Update OSMWTC:  
Success In Year One!

With little more than a year under its belt, the Ontario Sheet Metal Workers Training Centre (OSMWTC) has established itself as an unparalleled player in sheet metal apprenticeship training.  Positive feedback from a range of sources (apprentices, employers, business managers, industry professionals) spurs growing support for a centre that began as a utopian dream, now, a powerful reality. Without exaggeration the centre can claim to be the best equipped Training Delivery Agent (TDA) for the sheet metal trade in Canada.  Its recently acquired permanent TDA status means that the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities (MTCU) recognizes and funds sheet metal apprentice training at the Centre.

Executive director Kevin Rabishaw attributes its success to the combined forces of management and union who created the Ontario Provincial Sheet Metal Workers Training Trust Fund and sit, in equal numbers, on the training centre’s governing body.  Composed of half union and half management membership, the body functions as a legal trust where monies contributed can only be used to support skills development for the sheet metal industry.  The unprecedented partnership came about through the mutual realization that, given the industry’s aging workforce and the demands of emerging industry skills, these needs would only be met if union and management took direct responsibility for apprenticeship training and the upgrading of currently working journeymen.  To ensure that stakeholders’ interests would be served equally, the chair and vice-chair of the Training Trust Fund alternate between union and management representatives.      

Based on his front line experience, Rabishaw claims with authority that the synergy of common interests shared by the two forces is directly responsible for the centre’s vibrancy. “If employers are going to be asked to invest in apprentice training they must have a say in the design and delivery of that training.  Likewise, the union, working in an expanded role beyond the confines of collective bargaining is now directly involved in skills formation in the industry.”  The pay-off in Rabishaw’s view is better understanding between the two groups.  “Working with contractors gives the union a closer feel for the economic realities of the construction industry while contractors can better appreciate the union’s commitment to keeping the interests of the workers in the foreground while addressing industry competitiveness and higher productivity.

In tangible ways, the expertise of union and management lies at the core of operations at the OSMWTC. For instance, Rabishaw knew he had an expert force to consult when he equipped the centre.  “Employers know exactly what types of equipment they are using and what they plan to acquire.  Their insight was crucial to knowing what types of machinery and equipment skills apprentices needed to learn.  It was their suggestions that guided us in ordering the best of training equipment.”  With this knowledge in hand, the OSMWTC competed successfully for over $820,000 in capital grants under the Ontario Government Skills Training Infrastructure Program (STIP).  The grant monies are instrumental to both curriculum development and in the trenches training.  

As a direct result of receiving the grant, the training centre acquired state-of-the-art ICI sheet metal machinery and testing and air balancing (TAB) equipment to complement its newly installed classroom equipment.  In a forward-looking initiative, the centre intends to expand its training to include sheeting and decking, always considered part of sheet metal work but currently not covered by its regulations.  

In its mission to deliver apprentice training at the highest level, the OSMWTC adheres to excellence through four guiding principles:
  1.  Upgrade current training by using new, industry-standard machinery and equipment.
  2.  Improve training by increasing the amount of hands-on instructional and practice time in a supervised environment.
  3.  Develop new training in skills area where there is no training currently available, such as custom shop fabrication using CNC-controlled machinery and equipment, custom fabrication of architectural sheet metal, testing and air balancing and sheeting and decking.
  4.  Increase the number of apprentices it instructs in the sheet metal and welding trade and to support a pending application to regulate sheeting and decking as a trade.

