration, but then you are slowing the air movement. So, there is a balance of how much fresh air and quality control you have — temperature control, air volume — stuff like that. And then, you know, the Merv 13 — the high efficiency filters. You just have to be aware of the higher filtration, you just have to be aware of the air quality as well. With the advent of COVID — indoor air, temperature control air, fresh air filtration, intake and exhaust — all of that became really, really critical.
