Apply Wednesday July 18 To Become A Paid Apprentice Electrician

(Editor's note: This is an article about a paid, training program for union electricians. It was previously published in Patch after the program accepted its first trainees after a two-year lull. Now work for union electricians is heating up. New applicants can apply on Wednesday, July 18. This is a one-day only opportunity. Click on this link for details about the application process which takes place from 9 am to 4 pm at 3033 Alvarado Street in San Leandro. Apply yourself, or share this with a friend or family member. The story will tell you about this program that pays $18 an hour while you learn the trade.)

In 2008 and 2009, the union training hall on Alvarado Boulevard saw no point in teaching apprentice electricians the tricks of the trade because there were no jobs.

Now the job market for union electricians is heating up and new classes are going through the Alameda County Joint Electrical and Training Committee (JATC) facility at 3033 Alvarado Street.

"We're expecting a mini-boom here," said JATC training coordinator Mel Switzer.

Hospital construction is one of the developments driving demand for union electricians. Switzer cited new Kaiser facilities in San Leandro and Oakland and the new Eden Hospital in Castro Valley as examples.

Though residential construction remains stalled, hiring for such big projects has been enough to bring the training program out of mothballs.

Switzer said that before the recession the union typically started two classes a year, each with about 20 trainees.

Now the union sees enough demand to get back on the two-class per year pace.

Aspiring apprentices go through a five-year process that combines classroom training with paid, on-the-job experience.

Trainees must invest about $1,000 for books and tools but the program makes them eligible for jobs that start at $18 per hour.

Long wait for job with potential

The trainees who went through the first class after the program resumed had been waiting a long time.

Mike Simas, 30, of San Leandro first tried to get accepted in 2002 but didn't make it. He reapplied in 2008. He finally got the call to start class in April of 2011.

Simas used to work in heating, ventilation and air conditioning but thinks an electrical career has more potential.

"You have solar power possibly taking off and electric cars," Simas said. "There's more room to grow."

It also took Kimberly Hudson, 33, of Oakland, two tries to get in. She made her first attempt in 2004. She said she came from a dead-end job in retail.

Matthew Beavers, a 32-year-old trainee from San Leandro, used to be a checkout clerk at the Berkeley Bowl. It was a stable position that enabled him and his family to buy a home here.

"But I was at a job that checked groceries all day," he said. "Here they're giving you skills and opportunities."

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