Training Centre Activity To Date:
OSMWTC Class Schedule for 2008/2009       

• April 28, 2008 – June 20, 2008        

Intermediate

• April 28, 2008 – June 20, 2008        

Advanced

• June 23, 2008 – August 15, 2008        

Basic

• Sept. 2, 2008 – Oct. 24, 2008            

Basic

• Sept. 2, 2008 – Oct. 24, 2008            

Basic

• Oct. 27, 2008 – Dec. 19, 2008        

Intermediate

• Oct. 27, 2008 – Dec. 19, 2008        

Advanced

• Jan. 5, 2009 – Feb. 27, 2009            

Basic

• Jan. 5, 2009 – Feb. 27, 2009            

Advanced

• Mar. 2, 2009 – April 24, 2009        

Basic

• Mar. 2, 2009 – April 24, 2009       

Intermediate

Classroom Reimbursement Fee
Apprentices attending classes at the Training Centre are eligible for a $400 tuition fee reimbursement.  Apprentices attending other schools will not be eligible for reimbursement unless their registration is caused as a result of student overflow at the Training Centre and consequently approved by it.

Liaison with MTCU
The OSMWTC has developed good working relations with the ministry staff in the minister’s office and the regional office, keeping officials abreast of its plans and initiatives.  It is in the process of working with officials to update and to improve the accuracy of records on its apprentices.  

OSMWTC – Training Centre of Choice
Now that is has attained TDA status, OSMWTC is encouraging apprentices in the ICI sector to change their existing apprenticeship contracts to reflect their affiliation with the OSMWTC as their TDA of choice.  Given the centre’s obvious advantages - more contact time, state-of-the-art training equipment, top-ranking instructors and teachers and financial assistance - it is the logical choice.

Financial Assistance for Apprentices
In addition to the $400 tuition fee reimbursement and disability allowances for students requiring special transportation and/or interpretation services, out-of-town students are eligible for assistance for a number of programs offered by the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities:
  1.  Dependent Care: this is an allowance for dependents who require supervisory care during part, or all of the time an apprentice is in school.
  2.  Commuting Allowance: this is available to any apprentice who resides more than 28 km (one way) away from the OSMWTC and not receiving a living away from home allowance.  The rate is calculated at $0.15 per km to a maximum of 99 km or $116 per week.
  3.  Living Away From Home Allowance (LAFH): Apprentices who must travel more than 99 km to attend school and pay for a temporary residence near the OSMWTC are eligible for a maximum of $116 per week.
  4.  One-Time Travel Allowance defrays transportation costs of travelling between home and place of training at the beginning and end of each training period.  Apprentices travelling more than 99 km and qualify for LAFH will also receive a round trip transportation allowance.  Apprentices travelling more than 480 km will be eligible for an additional accommodation allowance of up to four nights at $50 per night.

To enhance ministry support for out-of-town apprentices, the OSMWTC has put a number of mechanisms in place.  To create “housing,” it is partnering with Sheridan College to create spaces for apprentices in Sheridan’s student residence facility and has set funds aside to be able to help offset the costs of staying in the area to train.  Rabishaw is proud that the training centre’s objective is to make sure apprentices’ needs are addressed in a personal manner, an objective that extends, of course, to all apprentices.  For instance, once students are attending school, the OSMWTC will advise and assist them in claiming the $1000 apprentice allowance offered by the federal government and Employment Insurance benefits when needed.  It will also help students to register on line so that they are able to access the support offered by the MTCU.  

Greg Rogers head of the teaching faculty at the OSMWTC is personally committed to developing and coordinating the most comprehensive and up-to-date curriculum possible.  Responsible for curriculum development and delivery, Rogers a former professor at George Brown College, who also has industry experience as a sheet metal journeyman, sees this as a unique opportunity.  “Developing and implementing the highest industry standards through a relevant curriculum effectively shapes the future of the sheet metal indisutry.  The transmission of past and current knowledge to successive generations of apprentices creates an invaluable legacy, addressing industry needs as well as building on time-honoured traditions within the trade.”  Rogers is referring to in-class and training on the shop floor.  “We just finished installing an elevated platform.  Using STIP funding, we plan to begin training for forklift equipment to assist in performing jobs in the industry.  Apprentices will receive instruction on the elevated platform on zoom-boom and forklift.”  Enthusiastic about the training challenges facing the OSMWTC Rogers notes, “Developing an effective curriculum along government guides in accordance with industry needs is a task that points us into the future, a future where we will collectively make a mark.”   

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